Mexican Corn Salad (Esquites)

We always love trying out different types of cuisines and ever since we tried this Mexican corn salad - we're hooked! It's the perfect combination of spices and the creaminess from the cheese and mayonnaise balances it off just right. This recipe was given to us by a friend and we cannot thank him enough! We're certain this is going to be a crowd pleaser at your next dinner party!

We have started a new mid-year resolution - make Aena have more salads! (Arvin is the only healthy one here). So our idea is to have a new series called #30DaysOfSalads. As the name goes, we'll be making (and forcing Aena to eat) some new salads for the next 30 days. The whole idea is to incorporate more fresh and whole foods into our diets. So today we will be starting off with the first salad in the series - Esquites.

Esquites is a popular Mexican street food much like it's counterpart Elote, which is basically the same thing but the corn-on-the-cob version of it. Not only is it perfect on its own, but this Mexican corn salad goes well as a side-dish for so many different types of meals! We've both made it a few times this week separately for our families and it has always been a hit! We sense an addiction starting right about now!

The first time we tried this at a friend's place, we were hooked to it! Oh-so-good!! The flavors blend together SO perfectly and the mayonnaise adds the perfect touch of creaminess to it. I do believe we ended up overeating that day. Afterwards, we just had to get hold of the recipe and try it out for ourselves.

Esquites isn't exactly your definition of the healthiest salad on the block - but it's surely something. And it's enough to get Aena started off with this series.

The traditional recipe calls for the Mexican chili powder mix which is a combination of cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, oregano and more! For the recipe we've broken it down so you can individually use these spices to get the Mexican chili powder flavor. This is perfect for us on the other side of the world who unfortunately don't have access to this delicious spice mix. Cotija cheese is used in the recipe but you can totally replace it with Feta cheese if you can't get hold of it. Cotija cheese almost tastes like a cross between Feta cheese and Parmesan (but even better!).

You can boil some husked corn ears if you don't happen to have sweet corn tins lying around in the house (we used some Aena happened to have at hers!). Just boil them for about 7 - 10 mins or until it's tender to your liking.

So enough with all this delicious Esquites talk. Let's jump right down to the recipe, shall we?

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📖 Recipe

Yield: 4

Mexican Corn Salad (Esquites)

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This Mexican street food is going to win hearts!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups canned sweet corn (remove the liquid)
• 2 tablespoons cojita cheese (or feta cheese) - crumbled
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ½ tablespoon paprika
• ½ tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon red chilli pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 ½ tablespoon mayonnaise
• ½ medium jalapeno chopped
• 3 tablespoons coriander

Instructions

1. Take the sweet corn and add cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, red chili pepper flakes, dried oregano, garlic powder and sea salt to it.
2. Add the juice of one lime and the coriander to this and mix well.
3. Mix the mayonnaise thoroughly into the sweet corn.
4. Garnish with crumbled cojita (or feta) cheese and chopped jalapeno before serving.

Notes

You can use feta cheese instead of cojita cheese if the latter isn't available in your country.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 192Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 615mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 5g