This Elote Corn Salad is a creamy, tangy Mexican delight that will leave you with a newfound love for corn and salads! The sweet ears of corn enriched with fresh herbs and red onions, slightly drenched in fresh lime juice and cream, create a beautiful explosion of flavour in your mouth.
Before you've gulped the first mouthful, your hands are already yearning for a second one. And before you know it, you would've chomped away the entire bowl.
You've had off-the-cob corn as part of your daily vegetables or as part of your salads. But we believe the best way to devour your off-the-cob corns is by making an Elote Corn Salad.
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What is an Elote Corn Salad?
"Elote", directly translating to "corn" in Spanish, is popular street food in Mexico. Elotes are generally prepped with mayonnaise, hot sauce, lime and some cheese and are traditionally served on the cob. With this Elote Corn Salad, we plan on taking these flavours straight from the streets of Mexico and transporting them directly to your kitchen!
What's in an Elote Corn Salad?
- Ears of corn: you can buy these frozen or cut them straight from the cob
- Red onion: For that flavour
- Butter: Whatever you have at home
- Sour cream: Whichever you like best
- Lime juice: freshly squeezed
- Paprika, cumin, salt and pepper: Just the basics you already have at home
- Cilantro: Fresh from the supermarket
- Feta cheese: Grated
How to make the Elote Corn Salad?
Prepping the Ingredients
Once you've gathered all ingredients mentioned above. It's time to prep them. While the spices will be used straight from the shakers, make sure to squeeze out some lime juice, dice the red onion and grate the feta cheese in advance.
Getting your Kernels off the cob
As mentioned before, this Elote Corn Salad is served off-the-cob. To get your kernels quickly off the cob, let's proceed to cook them.
Firstly, add water to a large pot, enough for the cob of corn to sit in. The water should cover the corn entirely. After bringing the water to a boil, and removing husk and silk from each ear of corn, plummet it into the pot.
Reduce the heat to medium and allow the kernels to cook till they are tender and soft. They should be done in around 6-8 minutes.
Hold the cooked cobs so one of the ends is in your hand and the other is in a large bowl. Using a sharp knife, scrape the corn off the cob and into the bowl.
Making the Elote Corn Salad
In the same bowl, mix these kernels, which are still probably warm, well with butter.
Stir onion, sour cream, lime juice, paprika, cumin, chopped cilantro, and feta cheese. Don't forget to season with some salt and pepper before serving immediately.
And Voila! You're exotic Corn Salad, straight from the streets of Mexico, has successfully been transported to your kitchen!
Top Tips!
- If you're using canned corn, make sure it is fully drained. The brine has a lousy flavour and could affect the salad's overall taste; we don't want that.
- If you're using frozen corn, make sure it is also thawed and thoroughly drained of the excess water. This step is important to prevent your salad from turning watery.
Some Variations
- You could swap the sour cream for some Greek yoghurt if you like.
- If you'd like a true Mexican touch and perhaps make this salad healthier than it is, then you could add in some beans. You could go for literally any beans you have at home. Nonetheless, we recommend some kidney or pinto beans!
- Instead of Feta cheese, you could alternatively use some Cotija cheese. These two kinds of cheese are very similar in taste.
- Parmesan cheese is also a great cheese to use in this salad.
- Suppose you can't find cilantro or just don't like the taste, then you could use any other herb of your choice, such as parsley, scallions, chives etc. In our opinion, we find that basil and corn taste exceptionally well too.
Serving Suggestions
You can relish this salad on its own as a whole meal or snack. The corn gives you a great "filling" feeling and can vanish your hunger in just a snap. You can also use it as a side salad over a meal. We love it with some grilled chicken!
If you're really into Mexican Cuisine lately, you can use it as a topping for your tacos, tostadas or tortillas.
Lastly, you can serve this as a healthy dip with tortilla chips!
Storage
Make ahead of time: If you're preparing this salad and lathering all the corn in the dressing, it's best to prepare it not more than an hour or two ahead of time.
Store: You can store the cooked corn and the dressing in two separate storage containers in the fridge. It'll last you up to a good 2 months. Just combine the two whenever you plan on serving it.
Freeze: This Elote Corn Salad tastes best when it's made with fresh ingredients. You can freeze the cooked corn and use it for another time, though.
To reheat: Just take the corn and dressing out if you've decided to keep it in the fridge and let it thaw at room temperature. Combine the corn and the dressing, and you're good to go!
Recipe FAQ
On the streets of Mexico, you'll always find Elotes being served warm. However, this scrumptious Mexican Corn Salad only takes inspiration from those Elotes for spices and flavours. This salad, in particular, is served cold. That's when it tastes the most refreshing too. Nonetheless, you can toss it with the dressing whilst the kernels are still warm from when they were cooked. It's really up to you.
This salad is best made with some fresh sweet corn. In the summer season, you can easily get your hands on some fresh corn at the local supermarket. These fresh sweet corns add the perfect sweetness to this salad. The sharp contrast between the sweetness of the corns and all the savoury ingredients such as paprika, red onion and lime juice makes for a lip-smacking treat.
The red onions, cilantro, and lime juice are all ingredients that taste great when served fresh. Due to the excess amount of ingredients that only taste great when they are used straight from the supermarket, we recommend you prep this salad only a couple of minutes or hours before it is to be served.
You can always freeze the cooked-sweet corn on its own, however, and mix in the dressing whenever you feel like having a bowl of this Mexican salad.
Yes, you absolutely can. You could simply increase the amount of paprika or chilli powder you add to the salad. Secondly, chop up some fresh or, better yet, pickled jalapenos and toss them in the salad with the rest of your ingredients. That'll give your salad some extra spice.
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Recipe
Elote Corn Salad (Mexican)
Ingredients
- 5 ears corn , husks removed
- ¼ cup red onion , diced
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup cilantro , chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh chives , chopped
- ½ cup feta cheese , crumbled
Instructions
- Cook the corn and slice off the kernels using a sharp knife.
- In a large bowl, mix kernels while still warm with butter.
- Stir in onion, sour cream, lime juice, paprika, cumin, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the feta cheese on top. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you're using canned corn, make sure it is fully drained. The brine has a lousy flavour and could affect the salad's overall taste; we don't want that.
- If you're using frozen corn, make sure it is also thawed and thoroughly drained of the excess water. This step is important to prevent your salad from turning watery.
Some Variations
- You could swap the sour cream for some Greek yoghurt if you like.
- If you'd like a true Mexican touch and perhaps make this salad healthier than it is, then you could add in some beans. You could go for literally any beans you have at home. Nonetheless, we recommend some kidney or pinto beans!
- Instead of Feta cheese, you could alternatively use some Cotija cheese. These two kinds of cheese are very similar in taste.
- Parmesan cheese is also a great cheese to use in this salad.
- Suppose you can't find cilantro or just don't like the taste, then you could use any other herb of your choice, such as parsley, scallions, chives etc. In our opinion, we find that basil and corn taste exceptionally well too.
Layla
Delicious and perfect for summer!
Beth
I had to skip the onion. Other than that, the salad is perfect.