Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between elote and Mexican street corn? ›

Elote, also known as Mexican street corn, is a popular Mexican street food made from grilled or boiled ears of corn on the cob that is slathered in a creamy mayo sauce and garnished with chili powder, crumbled cotija cheese, and fresh cilantro. The word “elote” means “corn” in Spanish.

What Is Elote? Elote, or Mexican corn on the cob, is a popular street food in Mexico (that's why it's also known as Mexican street corn). Corn on the cob is charred on the grill, slathered with butter and mayonnaise, and finished with salty Cotija cheese.

Mayonnaise – It creates a creamy coating for the corn and helps the other fixings stick. I love the flavor of 100% mayo on elote, but if you prefer, you can sub Mexican crema or sour cream for some or all of it. Fresh lime juice and zest – For brightness.

This Mexican Street Corn recipe is a common Mexican street food that is made by grilling corn on the cob and then coating it with a mixture made up of mayonnaise, sour cream, cotija cheese, chile powder, and lime.

Elote (pronounced: eh-loh-teh) is a dish comprised of cooked sweet corn slathered in a spicy mixture of mayonnaise, crema, and chili powder, and then sprinkled with cheese.

Chili Powder: You can use Tajin, chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder or even a dash of cayenne pepper if you'd like. Keep in mind that cayenne will had quite the kick so you may want to go easy on it. You can also use mild chili powder. Lime Wedges: You can use lime wedges to give it a bit of an acidic pop.

Feta cheese, Quesco fresco and Goat cheese crumbles are the top 3 cotija cheese substitute. Romano cheese is also a good replacement.

Cotija is a Mexican cow's milk cheese named after the town of the same name in the state of Michoacán. It's white in color, firm and dry in texture, and salty and milky in flavor. When it's younger (as in, aged for a shorter amount of time), its texture is akin to that of feta: moist and crumbly.

Feta is one of the best possible substitutes for cotija. It's similarly salty, though it has a slightly stronger flavor than cotija tends to, and less of the fresh milk flavor. It's also similarly crumbly, though you'll find that feta doesn't melt as well as cotija.

The classic seasoning for elote is chili powder, but we have also found that we love it with smoked paprika. So maybe do a few cobs with each and see which one you prefer.

What is Elote dressing made of? ›

A blend of garlic, cilantro, chile powder, mayo, and Cotija cheese in the sauce, plus a final squeeze of lime, makes the corn sweet, salty, savory, nutty, creamy, and tart all at once.

Corn is rich in fiber and carotenoids, which makes it healthy for the gut and eyes.

When dining in Mexico, cooked corn may taste sweeter and fresher because it was just harvested nearby. The closer you are to harvest time with corn, the sweeter it will taste. Eventually the sugars turn to starch. However, a lot of corn eaten in the US may have been harvested nearby as well, and will taste sweet.

This is because street vendors across Mexico serve this deliciousness on a stick, and they've been doing it for a long time. Well, since elotes are corn on the cob that's served on a stick, and since they are traditionally served on a street, the name street corn stuck.

If you're unfamiliar, elote consists of corn on the cob with toppings like mayonnaise, lime juice, queso fresco, chile powder, and a variety of other spices. In Mexico, elote is usually made with white corn instead of the yellow sweet corn typically found in the United States.

If you're unfamiliar, elote consists of corn on the cob with toppings like mayonnaise, lime juice, queso fresco, chile powder, and a variety of other spices. In Mexico, elote is usually made with white corn instead of the yellow sweet corn typically found in the United States.