Corn on the cob ♥ Today we’re making Elotes or essentially, Mexican street corn. Hello golden corn kernels of flavor! We’ll roast the corn first, brush it with creamy garlic sauce, drizzle with lime juice, and finally, sprinkle with cotija cheese and cilantro. You’re most definitely my favorite thing about summer. In the spring and summertime, I live for corn recipes. Growing up in corn country, aka Illinois, one of our summer activities was to grill corn, squirt it with lemon juice and rub it with salt and chili powder. It’s how my mom always had it back home, and it’s how I like my corn till this day. Nowadays, I will jazz it up and add a little bit of Mexican crema, mayonnaise or sour cream in the mix as well. Living in Texas means we have the best Mexican street food at our fingertips, so Elotes and esquites are sold on almost every street corner via a street vendor or a mom and pop Mexican snack shop. If you haven’t heard of Mexican street corn or elotes before, allow me to explain. Mexican street corn is corn on the cob, but loaded with flavor. Seriously. It’s a party in your mouth! The corn is rubbed down with a creamy mayo then rolled around in cotija cheese (or feta if you can’t find cotija), sprinkled with cilantro and chili powder and healthy squeeze of lime juice. Is your mouth salivating? Because I know mine definitely is. There are probably a million different ways to make Mexican corn. And I’m sure every family has their favorite street corn a little differently. And so the summer corn tradition continues!
Ingredients for Mexican Corn
Fresh Sweet Corn: For this recipe, you’ll want to grab fresh sweet corn from the grocery store. Be sure to store the corn in the fridge until you’re ready to grill or bake it in the oven. I like to leave the husk on if I’m making this in the oven, but you can remove the husk if you want grill marks.Mayonnaise: Use your favorite brand of mayonnaise for this recipe. It is a substitute for Mexican crema that is readily available in all grocery stores.Garlic Powder: I like to add a dash of this to the mayonnaise mixture to give it a bit of flavor, however, you can omit this from the recipe if you’d like.Cotija Cheese: Cotija cheese is an aged Mexican cheese made from cow milk. It is similar to a young feta cheese. I have seen parmesan cheese used as a decent substitute for cotija cheese if you cannot find it in your area.Cilantro: Chopped cilantro adds both color and flavor. Feel free to omit this from the recipe if you aren’t a fan.Chili Powder: You can use Tajin, chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder or even a dash of cayenne pepper if you’d like. Keep in mind that cayenne will had quite the kick so you may want to go easy on it. You can also use mild chili powder.Lime Wedges: You can use lime wedges to give it a bit of an acidic pop. You can also add lime zest to the mayonnaise with garlic powder first for more added lime flavor!
How to Make Mexican Street Corn Recipe:
Variations on this recipe
Add Hot Cheetos! It’s very common to get Mexican side dishes topped with crushed up hot Cheetos! So feel free to brush with mayo and then roll the corn around in pulse hot Cheetos for a tangy, spicy twist!Prefer to serve this for a party? Why not make a dip version of this!Not a fan of mayonnaise? Skip the mayo and brush the hot corn with melted butter instead.Need a side dish friendly version? Make a Mexican corn salad.Want to serve this all over tortilla chips? Make my street corn nachos!
