Mexican Street Corn Recipe (Authentic Elotes)

Several grilled elotes Mexican street corn on the cob sprinkled with Cotija cheese on a platter.

5 from 1 vote

Mexican Street Corn Recipe (Authentic Elotes)

Authentic Mexican street corn recipe aka elotes is fire grilled and brushed with a creamy cilantro sauce sprinkled with Cotija cheese.

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Total Time28

Course: Side Dishes & Vegetables

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: authentic elotes, Elotes, Mexican corn, Mexican street corn

Servings:

Calories: 139kcal

Author: Lisa Hatfield

Equipment

Ingredients

elotes

6 ears fresh corn silks removed, husks tied
1 cup creamy cilantro mayonnaise sauce
¼ cup Cotija cheese to spinkle on top
1 pinch chile powder or cayenne pepper
¼ cup chopped cilantro garnish
2 limes sliced for garnish

creamy cilantro sauce

¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ serrano chili fine diced, seeds removed-THESE ARE HOT!
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

creamy cilantro sauce

In a food processor, blend the mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, serrano chile, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt.
Blend until well combined, place in a bowl and chill until ready to use.

prep the elote

Remove all the silks off the corn under running water. Pull the husks back from each ear of corn.
Tie with cotton kitchen string and or a long piece of husk to hold the husks back from the corn kernels.
Dip or briefly soak the corn with tied husks in water, to help prevent husks and cotton string from burning on the grill.

grill the elote

Preheat your grill, gas or charcoal, to 500 degrees so the flames are at a medium high heat. That means It is hot enough when you can hold your hand above grill for only one second.
Grill corn 2 minutes per side, about 8 minutes total. Rotate until all sides have char marks. If the husks burn, just move till the flame goes out. Keep the lid open so you can keep an eye on them and rotate.
Remove from the grill onto a platter, and brush the cilantro sauce all over the corn. Sprinkle with cotija cheese, and a pinch of chile powder. Garnish with chopped cilantro and lime wedges. It's nice to squeeze a lime over the corn too!

Notes

corn

Be sure to buy nice fresh sweet corn, I prefer a light yellow summer sweet corn. Be sure to clean the corn well, remove all the silks, and keep the husks on.

You will want to dip the husks in the water right before grilling to reduce the chance of them burning on the grill over the fire.

Elote Variations

All of the ingredients for Mexican corn are easy to find in your local grocery store. To make a more authentic elote recipe, use Mexican crema, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

swap out mayo for Mexican crema, although mayo is commonly used
you can swap out mayo for American sour cream
serrano chiles are usually very hot, only use ½ of a serrano in this recipe. You could also substitute a jalapeno.
for the non-cilantro fans, you can substitute flat-leaf parsley in place of cilantro
sprinkle of chili powder - use chile de árbol (hot), hatch chile (hot), paprika, or a tiny pinch of spicy cayenne if you like it hot!
good substitutes for fresh Cotija cheese are either feta cheese, parmesan cheese, or Romano.
drizzle hot sauce from Mexico of your choice, like Tapatio or Cholula

Nutrition