This Mexican Street Corn and Kale Slaw is the perfect summer side or taco topping! Grilled sweet corn is cut off the cob and then tossed with shredded kale, cotija cheese, and a tangy ancho-lime dressing for a fun spin on the classic Mexican street corn recipe.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Mexican Street Corn Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make This Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More of Our Best Slaw Recipes
- Mexican Street Corn and Kale Slaw Recipe
This recipe is…
No doubt you’ve noticed the elotes (AKA Mexican street corn) craze that’s made its way north of the border in the last decade. There’s just something special about slathering grilled corn on the cob with rich mayo, salty cotija cheese, tangy lime juice, bright cilantro, and a good sprinkling of chili powder. The unique combination of sweet and spicy — creamy and spicy — is totally addictive!
This recipe takes the flavors of the popular street snack and spins them off into a healthy kale slaw. It’s great eaten on its own as a side dish, but can easily be turned into a main dish with the addition of a protein like grilled chicken or chili-dusted shrimp. It also makes a *delicious* topping for tacos — especially our Carne Asada, Shredded Chicken, Crispy Black Bean Tacos, Carnitas, or Al Pastor tacos.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Combines the flavors of Mexican street corn with vitamin-packed kale
- A perfect veggie side dish or main dish
- Makes a delicious taco topper!
- Great summer grilling recipe
- About 200 calories and 3g of saturated fat per serving
Mexican Street Corn Recipe Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to throw together this flavor-packed slaw. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Fresh corn on the cob – remove the corn silk, but leave the husks on, to protect the delicate kernels on the grill
- Mayo – we like avocado mayo, especially for this Mexican-inspired recipe
- Ancho chili powder – 1 ½ teaspoons adds just the right level of heat
- Garlic powder – ¼ teaspoon is all you need
- Lime juice – gives this slaw brightness and helps soften the kale
- Kale – we used lacinato kale, AKA dinosaur kale
- Cilantro – we call for ½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro
- Cheese – either cotija cheese or queso fresco will taste great in this recipe!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here are some easy ways you can tweak this recipe to your liking:
- No grill…or no time to grill? – feel free to boil or steam the corn, or swap in thawed frozen corn instead.
- Choose your greens – we like to use lacinato kale for this recipe because this sturdy green holds up best to the corn and dressing. But you could also use other types of kale, Swiss chard, spinach, or other greens.
- Chili powder – if you don’t have ancho chili powder on hand, you can use chipotle chili powder or chili-lime seasoning instead.
How to Make This Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe
Here’s what you’ll need to do to make this slaw:
Step 1: Grill the corn. This is the most time-consuming part of the recipe, and while you can boil the corn or use frozen instead, we encourage you not to skip it because the roasted corn is so flavorful!
You can remove the silk from the corn, but leave the husks on, and grill it over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, then remove it from heat and let it cool. (Or, if you like more char, remove them both and grill them straight on the grates.) Once cool, you’ll remove the husks and cut the kernels off the cob.
Step 2: Make the dressing. Simply mix together mayo, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder and you’re good to go.
Step 3: Shred the kale. The key is slicing the kale very thinly, just like you would with cabbage.
Add the kale corn, kale, fresh cilantro, cotija cheese, and dressing to a bowl, then toss it all together to combine.
Recipe Tips
- Making this recipe ahead of time? – To keep the kale fresh, wait until you’re ready to serve before tossing it with the dressing.
- Bulk it up – if you want to turn this slaw from a side into a full meal, bulk it up with grilled chicken, shrimp, or tofu.
How to Serve
Once you’ve tossed the slaw, you’re ready to serve. The kale will hold up to a few hours in advance. Or, if you want to make it further in advance you can combine everything and keep the dressing on the side, then toss the kale and dressing when you’re ready to eat.
How to Store and Reheat
If you’re not going to eat the slaw right away, store the kale and dressing separately. It will keep in the fridge for a couple days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Elotes, AKA Mexican street corn, is grilled corn on the cob that gets slathered with a delicious combination of creamy, spicy, and tangy toppings. The popular treat is served at markets throughout Mexico.
There’s just something about the unique blend of garlic, cilantro, chili powder, mayo, and Cotija cheese in the sauce, plus a final squeeze of lime, makes the corn sweet, salty, savory, nutty, creamy, and tart…all at once.
Cotija, a white cheese that’s named for a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán, is probably the most popular cheese to use when making elotes.
When cotija is fresh, it’s moist, salty, crumbly, and firm — which is why it’s often compared to feta. But as it ages and it becomes harder, more crumbly, and stronger in flavor, it begins to resemble Parmigiano-Reggiano.
For that reason, there are several cheeses that can be substituted for cotija cheese, including queso fresco, feta, pecorino-Romano, grana padano, and Parmigiano-reggiano.
More of Our Best Slaw Recipes
If you tried this recipe for Mexican Street Corn and Kale Slaw, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Mexican Street Corn and Kale Slaw
Ingredients
- 4 ears corn, silks removed and husks on*
- 1/2 cup avocado oil mayo
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ancho chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 head lacinato kale, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup queso fresco or cotija cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
- Once the grill is hot, place the corn on the grill and cook for 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so, until fully cooked. Remove corn from the grill and let cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, chili powder, garlic powder, lime juice, and water.
- Slice the corn off of the cob, then add to a large bowl along with the kale, cilantro, queso fresco, and dressing and toss to combine. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- If you want to skip making the corn, you can substitute 3 cups frozen corn.
- If you are making this ahead of time, leave the dressing on the side and toss with the dressing before serving.
Nutrition
If using frozen corn, should you let it thaw first before combining?
Yes, let it thaw first, Ashley!
This was absolutely delicious and paired great with your BBQ salmon kabobs! I was looking for a way to use up some garden kale and take advantage of summer corn, and this was a perfect combo. Normally I can inhale street corn, but the kale really slowed me down (in a good way)! Super easy to make, this will definitely be added to our summer rotation.
So glad you loved this, Katie! That’s awesome! Thank you for sharing this with us!