A fresh and simple 6 Ingredient Fresh Corn Salsa Recipe for summer that’s ready in 10 minutes! It features raw corn, peppers, a touch of red onion and a splash of lime juice. We love corn salsa for tacos, but it’s also delicious in bowls, or scoop with tortilla chips. Take the spicy up for a little mouth-burn or keep it mellow!
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A Quick Corn Salsa for Tacos, Bowls and More
It’s the sweet component in this salsa recipe that makes it so delicious in tacos, bowls or shared with tortilla chips. Corn’s naturally sweet flavor balances the spices and ads a toothsome texture that’s hard to resist!
Homemade Mexican Corn Salsa brings home the flavor using fresh, in-season just off the cob sweet corn and jalapeños. There’s BIG flavor to be had for little effort, ready in 10 minutes.
This Recipe Is
- so fresh!
- make ahead ready
- spicy is adjustable to taste
If you love the flavor of Mexican food, and fresh corn recipes, then you’ll enjoy this recipe!
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How to Make Corn Salsa
step by step
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!
About the Key Ingredients
- Fresh Sweet White Corn – raw, right off the cob when in season.
- Red Onion – also known as purple onion, this allium can be a little pungent. If it’s too spicy for your liking, you can soak chopped onion in cold water for about 10 minutes, drain and pat dry. This quells its sharp flavor. Or you can omit red onion and use chopped green onion instead, using the white parts of the onions.
- Green Bell Pepper – mild and not spicy, it adds a nice crunch and flavor to this salsa.
- Jalapeño Peppers – fresh is best in this corn salsa recipe, but you can use pickled jalapenos. Increase or decrease the peppers to taste.
Be bold with that jalapeño, especially with fresh sweet white corn. The sweet balances the heat of jalapeño beautifully!
This salsa is a perfect pairing for tacos and bowls. Try it on these Roasted Cauliflower Tinga Tacos, or try my Shredded Tex Mex Tofu in a bowl with this flavorful salsa!
Traci’s Tips
- More Color: to add a little color to your Mexican corn salsa, use a red bell pepper rather than green, or a mixture of the two.
- Fresh is Best: use fresh, in season corn in this recipe. It’s sweeter than canned or frozen, and its texture is juicy!
- Adjust the Spicy: heat from the jalapeño is completely adjustable here. The seeds and ribs of a jalapeño contain the most heat. Remove them for a milder salsa.
6-Ingredient Mexican Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 grams) Sweet Corn Kernels, cut fresh off the cob, about two ears
- 1/4 cup (35 grams) Red Onion, minced, about 1/4 of a red onion
- 1/3 cup (55 grams) Green or Red Bell Pepper, minced, about 1/2 a bell pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Fresh Jalapeño, minced, fresh or pickled, adjust to taste. remove ribs and seeds to quell the spicy if desired
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Fresh Lime Juice, from about 2 limes
- 3 tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper, optional
Instructions
- Shuck the sweet corn, and use your sharpest knife to remove the niblets. To do this, turn the cob on its end and slice off the kernels in a pie plate so the niblets stay corralled on the plate.
- In a large mixing bowl add the corn kernels (and any corn milk from the fresh corn), red onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Mix well, taste for salt adjustment.
- Refrigerate for at least an our before sharing so the flavors can marry. Up to 24 hours, even better.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Made it? Leave a comment below!
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I made this recipe tonight with turkey tacos and it was delicious! Thanks for a great recipe.
Thank you for your note, Lisalen, and giving the salsa a go!
Thanks for the recipe. I made it with red peppers instead of green That, canned corn, and I added some diced cactus which was from a jar.
I made with ingredients that I had on hand. I would’ve rather used fresh corn, but it came out delicious.
I used it as a salsa for crispy chicken tacos.
Thank you for your note, Melanie! Diced cactus sounds sooo good! I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. SO glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Absolutely delicious and with NO CHEESE! Who knew? I am going to be making chili this week and think I will make another bowl of this side dish and top chili with it. Great recipe. Thanks, Traci
Top chili with it?! Oh my that sounds delicious, Sally! Thank you for your note and giving the salsa a go!
It’s not required to cook the corn first? Just curious as I’ve never made a fresh corn salsa/relish before. Looks absolutely delectable!
Hi Michelle! Thank you! This is absolutely no cook. You won’t believe how sweet and juicy the corn is right off the cob!