Mexican Street Corn Salad

This Mexican Street Corn Salad is one of the best ways to serve up fresh corn in the summer! It’s made with juicy, grilled corn on the cob (cut off), garlic, cilantro, and cheese, all coated in mayo and spices, then finished with a hint of lime.

Serve as a dip with chips or use as a topping for tostadas, tacos, burrito bowls, as a potluck side dish… you name it!

Easy Mexican Street Corn Salad

I seriously can’t get enough of this Mexican Street Corn Salad recipe! It’s such an easy way to use fresh corn on the cob in the summer. This salad has a little bit of creaminess, a little tang, the perfect amount of spice, and tons of fresh flavors.

You can enjoy this salad as a side dish, a condiment, or a dip, a taco topping, or you can mix it into pasta to make my delicious Mexican street corn pasta salad.

This street corn is so quick to make and very tasty. It’s a salad you’ll be making all summer long!

Ingredients Needed

• Corn: For this recipe, you’ll need 6 ears of corn. I recommend buying it from a local harvest so that it is as fresh as possible. The flavor of fresh corn on the cob is hard to beat!
• Mayo: Use your favorite mayo to make this corn salad nice and creamy.
• Seasonings: Our spice blend consists of chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
• Garlic: Fresh, grated garlic adds the perfect elevated flavor to the dip.
• Cilantro: I like to chop some and mix it right into the salad, then save some for garnish. If you don’t like cilantro, feel free to leave it out.
• Lime Juice: A squeeze of fresh lime juice adds a delicious zip of flavor to cut the richness of the mayo.
• Cheese: Cheese is optional, but it does add just a bit of saltiness that is totally perfect for the dip. Cotija or feta are both great options! You can mix it right in or use it as a garnish.

How to Make Mexican Street Corn Salad

1. Grill the corn: Wrap each ear of corn individually in pieces of foil (don’t want to foil? No worries. See below)! Place 1/2 tablespoon of butter into each foil wrap, then place the wrapped corn onto the grill. Cook for 15 minutes, turning often, until slightly charred. Once cooked, remove from the grill and cool slightly. You can also reference these grilling tips for grilling corn without foil.
2. Combine: Carefully cut the kernels off the cob of corn with a knife. Place the corn in a bowl, then add the mayo, seasonings, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and optional cheese. Mix to combine.
3. Garnish and serve: Top your Mexican street corn dip off with additional cheese and cilantro, then serve as desired!

Can You Grill Corn Without Wrapping It?

Yes, you totally can. There are pros and cons to it, but here is a full post on how to grill corn on the cob without foil. I find for this recipe that wrapping the corn in foil before grilling is preferred. This helps the final result for a couple of reasons:

• Traps in the moisture. Cooking the corn directly on the grill can zap out the moisture. The foil keeps that moisture in as the corn cooks, so it stays nice and juicy.
• Infuses the corn with flavor. You’ll wrap the corn in foil, then put 1/2 a tablespoon of butter directly into the foil. As the corn cooks, the butter melts all over the corn and makes it so flavorful.

Serving Suggestions

My favorite way to serve up this Mexican Street Corn Salad is as a side dish, or as a condiment for homemade tostadas!

Here’s what you’ll need to turn them into vegetarian tostadas:

• Homemade or store-bought tortillas (I like fresh corn tortillas or Siete Foods brand)
• 1 batch refried black beans
• 1 batch guacamole

How to Make Homemade Tostadas:

1. Grease a skillet and heat over medium. Add in the tortilla, cover, and cook until crispy, flipping after 30-60 seconds.
2. Make your refried beans and guacamole as instructed.
3. Pile each tortilla with black beans, corn salad, and guacamole, then enjoy!

Of course, this isn’t the only way you can enjoy this fresh corn salad. Serve it as a topping for oven baked beef tacos or chicken burrito bowls and with a side of Mexican rice!

Variations

• Spice it up. Want to give your Mexican corn salad a little extra heat? Try adding in some diced jalapeño or green chiles.
• Add avocado. Diced avocado makes your salad extra creamy. Alternatively, mash the avocado and mix it in with the mayonnaise!
• Add onion. You already get that onion-y flavor with the onion powder, but if you love the crunch of fresh onion, feel free to dice some up to mix into your salad. Red or white onion will work.
• Lighten it up. Try swapping 1/2 of the mayo out for plain Greek yogurt for a lighter option.
• Make it vegan. Simply leave out the cheese!
• Add protein. Make this into a heartier salad by mixing in a can of black beans.

How to Store

Leftover street corn salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days and added to meals or enjoyed as a snack all week long!

I don’t recommend freezing it because the texture won’t hold up.

More Fresh Salads You’ll Love

• Avocado Egg Salad
• Cucumber and Sweet Pepper Salad
• Shrimp Avocado Salad
• Chicken Caesar Quinoa Salad
• Greek Lentil Salad

Corn Gadgets You Definitely Don’t Need:

• Corn Peeler
• Cute Corn Dishes and Accessories or this one is so cute!
• Corn Butter Spreader
• Corn on the Cob Holders

Watch the Video: