Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

While we were off on a big camping trip earlier this year, we were dealing with dubious internet.

You know how it goes, you’ll get Facebook loaded, then lose connection before you actually get to see what you’re seeing, then when internet’s back... it’s gone.

On one such occasion, the thing I got a brief glimpse of was the start of a video about some sort of vegan mexican street corn salad - a pasta salad recipe.

The idea intrigued me. I’d had traditional Mexican street corn while we were still living in the United States - fire-roasted corn, slathered in a zesty cheese and mayo mixture...

Anyway, the idea was planted, even if I didn’t manage to see the details. So, we decided to design our own Mexican Street Corn salad, from the ground up!

First, we had to choose the kind of pasta we’d use.

After weighing options - did we want a larger pasta shape, like bowtie pasta... or a smaller pasta shape, like ditalini pasta? - we went with Rotini.

We both love the texture of this tender pasta ... which is also great for holding sauce, AND robust enough to hold up to all of the other ingredients.

Then, we had to figure out how we wanted to deal with the sweet corn. We considered grilling ears of corn, but decided to treat it more like an Esquites pasta salad, than an Elotes Pasta salad.

So, we cooked corn kernels with jalapeno peppers - for a touch of heat - before adding it to the pasta, along with other ingredients I use when making Esquites - a Mexican corn salad with a creamy dressing.

On the subject of the creamy sauce, we designed a creamy chili-lime dressing. It’s the perfect complement to the bold flavors of the salad, with just the right amount of spice and zesty lime kick.

It ended up being possibly the best pasta salad I’ve ever made - the perfect side dish for summer gatherings!

Anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need for this recipe:

Ingredients

This easy pasta salad uses fairly simple ingredients, you shouldn’t have a problem finding what you need in any larger grocery store.

As always, I have some ingredient notes for you:

Fresh Corn

As you may have guessed from my book - Maize Craze: Spectacular Sweet Corn Recipes - we’re big fans of the sweet flavor of fresh summer corn.

So, that’s what this recipe was designed for - for the best flavour, we highly recommend using ears of fresh corn for the best flavor.

In theory, you could use frozen corn or canned corn. I’d recommend frozen over canned, though. Measure it from frozen - about 4.5 cups - and let it thaw fully and drain it well before using it.

Dressing Base

Esquites uses mayonnaise as the base of the sauce, I chose to cut it with some Mexican crema.

If you don’t have access to crema, feel free to use Greek yogurt or sour cream.

In terms of the creamy mayo, I recommend using basic, full-fat mayonnaise. (I’m assuming that the original video I saw used some sort of vegan mayo, though!

Cheese

Cotija cheese is pretty traditional, but can be hard to find in some areas.

Queso fresco or feta cheese can be used in place of it - just drain (if applicable) and crumble before measuring.

Spice

I use four ingredients to bring a hint of spice to this recipe. I was going for a flavourful, warm, complex flavour, rather than HEAT.

3 of these ingredients are pretty traditional for Mexican Street Corn salad: Jalapeño pepper, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.

In addition to those, I added some smoked paprika for a little bit of smoky flavour - taking the place of the charred flavor you’d normally get from grilling the corn.

If you’d like some extra spice, I’d recommend adding an extra jalapeno, and/or leaving the seeds and ribs in when you chop it up.

Fresh Herbs

I use fresh cilantro and green onions, to bring a bunch of colour and bright, clean flavours to the Mexican Street Corn pasta salad.

If you really can’t handle cilantro, you can swap in the same amount of fresh parsley.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Rotini Pasta
Fresh Limes (both lime juice & lime zest)
Granulated Sugar
Ground Black Pepper
Fresh Garlic Cloves
Butter
Salt

... I just don’t really have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through:

Spicy Lime Dressing

In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Esquites Pasta Salad

Use a sharp knife to remove kernels from the corn; place kernels in a large skillet along with the butter, chopped jalapeno (or serrano pepper) and the remaining pressed garlic.

Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until corn kernels are roasty and with a bit of nice char happening. Remove from heat, set aside and allow to cool.

Get a large pot of water boiling, salt it well.

Cook pasta according to package directions - aim for a little past al dente. Drain the cooked pasta and rinse well with cold water until cool.

Gently fold in the dressing, season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Transfer to an airtight container and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Leftovers

Leftover elote pasta salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

It’s best eaten within the first 3 days, though -just give it a quick stir before serving.

More Side Salads!

Looking for more side salad recipes? Here are a few great options for your next BBQ or potluck:

Antipasto Salad
Best Coleslaw EVER!
Canadian Candy Bar Salad
Cold Smoked Potato Salad
Creamy Cucumber Salad
Creamy Dill Pickle Coleslaw
"Extreme" Caesar Salad Recipe
Gramma's Potato Salad
Keto Broccoli Salad
Keto Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Low Carb Cauliflower "Potato" Salad
Mango Salad
Marie's Pasta Salad
No Tomato Quinoa Tabbouleh
Rainbow Salad with Carrot Dressing
Roasted Corn & Potato Salad
Roasted Radish Salad
Wild Rice & Edamame Salad