Street Corn Salad
This Street Corn Salad is my favorite side dish to serve with tacos or fajitas! It’s great for a crowd because you can make it ahead of time and you can make it as spicy or as mild as you like.
The first time I tried street corn, I was hooked. But I didn’t love how messy it was to eat! So I was excited to learn about a dish called Esquites. It’s Mexican street corn served off the cob in a cup. It’s the perfect side dish for your favorite Mexican food and you’re less likely to end up with cheese on your chin. This isn’t an authentic recipe, but it’s easy to make and it’s a tasty side dish for tacos! If you’re looking for an authentic Esquites recipe, try this one.
Tips for Making the Perfect Street Corn Salad
- If you like it spicy, you can add a whole jalapeño! Just be sure to finely dice it so the heat is evenly distributed.
- This is great served with tacos or fajitas as a side dish but it’s also great as a chip dip!
- Be sure not to overcook the corn. You want it slightly toasted but not mushy. If you don’t have a really large skillet, heat the frozen corn in batches to avoid overcooking the corn. I usually use frozen corn so once it’s thawed and bright yellow, I remove it from the heat. It should look like the corn below.
How to Serve Street Corn Salad
- Try this as a stand-alone side dish paired with fajitas or tacos
- Serve it as a dip with tortilla chips
- Enjoy it on top of your favorite tacos or taco salad!
How to Store Leftovers
This salad is actually better when it’s made a few hours in advance because it gives the flavors time to combine! So feel free to prepare it in advance. If you have leftover salad, store it in the fridge in a sealed container or with plastic wrap.
Substitution Ideas
If you don’t have any fresh limes, substitute a squeeze of lemon juice instead. It can work in a pinch! You can also buy lime juice and store it in the fridge. Santa Cruz makes a great lime juice that tastes just like fresh squeezed lime juice!
This recipe calls for feta cheese because that’s usually easier to find. But if you have cotija cheese, feel free to use that for a more authentic flavor! You can also use queso fresco.
You can use fresh, frozen, or canned corn. Look for sweet corn, if you can find it. Do not use creamed corn.
Print
Street Corn Salad
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 12 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
Description
This Street Corn Salad is a great side dish to serve with tacos or fajitas!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 24 oz frozen corn (about 5 cups of corn)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 8 oz queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 jalapeño, diced
- 3 tablespoons diced red onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, for 30 seconds.
- Add the frozen corn and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. (The corn should be warm but don’t overcook the kernels or they’ll become mushy.)
- In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, cheese, and lime juice.
- Stir in the diced jalapeño, red onion, cilantro, chili powder, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
- Add in the corn into the cheese mixture and stir until well coated.
- Add salt to taste, then serve.
Notes
This street corn salad can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature.
One of the things I love about this side dish is that you can make it ahead of time and then just pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours. This recipe makes a huge batch and it always gets eaten. I think that’s a pretty good sign!
Looking for something to serve it with? This spicy street corn salad goes perfectly with these 5 ingredient black bean enchiladas!
Need a vegan side dish option? Make this black bean and corn salad or try it with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice or Mexican Brown Rice, or make seasoned rice in your rice cooker!
I’ve made it as it, using TJ’s frozen roasted corn and it’s delicious. I have a question though – is there any reason one couldn’t use fresh raw corn, cut from the cob? I’m not sure why it would need to be cooked.
You could definitely use raw corn! The warm corn does help the cheese mixture to sort of melt into the corn so it’s more creamy but you could use raw corn if you like!
I loved it. Used corn cut from leftover corn on the cob, chopped pickled jalapeno rather than fresh. For heat, I added some lime cilantro hot sauce. I used feta so it did not need added salt. Served warm. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Sounds delicious! Love those suggestions!
Question: can Mexican crema be used instead of mayo?
You could absolutely use Mexican creams, Brenda! The amount is so small, it’s really just to help make the texture creamy!
Hi! Can you use canned corn instead of frozen?
Absolutely! Just drain it first. And you won’t need to cook it quite as long as frozen corn.
Excellent side dish, lots of fresh flavours. Will certainly do this again.
Make sure you cool the corn, otherwise you’ll end up with Mexican Street Corn dip, like I did the first time I made it, lol. Still delicious though!
Man, this was awesome! I served it for my family get-together and it was well received. Definitely a make-again!  I think next time I’ll try a whole jalapeño just to kick the heat up a notch.Â
Not a rating but is there any other cheeses that can be replaced in place of feta?Â
Hey Mikayla! Yes! You could use cotija cheese, which is another type of salty, crumbly cheese. It’s actually more commonly used in Mexican style dishes, it can just be a bit harder to find!
I think that this dish would be good with many types of cheeses. Goat cheese comes to mind first, fresh mozzarella,
Honestly, it’s delicious even without cheese!
Can you use something in place of the mayo?
You could try Greek yogurt! You don’t need much so whole Greek yogurt may work!
What a delicious recipe! It was very easy. I halved the recipe and that would easily serve 4… not quite 6. I used Birdseye Steamfresh Super Sweet Corn. My husband is VERY picky about corn, He doesn’t usually eat anything but fresh on/off the cob. But he really liked this!
I’m so glad to hear it, Janet!!