Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

Our Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad has all of the flavors I love from Mexican street corn tucked inside a simple macaroni salad! Charred corn, queso fresco, chili powder, and sour cream make this Mexican pasta salad a must for any summer meal.

I am utterly obsessed with Mexican flavors, but the truth is that I live in the middle of America and only get to visit Mexico on vacation every few years.

Most of our Mexican recipes are truly just inspired by the Mexican flavors that we find at the local restaurants. We’re not creating the most authentic foods, but let me tell ya…they are darn tasty. (Our easy Mexican rice is a major fav!)

Mexican street corn is a favorite of mine. Have you ever had Mexican street corn? It’s grilled corn, coated in either mayonnaise or sour cream, spiced up with a little chili powder, and rolled in cheese. It’s to die for.

We’ve shared our recipe for Air Fryer Street Corn and Esquites before. (Esquites is street corn that’s been cut off the cob and is eaten with a fork or spoon.)

I took all of those flavors and turned it into a pasta salad. Is this something you’d find in Mexico? Literally no idea, but my guess is no. Does that mean it’s not utterly delicious? No way…this stuff is AMAZING. 🙂 We love fusion foods!

Ingredient Notes:

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Pasta – This Mexican macaroni salad starts with, you guessed it, macaroni! Any brand is fine, or use a different shaped pasta if you have a preference. Farfalle, rotini, and shells would all work fine.

Corn – It’s hard to beat fresh sweet corn when making a cold summer salad recipe. You’ll char it first for extra flavor before cutting it and adding it to the salad! You could also use frozen corn here, but we love the flavor of fresh.

Pasta Salad Dressing – You’ll prepare this creamy dressing using some mayonnaise, sour cream, diced jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, and salt. That’s a whole lot of flavor!

Lime Juice – To finish off the dressing and add some more Mexican flavors you’ll add some freshly squeezed lime juice!

Queso Fresco – Get yourself some crumbled queso fresco cheese to add to this Mexican street corn salad. Cotija also works well.

Cilantro – Just about all of my favorite Mexican recipes include cilantro, and this one is no exception! You’ll add it in with the crumbled cheese. Hate cilantro? Swap in parsley.

How to Make Mexican Street Corn Salad:

Char: You’ll start this summer corn salad with some fresh corn on the cob! You can either grill the corn or pop it in a hot skillet and char the corn. You can do this with frozen corn as well, though it does take a bit longer.

Cut: Once the corn is cooked how you’d like, just use a sharp knife or corn peeler to cut the kernels off the cob.

Combine: Add the charred corn to a bowl of cooked macaroni, minced jalapeno, mayonnaise, sour cream, chili powder, cumin, salt, and lime juice.

Chill & Serve: After mixing the Mexican corn salad together you can pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours. When the cold macaroni salad is ready give it a quick stir and then toss in some cilantro and crumbled queso fresco.

Stir it up again, taste, and add more seasoning if needed. I usually give it another squirt of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt.

That’s it! Your Mexican street corn pasta salad is done and ready to serve!

What To Serve With Mexican Pasta Salad:

• Chili’s Salsa Recipe: Look, it’s the best salsa out there. Don’t deny it.

• Crockpot Chicken Tacos: I make these allllll the time. They’re perfectly seasoned.
• Mexican Cheese Dip: No Velveeta in this one!
• Crockpot Chicken Fajitas: So easy and always a hit!
• Fajita Burgers: Who doesn’t love a good burger recipe?

FAQs:

• Baked Loaded Potato Salad
• Chicken Salad with Grapes
• Ramen Noodle Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad
• Deviled Egg Potato Salad