Mexican street corn turns into the most delicious dip (salsa? salad?) ever! Fresh and stuffed with flavor, chips are completely optional. Just grab a spoon and dig in! This is my favorite dip to take so summer parties. As soon as I see corn on sale (peak season!) I know the dip is in my future.
My friend Ryan aptly named this “Really Good Corn On The Cobb Salsa” which I’m going to keep as an alternative title.
When I was younger, I was lucky enough to go on family vacations to Mexico. I loved buying cups of corn (“elote en vaso”) from ladies selling it on the street. (To this day, I remain a street food fiend. More on this in a future post, I’m sure.) This corn dip may be inspired by its younger days in Mexico, but now it’s all grown up, tricked out, and showing off brand new kicks. There are a lot of flavors going on here, but they marry together perfectly.
Marriage, and this dip:
I love this dip so much I decided to have it as an appetizer at my wedding. (We had a backyard wedding which sounds like a lot of fun, but it also means that you need to pick out and arrange every single component. It was an incredible amount of work which I may still be recovering from.) For some reason I imagined that the morning of my wedding would be super relaxing with me and my bridesmaids hanging out, laughing, and drinking champagne. We certainly did hang out and laugh, but unfortunately the champagne never happened because we were too busy tying balloons, arranging tables, and… making this dip. Yes, on the day I got married I also made all of the appetizers for our guests. I wanted them to be fresh and delicious. I have issues.
Our official wedding menus! This photo was taken a few days afterward, hence the very dead sunflower.
Anyway, this dip was a mega hit and came with a lot of requests for the recipe, even though I completely forgot to add mango. The horror. Too much stress. So many balloons to arrange. Too much hair and makeup to take care of. The mangos remained somewhere completely forgotten. But, it is so good that people loved it even though it was missing mangos on my wedding day.
If you take this to a party, make sure you keep some at home for yourself. It is SO good thrown on top of tacos or as a salad topping.
Pro tips for making this even better:
- Use fresh sweet summer corn if available! It has more flavor than frozen corn, but frozen will work in a pinch.
- If you have a Mexican or Middle Eastern grocery store near you, definitely check out their fresh bulk cheese section. The flavor of their feta or queso fresco is out of control good.
- You can certainly use frozen mango, but fresh ataulfo mangos (the small yellow ones) are my favorite for this dish. I find them to be sweeter and not stringy like their red counterparts.
Just look at this dip! Make it stat! You will not regret it.
Roasted Mexican Corn Dip
Mexican street corn turns into the ultimate fresh and delicious dip packed with flavor!
Ingredients
- 5 ears fresh summer corn (about 4 cups)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 fresh cilantro, chopped
- 6 green onions, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
- 1/2 avocado, diced
- 4 tbsp fresh lime juice about 2 limes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp whole milk yogurt or sour cream
- 2 tbsp avocado oil mayonnaise
- 1 mango, chopped
- 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese or feta
Instructions
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Cut all corn off of the cob. Heat butter in large skilled over high heat. Once melted, add corn and cook for 4-6 minutes or until kernels have a few char marks. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for a few minutes.
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Add all chopped ingredients to the bowl with the corn.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together lime juice, yogurt, mayonnaise, and spices. Top with additional cheese if desired and serve!
Recipe Notes
Use fresh summer corn if it's available! It is also possible to use frozen corn. Ataulfo mangos (the small yellow ones) are my favorite for this recipe because of their sweet flavor.
Recipe adapted from Jo Cooks.
Hey you! I have a hunch you’re really going to like this vegetarian pasta salad loaded with summer veggies.
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