Mexican Street Corn Salad – Esquites!
Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends! I just love to celebrate this holiday because I think in another life I was born Mexican since I really, really, really love Mexican food! It’s my favorite, in fact. I would be happy cooking Mexican food every single day, not only cook it but eat it as well. For this Cinco de Mayo though, I have a wonderful Mexican street corn salad to share with you, which is known as Esquites or vasito de elotes which literally means little corn-cup.
What is Esquites?
Esquites is usually made with corn sautéed in butter with onions, chilies, and salt, then served in a cup and topped with various combinations of lime juice, chili powder, hot sauce, salt, mayo, etc.
My version here is similar but a bit different. I like to add a few extra ingredients to my corn salad because I like to serve and eat this as a meal rather than a side, which it could totally be.
Ingredients You Need For Mexican Street Corn Salad
There are a few extra veggies I added to this salad and lots of feta or cotija cheese. I pretty much always end up adding feta cheese because I have a hard time finding cotija cheese. Here’s what you’ll need, don’t forget to scroll down for the complete printable recipe:
- Corn – you’ll need about 5 ears of corn. I prefer making this salad with fresh corn cut from the cob, but you can use canned or frozen corn as well.
- Olive oil – a little bit of olive oil to cook the corn in.
- Veggies – such as bell peppers, red onion, green onions and a jalapeno pepper.
- Cilantro – lots of fresh cilantro for this recipe. If you don’t like cilantro use parsley, but give it a try, the cilantro really adds a nice fresh flavor to this salad.
- Cotija cheese – which is basically a Mexican version of feta, a bit less salty. I love both, so I don’t mind adding either cheese.
- Avocado – This will give a nice creaminess to our salad.
- Lime Juice – Avoid the bottled stuff, fresh lime juice is a must for any and all Mexican food.
- Spices – ground cumin, smoked paprika, black pepper, salt. Trust me these spices take the dish that extra mile flavor wise.
- Sour cream – We need a bit of tang, some nice acidity to carry through the dish.
- Mayonnaise – This is what Mexican street corn is typically rolled in to help all the spices sticks, the mayo in this recipe has a similar function.
How To Make Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Prepare the corn – Cut the corn off the cob, for this street corn salad recipe I used 5 ears to get 4 cups of corn. If using frozen there’s no need to thaw the corn before hand! Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat and char your corn stirring occasionally, fresh and canned corn usually takes 3-5 minutes while frozen may take a bit longer. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
- Prepare your Mexican street corn salad – Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste. Garnish with additional cheese and cilantro and serve!
Tips For The Best Mexican Street Corn
- I did use fresh corn but traditionally mature corn is used, which is first boiled in salted water then sautéed in butter.
- Firing up your grill and grilling your corn (still on the cob if on the BBQ, remove the kernels after) is a nice way to add some different dimensions to the dish.
- Want a way to bulk this dish up a bit? Try my Mini Mexican Street Corn Tacos!
- If you’re looking for the coleslaw version of this recipe, check out my new recipe for Mexican Street Corn Slaw!
Storing Mexican Street Corn Salad
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, I don’t recommend freezing this dish.
Want More Mexican Dishes? Try These:
- Tres Leches Cake
- Taco Lasagna
- Crockpot Pork Carnitas
- Beef Tamale Casserole
- Antojitos
- Mini Mexican Street Corn Tacos
- 3 Ingredient Mexican Rice
- Mexican Chicken And Rice Salad
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Mexican Street Corn Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups corn (about 5 ears), cut from the cob
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 small red onion finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 6 green onions chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced
- 1/2 avocado chopped
- 4 tablespoon lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper ground
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon sour cream (or yogurt)
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup cotija cheese (or feta), crumbled
Instructions
- Cut the corn off the cob. I used 5 ears to get about 4 cups. You can also use canned corn or frozen corn. If using frozen, no need to thaw it out.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the corn and stir it around. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the corn starts to char, which is why we're using high heat. If using frozen corn, you will need a couple minutes extra to get the right charred bits.
- Transfer the corn to a large bowl and let it cool for a couple minutes.
- To the same bowl, add the remaining ingredients. Stir everything together until well combined. Adjust lime juice and salt and pepper as necessary.
- To serve garnish with additional cheese and cilantro, if preferred.
Video
Recipe Notes
- I usually make this with feta cheese since I always have a hard time finding Cotija cheese, which is a Mexican cheese similar to feta.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, I don't recommend freezing this dish.
Would this be the same if lightened up with light sour cream and light mayo?
Yes! You can absolutely use light sour cream and mayo.
I don’t like smoked Paparika.. can I use regular paparika?? Will it change the flavor profile to much???
Regular paprika will be just fine! 🙂
I make this dish every time I cook any Mexican dish! My kids love it and I’m happy! Thank you for the best recipe!
My pleasure, so glad you guys like it!
Hi Jo I’m making this for New Year’s Day for 22ppl. I prepped everything. I put the corn, peppers(both) and onions together. I would def wait to add the above, BUT I was wondering would you add the dressing and spices now? (New Years day is in a day and a half)
Wait to add the avo*
No, I’d wait until just before serving.
Hi! Can this be served cold?
Yes, absolutely!
Holy freaking CRAP this is good! Made it today, tweaked some of the spice amounts to my liking but nothing crazy. I’m keeping this recipe forever. Thanks so much for sharing it!
My pleasure, so glad you enjoyed it!
Can you use Italian parsley instead of cilantro? I am one of “those” people who taste soap when cilantro involved. It’d be nice if you always included that switch whenever you add cilantro. Like you did with feta v cotija (I’m lucky to live in a state where so many Hispanic choices are commonly found.
Absolutely!
thanks, Jo. Just ordered your cookbook, and hope this recipe is in it. I print and put a color pic of dish stapled to it. Now I can just use the book.
Hi Robin! Thank you so much for pre-ordering my cookbook. 🙂 Yes! This recipe is in it!
This is awesome. It was a huge hit with the whole family. I made it for my work potluck but the recipe adjustment calculator is off. It increases most of the ingredients but not the corn or limes. I went with my best guesstimate. Thanks for such a great salad.
Hmm…I just tested it myself and it adjusted all the ingredients. If you want go ahead and email me at info@jocooks.com to see if I can figure out what the problem is.
I think the problem with the corn is that while the measure changes (4 cups to 8 cups for example) the suggested number of ears stays at 5. Having said that, it is pretty easy to figure out the required number of ears based on 5 for 4 cups worth.
Delicious, Loved it
This sounds delish and the reviews are so great!! I am making this for a graduation party, I was wondering if using canned green chilis instead of the jalapeño peppers would ruin the flavor?
You can definitely substitute that and still get a great flavor. Let us know how it turns out!