Light, fresh and bursting with authentic flavor, this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad Recipe is an easy side dish for any occasion! Roasted corn, black beans, onions, queso fresco cheese, avocado and cilantro are combined with our tender pasta and our homemade chili lime dressing!
Delicious Corn Recipes
This Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad, or Elote Pasta Salad, is just what you’ve been looking for!
When the weather is warm and the sun is out, there is nothing better than a delicious recipe that uses Corn. This sweet, versatile vegetable is good just about any way you use it! From Corn Casserole and Corn Dips to Corn Chowder and Creamed Corn.
But we especially love it in Tex Mex style dishes, like this delicious Fiesta Corn we made a couple of months ago. So, when we came across this delicious Mexican Pasta Salad, we just HAD to share it with you!
What Is Mexican Street Corn?
Good question! I actually didn’t know what this was until recently. Mexican Street Corn can also be called Elote. It is roasted corn on the cob that is usually topped with salt, cotija cheese/queso fresco and butter. Of course, many other things can be added as well, such as lime juice, chili and mayonnaise. Often, it is served on the street as corn on the cob, but sometimes the corn is cut off the cob and served in a bowl with all the fixings. This makes it a lot easier to eat. It also means that now you can do lots of fun stuff with it: like making a pasta salad!
Mexican Street Corn Salad Pasta Recipe
With light, fresh and vibrant ingredients, this salad looks like a fiesta in a bowl. You can serve it with the warm corn still on top of it, or it will taste great cold the next day. If you are preparing this is advance, just make sure you add the dressing and fresh avocado immediately before serving. Also, I’ve seen some recipe substitute the mayonnaise for Greek yogurt. I wouldn’t suggest this unless you REALLY need to cut some calories off this recipe. It just doesn’t taste the same.
The Best Corn To Use For Street Corn Pasta Salad?
It really doesn’t matter. If it’s in season, go for fresh corn on the cob. You can grill it right on the cob and then cut it off. Or you can cut it off first and grill it in a pan. We used canned corn for this recipe, which worked just fine. Or, you can even use frozen corn. This should be great because they always pick it is at it’s freshest and you know it will be nice and sweet!
We like to grill ours on a large skillet like this one. It gives us plenty of room to stir the corn without making a mess. I’ve also heard that using a cast iron skillet gives great results too, we just haven’t tried that.
How To Make Mexican Street Corn Salad
It’s super simple. Really just cook the pasta al dente. Let it cool. then combine all of the ingredients with the dressing and you are ready to serve! Here are the ingredients you need to get started:
Mexican Street Corn Salad Ingredients
- 2 15 oz. cans corn, drained or kernels cut from 4-5 ears of fresh corn on the cob
- 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni, uncooked (certified gluten free if necessary)
- ¼ cup red onion (can sub with green onion)
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 jalapeno, seeds and stems removed, minced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ½ cup black beans
- ½ cup queso fresco cheese, crumbled
- 1 large avocado, seed removed, chopped
Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Sriracha with good results)
- Pinch of cumin
- Himalayan pink salt and pepper to taste
Notes, Tips and FAQs
- SALT PASTA WATER- Don’t forget to salt your pasta water if you want. This gives it an extra boost of flavor.
- DON’T OVERCOOK PASTA- You’ll want to make sure you cook your pasta al dente, just underdone. Overcooking it into a mush mess will not do this recipe any favors!
- CHILL PASTA- Make sure you thoroughly rinse and also chill your pasta. Trying to assemble it while it is still hot or even warm will give you unwanted results.
This Mexican Street Corn Salad is the perfect thing for your pitch-in at work or it would make a fantastic dish for your Cinco De Mayo party. I love the nod to authentic, traditional Latin American cuisine delivered in this fun and unique way. It’s nice to know that you can have traditional, fun comfort food but stay healthy too!
This recipes yields 6 servings.
LOOKING FOR MORE SALADS LIKE THIS? TRY OUT OUR:
Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Mexican Street Corn Salad Ingredients
- 2 15 oz. cans corn drained or kernels cut from 4-5 ears of fresh corn on the cob
- 1 ½ cups elbow macaroni uncooked (certified gluten free if necessary)
- ¼ cup red onion can sub with green onion
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 jalapeno seeds and stems removed, minced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- ½ cup black beans
- ½ cup queso fresco cheese crumbled
- 1 large avocado seed removed, chopped
Dressing Ingredients:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce I used Sriracha with good results
- Pinch of cumin
- Himalayan pink salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a medium pot of water and cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse in a colander under cold water. Set colander over a bowl and allow the pasta to continue to drip dry while preparing next steps.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. After skillet is completely heated through (about 5 minutes), add half of the corn so it’s in a single layer. Allow it to slightly char, about 5 minutes. Then, brown the remainder using the same process.
- Place the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. Taste and adjust spices if necessary.
- In a large bowl, add cooled and dry pasta, charred corn, onion, cilantro, jalapeno, tomatoes, black beans, cheese and fresh avocado.
- Pour on dressing and toss to combine. Immediately serve.
Nutrition
