A crowd pleasing appetizer, this Elote Dip recipe (Mexican street corn dip) comes together in about 20 minutes. It highlights flavors of Mexican street corn, creamy, salty and sweet, in a sharable appetizer form! Elote Dip features grilled (or pan) charred sweet corn, zesty lime juice, spices, a creamy sour cream base and seasonings finished with cotija cheese and fresh cilantro. Share with tortilla chips for a tasty appetizer.
A Summer Elote Dip for Sharing
As a satisfying dip, or side, this elote appetizer recipe is shared off the cop with tortilla chips, an ideal vehicle for scooping up this creamy, spicy, sweet and salty snack. And, it’s absolutely delicious!
Summer is peak season for sweet corn, so it’s a perfect time to fire up the grill (or stove), shuck some corn and make this elote recipe! This recipe is so tasty, I turned it into a sharable Creamy Street Corn Pasta Salad side dish. We can’t get enough!
This Recipe Is
- salty, spicy, sweet
- share warm or chilled
- appetizer or side
If you’re a fan of recipes with corn, you’re going to flip for this tasty summer appetizer!
About the Key Ingredients
- Fresh Corn – authentic elote is made with field corn which is chewier, and not as sweet as what we’re used to here in the US (Rick Bayless). For this recipe, we’re using sweet corn which is widely available and, well, it’s just SO good with the spicy, salty flavors of classic elote. Look for fresh corn with the husks on.
- Pickled Jalapeños – just a few pepper rings offer a hint of background spice that’s not overwhelming. You can use fresh if preferred.
- Spices – spices balance the sweet corn, tangy lime juice and sour cream. I include ancho chili powder, cumin and smoky paprika. Plain chili powder may be subbed for ancho.
- Crumbled Cotija Cheese – adds a salty, milky flavor to this elote appetizer. Because it’s salty, you’ll notice their’s no added salt in the recipe, so salt to taste. Look for cotija in the specialty cheese section of your local grocery store.
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How to Make Mexican Street Corn Dip
step by step
For best flavor and texture, use fresh, in season sweet corn. Look for white queen corn or other sweet corn that’s firm with bright green tightly wrapped husks.
To remove niblets from the cob, stand cob on end in a pie plate and slice down the cob, allowing the cob to guide your knife for cutting the kernels off the cob. The pie plate catches the corn kernels making clean up a snap!
“I made this for a party and it disappeared QUICKLY. It’s been a long time since I’ve found a recipe that everyone loves. I’m going to make this again, and will probably have to double the recipe this time!”
~ Brianna
What to Serve with Elote Dip
Mexican street corn dip is versatile and goes with just about any summer food fare. Here are some ideas to get you going:
- Main Dishes: This zesty appetizer goes with all things BBQ. Try my BBQ Tofu Kebabs or Grilled BBQ Cauliflower Bowls. Elote dip is also delicious, shared as a side salad (saladita) with Artichoke Chickpea ‘Vegan’ Crab Cakes or Mexican Style Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
- Dinner Salads: If going for a no-cook dinner salad, Mexican corn dip is ideal for sharing as a side dip with these hearty dinner salads:
Traci’s Tips
- Make Ahead – you can make Elote Dip up to two days ahead. Store it in the fridge, covered. Rest at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving so the fats soften.
- Warm or Chilled – delicious shared warm, cool the cobs slightly, then slice the corn kernels off the cob. Stir the kernels with the creamy dressing, salt to taste and share. You can also serve the dip chilled, just give it about 10 minutes at room temperature before sharing so the fats have a little time to soften.
20 Minute Easy Elote Dip (Mexican Street Corn Dip)
A crowd pleasing appetizer, this easy Elote Dip (Mexican street corn dip) comes together in about 20 minutes. It captures the creamy, salty and sweet flavors of Mexican street corn in a sharable appetizer! Elote Dip features grilled sweet corn, zesty lime juice, spices and seasonings finished with cotija cheese and fresh cilantro. Share with tortilla chips for a tasty appetizer.This recipe yields about 4 cups (630 grams).
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Ingredients
- 6 Ears of Sweet Corn, small to medium in size, shucked, silk removed
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) Mayonnaise, I use Vegenaise
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) Sour Cream
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice, about 1 1/2 juicy limes
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Pickled Jalapeño Rings, chopped fine, adjust more or less to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Ancho Chili Powder, or Chili Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoky Paprika
- 1/2 cup (70 grams) Cotija Cheese, crumbled *see notes
- 1/3 cup (10 grams) Fresh Cilantro, chopped fine
Instructions
Grill the Corn:
- Prepare the grill by oiling the grates with a high heat oil like avocado oil. Turn the grill on to preheat on highest setting and preheat for about five minutes. Alternatively, see notes below to cook the corn on the stove top.Now's a good time to whip up the dressing (see below).
- Place the corn on the grill and allow the kernels to char, rotating every few minutes as needed until all sides are lightly charred, about 8-15 minutes. Grills vary in their heat, so keep an eye on the charring.
- When the corn cobs are just cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off the cob.
Make the Creamy Dressing:
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the mayo, sour cream, lime juice, garlic, jalapeños, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, paprika, and cheese in a large mixing bowl.
Make the Dip:
- Into the mixing bowl with the dressing, add the corn kernels and cilantro. Stir throughly so that all the kernels are covered with a bit of dressing. Taste for salt adjustment – note there's no added salt in this recipe due to the addition of salty cheese *see note.
- Share warm or chilled with tortilla chips. If serving after being refrigerated, allow dip to set at room temperature for about 10 minutes so that the fats soften.
- Store in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Video
Notes
Skillet Charred Corn: you can use a skillet (use a cast iron skillet if you can) to achieve a similar charred corn result. Here’s what to do: cut the corn kernels off the cob and gently pan fry in a bit of oil over medium high heat, allowing the corn to set before stirring so that it has time to char on one side, about 2 minutes. Toss, then continue cooking until the kernels are lightly charred, or about 8-10 minutes total. Stir the kernels into the creamy ingredients.
*Cotija Cheese may be subbed with: Queso Fresco – similar to cotija and often used interchangeably in elote recipes, it’s softer and has a milder flavor than cotija. Feta Cheese – a salty cheese and softer than cotija and queso fresco, but the flavor profile is similar. Parmesan Cheese – use grated Parmesan and a bit less of it as it’s quite salty.
Make it Dairy Free – For a vegan version, try vegan Parmesan (use a bit less than called for in the recipe or to taste as it’s salty!) or Feta cheese, and sub either vegan sour cream or use all vegan mayonnaise.
Recipe adapted with guidance from Rick Bayless.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 351mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 611IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
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Hey traci..
How many cups of corn does this usually require? No time to grill so cheating w/tjs frozen grilled corn kernels. Ty
Hi Amy! One medium ear of corn yields about 1ish cup of corn kernels, so for this recipe, I estimate about 6 1/2 – 7 cups of corn kernels.
My least favorite elote dip, sad it didn’t turn out even nearly as good as any of my other recipes I’ve tried, friends were all disappointed, expecting a much better elote dip
I’m sorry to hear this didn’t meet your expectations, Susan. Were there any ingredient substitutions made?
I made this for a party and it disappeared QUICKLY. It’s been a long time since I’ve found a recipe that everyone loves. I’m going to make this again, and will probably have to double the recipe this time! I followed the elote ingredients as listed except used a lot more cotija cheese.
Hii Brianna! Thank you for your note and giving the elote dip a go. Hooray for a satisfying dip everyone enjoyed!
This Elote Dip was delicious. I had feta cheese on hand, so I used that. I also had Mexican Crema on hand, so I used it instead of Sour Cream.
Hi Victoria! Hooray for a tasty dip. Thank you for sharing your tips and five star rating!
Thank you for offering way to char corn without using the grill. I will try this when local sweet corn comes available in Ohio.