Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
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Slathered with a creamy, tangy sauce and dusted with chili powder and cotija cheese, this Mexican street corn takes your corn on the cob up a notch.
Mexican street corn, or elote, is a drip-down-your-chin juicy corn on the cob snack sold by street vendors all over Mexico and the American Southwest. In Spanish, the word for corn is elote, and the vendors are often referred to as eloteros. The corn is typically boiled or chargrilled, slathered with a creamy and tangy sauce, dusted with chili powder and cotija cheese, and served on a wooden stick, similar to a popsicle. This chargrilled version is quick and easy to prepare, and it makes a fabulous side dish to burgers, tacos, carne asada, or tequila lime chicken.
“This dish stole the show last night! Absolutely delicious!! A true keeper.”
What You’ll Need To Make Mexican Street Corn
- Mayonnaise & Sour Cream: Form a creamy, tangy coating that enhances the corn’s flavor.
- Lime Juice: Adds a bright, acidic punch to balance the richness of the sauce.
- Garlic: Provides a savory backbone, boosting the flavor.
- Cotija Cheese: Lends a salty, crumbly texture that complements the sauce. Cotija cheese is firm and dry and slow to melt so it’s frequently used in Mexican cuisine to add a finishing touch and a pop of flavor. Most large supermarkets carry it (look for it near the Mexican cheeses or the feta cheese), but if you’re unable to find it, feta cheese makes a good substitute due to its salty, crumbly texture.
- Fresh Cilantro: Offers a fresh, herbaceous contrast to the creamy coating.
- Chipotle Chile Powder: Adds a smoky, mildly spicy kick to finish the dish.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, garlic, salt, and sugar. Whisk well and set aside.
Heat a grill to medium-high (about 400°F). Place the ears of corn directly on the grill (no need to oil the corn or the grill first). Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until the corn is cooked through and lightly charred, about 10 minutes.
Let the corn sit for a few minutes until cool enough to handle.
Combine the cotija cheese and cilantro on a large, flat plate. Using a pastry brush, coat each ear of corn with the mayonnaise/sour cream mixture and then lightly roll each ear in the cotija/cilantro mixture.
Sprinkle each ear all over with a pinch of chipotle chili powder. Serve warm with lime wedges.
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Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
Slathered with a creamy, tangy sauce and dusted with chili powder and cotija cheese, this Mexican street corn takes your corn on the cob up a notch.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, from 1 lime, plus lime wedges for serving
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 8 ears corn, shucked
- 1 cup finely crumbled cotija cheese (see note)
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Chipotle chile powder, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, garlic, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
- Heat the grill to medium-high (about 400°F). Place the ears of corn directly on the grill (no need to oil the corn or the grill first). Grill the corn, covered, turning occasionally, until the corn is cooked through and lightly charred, about 10 minutes.
- Let the corn sit for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Combine the cotija cheese and cilantro on a large, flat plate. Using a pastry brush, coat each ear of corn with the mayonnaise/sour cream mixture and then lightly roll each ear in the cotija/cilantro mixture. Sprinkle each ear all over with a pinch of chipotle chili powder. Serve warm with lime wedges.
- Note: Most large supermarkets carry cotija cheese (look for it near the Mexican cheeses or the feta cheese), but if you're unable to find it, feta cheese makes a good substitute.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 ear corn
- Calories: 208
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Sodium: 313 mg
- Cholesterol: 22 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Jen,
This dish stole the show last night! Absolutely delicious!! A true keeper.
This is the best thing I have eaten all summer! I will definitely make this as many times as I can while it is still corn season.
Wow! This was amazing!
Made it into a salad (esquites) and charred a bag of frozen corn. Turned out great. Wonderful flavours. Look forward to trying it on fresh cobs when corn is in season.
We have tried a few but always come back to this amazing fresh (light and cheesy, is that possible?) Mexican street corn recipe, and of course a bit of heat. Oh here I am, an old Silver Queen corn kind of gal loving and passing on this deliciousness!
I made this into a salad using a 12 oz bag of frozen corn. I just thawed the corn and charred it in a skillet. Then mixed it with the sauce, 1/4 tsp chipotle powder and 1/2 the cheese. It was so quick to put together and much easier to eat than a corn cob. I would add more corn next time (it’s all I had) to get a better sauce/corn ratio and cut back on the salt. Then we’d have leftovers for another meal! Served it with grilled kielbasa sausage, onion, and mushrooms. Delicious!
Oh My Gosh….this Street Corn is delicious and so easy to make! We get our corn from a little farmers market in our town, and it’s so fresh. We cut the left overs off the husks and serve it in the next day or two….wow, it’s even more flavorful! We’ll never go back to plain old butter…..Thanks Jenn