Esquites is a creamy Mexican street corn salad that is so easy to make and takes about 15 minutes to make. It is an excellent recipe for the kids as well as my boys really loved them.
When thinking of the alphabet E, the choices were many. I had plans to make Empanada, but that is already made and blogged about. Then I wanted to make something with Ellu (sesame) but had better plans for its usage. That is how I landed on this, Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad.
Everything seemed right about this Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad. I knew the boys would love it. I had all the ingredients that I needed, but I postponed making it for so long.
We traveled all last week. My Elder son sang at a very prestigious Indian Music festival that happens in Cleveland every year and we were gone all week for that.
I came back and the schools remained closed because of the teacher's strike. It just felt that the days were moving so fast and before I knew it I was writing the recipe for alphabet D - Double Ka Meetha.
I learned one thing, never postpone a dish thinking it is an easy one and can be made in a few minutes. You never know what will come and even a pleasurable, easy recipe will feel like a big job.
I quickly made this salad, yesterday for lunch along with roti and Mixed Vegetable Kurma. The boys were really excited to eat the salad, just as I expected, but were very upset that I did not make enough to eat for a snack that afternoon.
That is a good problem to have and I promised the boys that I will make this for their lunch boxes right after school re-opens. Not sure when that is going to happen.
Our districts have declared that the school is still closed on Monday. As I am writing this, I am planning on what to cook on Monday that will satisfy the boys and also work in my favor.
This is a very simple authentic Mexican street food and quick to make. It takes 20 minutes from start to finish and the best part is we can make it year-round using frozen corn kernels.
Once summer is here, I will be making it with fresh corn. If you have canned corn in your pantry, go ahead and use that. It will taste just as good. The only trick to make it taste awesome is to let the corn caramelize and get a light char all around.
Let's check the recipe for Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad. Before that check out what I have been doing for the other alphabets so far -
My Other Posts in the A – Z Explore the Flavors Series
B for Baghrir with Orange Butter Sauce
Preparation time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes
Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Esquites - Serves 3
- Corn kernels - 2 cups (frozen or fresh)
- Oil - 1 tablespoon (olive oil or vegetable oil)
- Jalapeno - 1 tablespoon (deseeded and finely chopped)
- Garlic - 1 clove (finely minced)
- Red chili powder - ½ tsp
- Sour cream - 2 tbsp
- Mexican blend cheese - 2 tbsp
- Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
- Salt - to taste
- Cilantro - 4 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Procedure to make Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad -
- I used frozen corn to make this Salad. Heat a heavy pan, preferably a cast iron pan on medium-high heat.
- Add the oil to the pan and when the oil starts to smoke, add the corn kernels. Mix it well and let it caramelize / roast on one side.
- Then mix it well and let it roast on the other side. I left it for 3 to 4 minutes without disturbing it and then mixed it and did the same until it was uniformly caramelized all over.
- At the end of the cooking time add the minced garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, and salt and mix well. Let it cook for a minute and then turn off the flame.
- Add the sour cream, lemon juice, cilantro, and cheese and mix it well.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes and Observation -
- I used frozen corn kernels to make the Esquites recipe. It worked great. You could use fresh corn kernels or canned ones as well.
- Make sure that you let the corn get a slight char all over. That makes the Esquites very flavorful.
- We could use mayonnaise or Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. We could skip it altogether as well
- The actual recipe calls for crumbly Mexican cotija cheese. Feta would work well as well. I ran out of my feta stock and hence uses Mexican blend cheese.
- Don't skip the chili powder. It adds a zing to the salad.
Other Street-Food Recipes
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Recipe
Esquites | Creamy Mexican Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups Corn kernels frozen or fresh
- 1 tablespoon Oil olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Jalapeno deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 Garlic 1 clove finely minced
- ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 tablespoon Sour cream
- 2 tablespoon Mexican blend cheese
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- Salt to taste
- 4 tablespoon Cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- I used frozen corn to make the this Salad. Heat a heavy pan, preferably a cast iron pan on medium high heat.
- Add the oil to the pan and when the oil starts to smoke, add the frozen corn kernels. Mix it well and let it caramelize / roast on one side. Then mix it well and let it roast on the other side. I left it for 3 to 4 minutes without disturbing and then mixed it and did the same until it was uniformly caramelized all over.
- At the end of the cooking time add the minced garlic, jalapeno, chili powder and salt and mix well. Let it cook for a minute and then turn off the flame.
- Add the sour cream, lemon juice, cilantro and cheese and mix it well.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- I used frozen corn kernels to make this. It worked great. You could use fresh corn kernels or canned ones as well.
- Make sure that you let the corn get a slight char all over. That makes the Esquites very flavorful.
- We could use mayonnaise or Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. We could skip it altogether as well.
- The actual recipe calls for crumbly Mexican cotija cheese. Feta would work well as well. I ran out of my feta stock and hence uses Mexican blend cheese.
- Don't skip the chili powder. It adds a zing to the salad.
Uma says
Sandhya, it looks delicious.
Just a ? If we use frozen corn do we need to thaw the corn?
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Uma, thanks a lot! I just use frozen corn directly. It will cook directly in the pan.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
What a fantastic summer salad. Whenever I think of corn I think of hot days and picnics!! The street dish is filled with delicious flavors. I've never had this street salad before but I'm planning on making it as soon as I can.
Catherine says
This sounds so good! Perfect side for summer cookouts...I will be giving this a try this season. I know my family will love it!
Karyl Henry says
First of all, I'm loving this series you're doing! What a great way to experiment with lots of different foods. And I also love everything with corn. Now that sweet summer corn is starting to make an appearance, I always have it in my kitchen. I'll be pinning this one for sure
swathi says
Mexican street corn are best, I love them Your version looks perfect creamy with lot of flavors. I can eat every day.
Gloria says
LOVE Street Corn EVERYTHING. I just picked some corn up while grocery shopping yesterday. Grilling season is FINALLY here, and we love to cook it outside. I know it would be perfect in this super delicious side dish. Perfect for all the summer parties.
Veena Azmanov says
My son is crazy about anything corn. I must make this for him. I'm a huge fan of Mexican food so this would make a perfect snack for us in our home. Like how colorful and easy this is to make Sandhya. Can't wait to try it soon.
Lauren says
This looks so good! We have a lot of corn in my house, and this is a fun way to try it!
Priya Srinivasan says
Another Mexican salad for today! Looks very colorful sandhya! I can enjoy this as such for dinner, love such simple, no fuss recipes!
Mayuri Patel says
You're so right Sandhya, don't postpone what can be done now. Work from nowhere tends to appear and then what we had postponed gets ahead of us and it becomes difficult to complete tasks on time. I love your esquites with sour cream. Never tasted it but will try it out soon.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Agree with you sandhya about not postponing the recipe. Sometimes the simple ones will sodapify to core. This salad looks inviting and those colorful bowls are cute.
sapana says
Warm corn salad is something I love the most and this creamy Mexican style salad is just calling my name. I am literally drooling Sandhya.
Padmajha PJ says
That is a beautiful and delicious salad Sandhya! No wonder teh kids wanted more. Saw this on Kalyanis blog as well. I am planning to make this as my kids love sweet corn.
Srivalli says
Yea this would have been good but for another day for me, I was so glad I made the empadas..though this would have been equally loved!
sharmila kingsly says
The serveware looks so cute..with sweetcorn in it im definitely doing this..
harini says
I bet this one is as addictive as it sounds. My kids love corn in any form and I am sure they would love this as well. Shall make it for them this weekend 🙂
Manjula Bharath says
Omg !! these Caramalised corn salad looks just fantastic, what a wonderful choice for the letter E sandhya.. This looks like such an addictive salad, and am tempted.. Such proud moment sandhya congratulations to you and your son, this is a perfect treat for them. Agree Deciding what to cook for lunch boxes is a task for sure..
Sandhiya ThirumalaiKumar says
Corn Salad looks so creamy and delicious. Really like the flavors get into this salad and i'm sure that i will love it. Have a couple of corn at refrigerator, will give it a try !!
Pavani says
What an addictive snack this is Sandhya. We all corn in any shape or form in my house and this looks a delicious dish to make for them. In fact I had Esquites listed out for one of the weeks but it didn't make the short list. Now I'm thinking may be I should put it back 'cos it's so easy to make and seems to be a crowd pleaser.
Gayathri Kumar says
Delicious creamy corn salad. I am sure my daughter who is a great fan of corn would love it.
Kalyani says
Same pinch, Sandhya ! I made this for E as well 🙂 and yup it’s a treat by itself to dig into that warm salad .. addition of sour cream looks
Interesting ..
Priya Suresh says
Am just drooling over that bowl of delicious corn salad, i have some weakness for corn kernels. Now am so much tempted to make this Esquites as soon as possible.
Vaishali Sabnani says
The corn salad is a delicious , an all time hit salad with both kids and adults. I know one should always make a big batch of this salad as you just cant stop eating. it truly is addictive. I love the ingredients going in this corn salad which will make it so amazing. Fantastic pick for the alphabet and so well presented. Drooling Sandhya:))