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This Mexican Street Corn (Elote) Salad includes fresh corn off the cob, Mexican crema, queso fresco, chili powder, cilantro, lime, & kale. It takes all the delicious flavors of delicious Mexican Street Corn and mixes them with fresh kale to create a fresh and flavorful salad.

I love salads and meals with global flavors – one thing I especially love about this Mexican Street Corn (Elote) Salad is that you get all the delicious flavor of street corn, minus the mess, and made a bit healthier by mixing the corn and seasonings with kale. Kale holds up well in salads and doesn’t wilt, so it can withstand all the crema and lime juice. You don’t want to skip them!

When researching methods and ingredients for this recipe, I learned that there are several variations on how to make Mexican street corn – some make it with mayonnaise and some make it with Mexican crema – which is like a table cream (similar flavor to heavy cream but a little thicker). (I love this Cacique brand.) I don’t love the idea of slathering my corn in mayonnaise so I opted to test this recipe with the crema – and it turned out delicious! Sweet corn slathered in cream? Yes please!

Another thing I noticed while researching for this recipe – some elote is made with cotija cheese, and some is made with queso fresco (a mild, creamy crumbling cheese). I am not a huge fan of cotija cheese, so I opted to use queso fresco (this Cacique is my favorite brand) – the combination of the creamy queso fresco with the Mexican crema, the lime juice, and the chili powder is the perfect compliment to the sweet corn. You will love this Mexican Street Corn (Elote) Salad!

You can easily prep the ingredients and dressing for this salad ahead of time, then dress it right when you are about to serve. I like to make the dressing ahead, as well as the corn, then chill those in the fridge for a bit before assembling the salad. This a great salad to bring to friends or gatherings – it is a hit!

Mexican Street Corn (Elote) Salad

Serves 6 people as a main dish or 8-10 as a side dish.

Plum Street Collective

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 7

Assembly Time 5

Serving Size 8

Ingredients

Elote Salad Dressing

3/4 cup Mexican crema (table cream) Can sub heavy cream.
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mexican Street Corn (Elote) Salad Ingredients

4-6 ears corn on the cob
1 bunch kale
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup queso fresco, crumbled
1/2 red onion, diced
2 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, diced
additional chili powder, optional
additional lime juice, optional

Instructions

Begin by making the dressing so you can chill it while making the salad. The dressing can be made right when you start the salad or several hours up to a day ahead of time, and chilled in an airtight container in the fridge.
To make the dressing, whisk all dressing ingredients well and pour into an airtight container. Chill until ready to serve.
Next up, cook the corn cobs in boiling water until bright yellow and just cooked through, about 5-7 minutes.
While the corn is cooing, get your kale ready. The kale will have the best taste and texture if you massage it before building the salad.
Start by ripping the kale off the stems, into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl. Drizzle the 1 teaspoon of olive oil over the kale (it won't seem like a lot but a little goes a long way and you don't want the kale greasy). Then sprinkle the 1/4 teaspoon of salt over the kale.
Using clean hands, gently massage the oil and salt into the kale. Start by mixing the kale well, scooping large sections of kale with your hands and squeezing it / rubbing it.
Then you can even take individual leaves and massage them. It sounds strange but just trust me! It makes the kale taste so much better! No hard crunchy pieces of kale.
Once the kale is massaged and softened, set aside.
Remove the corn from the boiling water using tongs. Let cool for several minutes, then turn each cob on its side and using a sharp knife, cut the corn off the cob. Place into the large salad bowl on top of the bowl.
On top of the corn, add the diced red onion, the green onions, the crumbled queso fresco cheese, and the chopped cilantro. Toss the salad to combine.
Next, pour the dressing over the salad, and mix well to coat all of it. Kale can handle a lot of dressing so add generously!
Once mixed, you can top with additional chili powder and/or lime juice.
Enjoy!
(Stores well in an airtight container for up to 3 days.)

I hope you love this Mexican Street Corn Salad – let me know if you decide to make it too! Click here to see my other salad recipes and tag me with photos if you make this @plumstreetcollective on Instagram. Thanks!