93 minutes•Easy•Serves 12
Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad)
By @chef1
A flavorful Mexican street corn salad with grilled corn, mayonnaise, Cotija cheese, and chili powder.
Recipe Rating
Not yet rated by chefs
Ingredients
- ●8 ears Corn on the cob, husked
- ●1/4 cup Vegetable oil
- ●1 medium White onion, finely chopped
- ●2 cloves Garlic, minced
- ●1-2 Jalapeño, seeded and minced
- ●1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- ●1/4 cup Sour cream or Mexican crema
- ●1/2 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
- ●1/4 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
- ●2 limes Lime juice
- ●to taste Chili powder
- ●to taste Salt
- ●to taste Black pepper
Instructions
- 1Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Brush corn with vegetable oil and grill, turning occasionally, until kernels are lightly charred (about 10-12 minutes). Alternatively, roast in a 400°F oven for about 20 minutes.
- 2Let the corn cool slightly, then cut the kernels off the cob.
- 3Heat remaining vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and jalapeño (if using) and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- 4In a large bowl, combine the corn kernels, sautéed onion mixture, mayonnaise, sour cream, Cotija cheese, and cilantro. Stir well to combine.
- 5Add lime juice, chili powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
- 6Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- Mexican
- Category
- Side dish
- Preparation
- 31 minutes
- Cooking
- 30 minutes
Estimated total: 93 minutes. Planning estimate: stated duration ranges use their midpoint; standard preparation, heating and handling allowances are included. Overlapping tasks are counted once. Resting/chilling is included in total time.
How these estimates were calculated
- Prepare ingredients: 10 min planning allowance (vegetable_prep)
- Brush corn with oil: 5 min planning allowance (simple_prep)
- Preheat grill: 3 min planning allowance (pan_preheat)
- Cool corn: 5 min planning allowance (brief_cool)
- Cut corn kernels: 10 min planning allowance (vegetable_prep)
- Preheat skillet: 3 min planning allowance (pan_preheat)
- Sauté garlic and jalapeño: 8 min planning allowance (saute)
- Combine ingredients: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Season salad: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Chop onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro; juice limes; crumble cheese.
- Brush corn with vegetable oil.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
- Grill corn until lightly charred.
- Let corn cool slightly.
- Cut kernels off the cob.
- Heat remaining vegetable oil in a large skillet.
- Cook onion until softened.
- Cook garlic and jalapeño until fragrant.
- Combine corn, sautéed mixture, mayonnaise, sour cream, Cotija, cilantro.
- Add lime juice, chili powder, salt, and pepper; adjust seasoning.
- Refrigerate to meld flavors.
- Corn on the cob, husked: USDA ear, medium (6-3/4" to 7-1/2" long) yields portion weight
- Raw corn reference used for corn that will be grilled. Assumed medium size for 8 ears.
- Vegetable oil: USDA cup portion weight
- Full amount of oil included; not explicitly drained.
- White onion, finely chopped: USDA medium (2-1/2" dia) portion weight
- Assumed medium size for 1 onion.
- Garlic, minced: USDA clove portion weight
- Assumed 2 medium cloves of garlic.
- Jalapeño, seeded and minced: USDA pepper portion weight
- Jalapeño, seeded and minced: Midpoint of stated quantity range
- Assumed 1.5 medium peppers for '1-2' jalapeños.
- Mayonnaise: USDA cup portion weight
- Generic regular mayonnaise used.
- Sour cream or Mexican crema: USDA cup portion weight
- Generic cultured sour cream used as the first option for 'Sour cream or Mexican crema'.
- Cotija cheese, crumbled: USDA tsp portion weight
- Portion adjusted to 0.5 cup from 2 tsp reference.
- Fresh cilantro, chopped: USDA cup portion weight
- Generic raw cilantro leaves used.
- Lime juice: USDA lime yields portion weight
- Assumed 2 limes yield juice.
- Chili powder: USDA tsp portion weight
- Chili powder: Seasoning allowance: 1/4 tsp per 4 servings
- 'To taste' dry spice estimated as 1/4 tsp per 4 servings, totaling 0.75 tsp for 12 servings.
- Unweighed Salt: only documented zero nutrients included
- Black pepper: USDA tsp, ground portion weight
- Black pepper: Seasoning allowance: 1/4 tsp per 4 servings
- 'To taste' dry spice estimated as 1/4 tsp per 4 servings, totaling 0.75 tsp for 12 servings.
- Corn on the cob, husked: 816 g · USDA reference 169998
- Vegetable oil: 54.5 g · USDA reference 172370
- White onion, finely chopped: 110 g · USDA reference 170000
- Garlic, minced: 6 g · USDA reference 169230
- Jalapeño, seeded and minced: 21 g · USDA reference 168576
- Mayonnaise: 110 g · USDA reference 171009
- Sour cream or Mexican crema: 57.5 g · USDA reference 171257
- Cotija cheese, crumbled: 60 g · USDA reference 170898
- Fresh cilantro, chopped: 4 g · USDA reference 169997
- Lime juice: 88 g · USDA reference 168156
- Chili powder: 2.03 g · USDA reference 171319
- Salt: documented zero nutrients only · USDA reference 173468
- Black pepper: 1.73 g · USDA reference 170931
esquites · corn · Cotija · lime
Estimated nutrition per serving
196 calories · 3.7 g protein · 15.1 g carbohydrate · 14.8 g fat · 1.7 g fiber
Source and basis: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (2018), ingredient-based calculation per serving. Standard USDA portion weights; all listed ingredient mass included before cooking losses. Nutrients with incomplete inputs omitted. Full ingredient matches and assumptions below.
Recipe Context
This recipe was created with the following context in mind:
Monday
dinner
summer
Requested: 8 min
1 person