Our delicious and super easy Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad is great to serve at your summer party or any time of the year. It’s a crowd-pleaser, with fresh veggies, corn and a new take on a regular pasta salad. Psst! We also have a loaded version down below for those who like things a lil’ bit extra. Both make a great side to bring along to your next backyard barbecue get together. Enjoy!
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
When summertime arrives we all know what time it is, right? With the warm weather comes some of our favorite foods like barbecue meats and veggies, icebox frozen pies, and of course anything that resembles a taco. And speaking of tacos we are making our Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad. Yeah, we know it’s so not a taco, it does have a lot of the same ingredients. Essentially, we’ve made a blinged-out pasta salad with solid foodie street cred. Let’s see, in our loaded version, there are black beans, fresh off of the cob sweet corn, both green and red bell peppers, jalapeños, cheese, red onion, fresh cilantro, and Ditali pasta. And because this is a definite nod to Mexican street corn there’s also mayo and chili lime seasoning. I also tossed in some cucumbers because they were in the fridge and I had to use them so there’s that.
Any good pasta salad begins with pasta and in this case, I used Ditali No. 55 pasta. I like this pasta because they look super dope, and secondly, I love the barrel shape because it allows all of the goodness to get inside and become little flavor bombs. Prepare the pasta first and after draining off the water using a colander put the pasta into a bowl and toss those little suckers with a tablespoon of EVOO. After, place the bowl of the pasta into the fridge to chill until you’re ready to mix the pasta with the other ingredients.
Next, grab four cobs of sweet corn and your corn peeler and let it do its thing. After, place those little golden kernels into a skillet and toss in a half stick of unsalted butter and pan-fry the corn until the kernels are soft. At this time you can also add a little bit of flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns. Spoon the corn into the bowl with the pasta and return it to the fridge.
Now, it’s time to add some fresh cilantro. The use of cilantro absolutely ties this dish to its Mexican roots and like so many dishes cilantro has a way of freshening up and brightening a dish so it can live it’s best life!
Another indispensable ingredient is the chili and lime seasoning, you absolutely shouldn’t refer to Mexican street corn if you aren’t going to use chili and lime seasoning.
Although adding crumbled thick-cut bacon isn’t an ingredient in traditional Mexican street corn I think being a rule breaker isn’t always a bad thing at all, plus it elevates this recipe to new heights!
At this point, things are coming together quite nicely but there one more thing I need to add and that’s the cheese, using freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano makes this recipe soar.
How to make Mexican Corn Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pasta
- 3-4 cobs of sweet corn with the kernels removed
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chili-lime seasoning
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 of a fresh lime
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Sprigs of fresh parsley and cilantro for garnish
- crumbled bacon (optional)
How to make a Loaded Mexican Corn Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pound Ditali pasta no. 55 cooked and strained (elbow macaroni works well too)
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 3-4 sweet corn on the cob with the kernels removed
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 1/2 cups mayo
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped with the seeds and ribs removed
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped with the seeds and ribs removes
- 2 jalapeños diced with the seeds and ribs removed
- 1/4 cup cucumbers, with the skin, partially removed
- 2 tablespoons chili lime seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Directions:
- Prep the veggies ahead of time up to a day or cut them up fresh. Do what is convenient for you.
- Remove the corn from the cob and sauté with a 1/2 stick of unsalted butter over med-high heat using a skillet. Cook for about five minutes adding flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns to taste, remove from heat and allow the corn to cool.
- Cook pasta following the instructions on the package adding a pinch of sea salt to the boiling water, cook until al dente then strain off excess, transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat pasta to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
- Add to the pasta the mayo, olive oil, chili lime seasoning, and fresh lime juice. Mix well.
- Fold in the chopped cilantro, corn kernels, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and mix until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Place into a serving bowl to chill for thirty (30) minutes to chill.
- Serve.
*For the Loaded Mexican Pasta Salad fold in the green and red peppers, diced jalapeños, cucumbers, black beans, and shredded cheese and continue to mix well until the ingredients and thoroughly combined.
Ingredients
- How to make Mexican Corn Salad
- Ingredients:
- 1 pound pasta
- 3-4 cobs of sweet corn with the kernels removed
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chili-lime seasoning
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 of a fresh lime
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Sprigs of fresh parsley and cilantro for garnish
- crumbled bacon optional
Instructions
- Prep the veggies ahead of time up to a day or cut them up fresh. Do what is convenient for you.
- Remove the corn from the cob and sauté with a 1/2 stick of unsalted butter over med-high heat using a skillet. Cook for about five minutes adding flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns to taste, remove from heat and allow the corn to cool.
- Cook pasta following the instructions on the package adding a pinch of sea salt to the boiling water, cook until al dente then strain off excess, transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat pasta to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
- Add to the pasta the mayo, olive oil, chili lime seasoning, and fresh lime juice. Mix well.
- Fold in the chopped cilantro, corn kernels, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and mix until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Place into a serving bowl to chill for thirty (30) minutes to chill.
Video
Notes
pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
3-4 sweet corn on the cob with the kernels removed
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 1/2 cups mayo
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped with the seeds and ribs removed
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped with the seeds and ribs removes
2 jalapeños diced with the seeds and ribs removed
1/4 cup cucumbers, with the skin, partially removed
2 tablespoons chili lime seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Find more easy recipes for a summer cookout
Cucumber & Pasta Salad Sushi
Deconstructed Mini Pasta Salad with Lemon & Dill Dressing
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