All the flavors of Mexican street corn, including fresh grilled corn on the cob, come together in this colorful and delicious pasta salad.
If you’re planning an end-of-summer Labor Day barbecue (and even if you aren’t), I highly recommend putting this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad on your menu.
It’s one of the best pasta salads I’ve ever tried, and it’s definitely going into the favorites file.
This is so good! I’ve made it twice now and it will be a regular dish in our home in the future. Thanks for the amazing recipe! ~ Tara
This salad is bursting with all the flavors of Mexican street corn–the grilled corn being the star ingredient. That’s what Mexican street corn is, after all–grilled corn topped with a zesty chile-lime spread and sprinkled with cheese.
It only takes about 10 minutes to grill the corn. So I beg of you, don’t take shortcuts and use the plain old, un-grilled variety.
Throw a few crunchy veggies, liked diced red pepper, and a creamy dressing into the mix and you’ve got yourself a winning combination.
In fact, I recently served this pasta salad for company and it got rave reviews from my guests. And I love that it’s such a unique twist on the usual pasta salad, yet still filled with all the flavors of summer.
My husband is a pasta salad fanatic, and this is one of his favorites. Come to think of it, it’s also one of my favorites.
Wanted to tell you that I made this salad for a pot luck Labor Day picnic yesterday – BIG BIG hit. ~ Jen
If you’re looking for something new and delicious to take to a neighborhood potluck or backyard barbecue, I highly recommend this Street Corn Pasta Salad. Just be prepared to get lots of requests for the recipe!
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT MEXICAN STREET CORN PASTA SALAD
Made this last night and husband can’t quit raving about it over and over. It’s a winner and I am a chef by trade and he is a great cook, so thank you for sharing with everyone! ~ Anne
I tried this today, but had to use regular frozen corn, as I don’t have any kind of grill. Still, it turned out very yummy, and much hotter/spicier than I had thought. ~ Heidi
This was excellent even though I didn’t have limes to add to the sauce. I will definitely make this again! ~ Kim
I just made this as a side dish to carne asada and it was amazing! Thank you for sharing! ~ Heather
WOW, this was yummy! We just made it and everyone in our family loves it. Its a keeper! ~ Kory
Be sure to save this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Tips for Choosing and Storing Fresh Corn
Check the husk: It should be bright green, a little bit damp, and wrapped tightly around the cob. Small brown holes in the husk mean insects and should be avoided.
Also check the bottom of the corn where the ear was broken off the stalk. If this area is brown, the corn is probably not the freshest choice. If you can help it, don’t peel back the husk. This dries out the corn and shortens its shelf life.
Check the tassel: The corn silk sticking out at the top of the cob is the tassel. When choosing corn, the tassel should be light brown or gold, and slightly sticky to the touch.
The tassel should smell sweet with no signs of decay. Avoid corn that has a dry, black, or mushy tassel.
Storing: You can keep your corn on the counter if you’ll be using it that day. Otherwise, refrigerate the corn in the crisper with the husks on, tightly wrapped in a plastic bag.
Here’s what you’ll need to make Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Produce: corn on the cob, red bell peppers, green onions, jalapeno, fresh cilantro
- Olive oil
- Cotija or feta cheese
- Parmesan
- Spices: chili powder, salt and pepper
- Mayonnaise
- Sour cream
- Lime juice
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3-4 ears corn on the cob
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces rotini pasta
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons seeded chopped jalapeno
- 1/2 cup Cotija or feta cheese crumbled
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup mayonaisse
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon chile powder
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat outdoor grill for medium-high heat.
- Brush corn with olive oil. Grill, turning frequently, until lightly charred all over, 10-15 minutes; cool and cut corn from the cob.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cool water and drain.
- In a large bowl, combine pasta, grilled corn, red pepper, green onions, jalapeno, cheeses and cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for dressing.
- Stir dressing into pasta and corn mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Refrigerate until serving.
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Who Dished It Up First: Inspired by Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
19 comments
Eva
Am I missing the ingredients for the dressing? Assuming it’s the leftover ingredients? -Thanks!!
Melinda
I made this to go with grilled sausage and broccoli for dinner tonight. It’s a decent pasta salad base but I had to increase the cilantro to 1/2 cup minced and add 1 Tbsp of chili powder to even begin to taste it. It needs seasoning people! It is fine without the lime juice though (family member with a lime allergy).
Kory Patterson
WOW, this was yummy! We just made it and everyone in our family loves it. Its a keeper!
Vicki
If I am going to make this ahead of time, make on Thursday—serve on Saturday..would you recommend I add half of the dressing Thursday and the rest before serving? I’m worried about the pasta soaking all of the wet ingredients
Danelle
Yes, I would reserve some dressing to add before serving.
Heather
I just made this as a side dish to carne asada and it was amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Kim
This was excellent even though I didn’t have limes to add to the sauce. I will definitely make this again!
Anne
Made this last night and husband can’t quit raving about it over and over , it’s a winner and I am a chef by trade and he is a great cook so thankyou for sharing with everyone!
Danelle
Thank you so much!
Tara
This is so good! I’ve made it twice now and it will be a regular dish in our home in the future. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Danelle
Yay! So glad you like it. Thanks Tara!
Krista @ joyfulhealthyeats
OH wow! This looks awesome Danelle! We love any dish with a mexican twist, definitely going to have to try this one. Pinning, thanks for the great recipe. 🙂
jen
Wanted to tell you that I made this salad for a pot luck Labor Day picnic yesterday – BIG BIG hit. When I went to make the dressing I was out of chilli power. OH NO. I made the remaining dressing ingredients in a different bowl, then put everything in the fridge. The next day we took it all with us. Our host had chilli powder. She tried to talk me out of adding it . But, I wanted to follow the directions exactly. We all agreed later that it was the right decision – none of us would change a thing – not one thing. I brought a clean dish home. Thanks for the great dish.
Danelle
Thanks so much for sharing that Jen….I’m always guilty of changing recipes, so it’s good to know I shouldn’t mess with the chili powder! 🙂 And I’m so glad the salad was a hit at the picnic!
Heidi
I tried this today, but had to use regular frozen corn, as I don’t have any kind of grill. Still, it turned out very yummy, and much hotter/spicier than I had thought.
Don’t forget to add the instruction that you have to cut off the corn from the cobs! 🙂 I just noticed that omission, but figured that it was implied…
Thanks for all the yummy recipes. I really like reading your site.
Danelle
I am definitely adding in to cut the corn off the cob. Thanks for noticing that Heidi! Good to hear it was still yummy with regular corn too. And the spiciness can vary quite a bit, depending on your jalapenos and how many of the seeds and ribs you leave in when you chop them.
Gina
Oh YUM- we are making ribs all weekend & this would be the perfect side.
Thanks Danelle- hope you have a wonderful holiday.
Holly
Looks perfect for my Labor Day weekend:) thanks!
Sherri B.
This sounds so delicious…!