If you want a dead simple, blow-your-hair-back meal for your next summer get-together, this Mexican Street Corn Salad is it! Here's why: you can prep and cook the whole meal in 30-45 minutes, it easily scales to the number of people you're serving and it tastes like summer vacation served up on a platter.
This combines a couple of recipes on this blog: Grilled Mexican Corn on the Cob and Spicy Grilled Shrimp (optional), but piled on the same plate over a creamy, spicy cabbage and jalapeño slaw. If you're not a shrimp fan, make Carne Asada or Rosemary-Garlic Chicken Kabobs instead. Serve as is, an entirely satisfying meal on its own!
If you go for the grilled shrimp version, grilling the corn and shrimp together (and for nearly the same amount of time) makes this meal come together quickly. You'll let the shrimp rest while you cut the kernels off of the corn cobs - much less splatter than cutting kernels off of raw cobs (though it's worth it for this Corn Salad!). (Discard the cobs or make corn stock, perfect for summer soups.) If you serve it alongside Carne Asada or Chicken Kabobs, you'll want to grill them a few minutes before you start the corn.
The cool and crunchy salad base is a mixture of thinly sliced green and purple cabbage, red bell pepper, chopped cilantro and green onions, and minced jalapeño. And the mixture you slather onto Mexican street corn makes a perfect spicy/creamy dressing, and you can always mix it up with Jalapeño Ranch Dressing instead!.
If you're planning to grill this summer, I hope you'll give this Mexican Street Corn Salad a try! (And my Mexican Chopped Salad too!)
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
Grilled Shrimp (optional - see recipe notes)
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 pound medium or large shrimp peeled except for the tail and deveined
The Corn:
- 4 ears sweet corn husks and silks removed
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
The Dressing:
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- juice of 1 lime about ¼ cup
- sea salt to taste
The Slaw:
- ½ pound purple cabbage thinly sliced
- ½ pound green cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 jalapeño seeded and minced
- 4 green onions finely chopped
Garnish
- 2 ounces cotija cheese crumbled
- chopped cilantro optional
- finely chopped green onions optional
Instructions
- Preheat grill and a grill pan (for shrimp) on medium-high.
- Combine cilantro, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl; whisk in olive oil. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Set aside.
- Rub ears of corn generously with cold butter (easier to coat the raw ears of corn evenly). Set aside.
- Whisk first four dressing ingredients together (mayonnaise through lime juice) in a medium bowl; add salt to taste.
- Mix all slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Add desired amount of dressing (save some to drizzle over corn) and toss to coat.
- Grill corn for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender, turning a couple of times to char evenly.
- At the same time, arrange shrimp in a single layer on preheated grill pan. Grill 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until shrimp are cooked through.
- When done, remove corn and shrimp from grill. (Don't worry if they're not done at exactly the same time. This salad is great at room temperature.)
- When corn is cool enough to handle, carefully cut kernels off with a sharp knife.
- To serve: spread slaw evenly on a serving platter. Pile corn kernels in one area and grilled shrimp on another. Drizzle dressing over corn. Sprinkle crumbled cotija evenly over salad along with cilantro and green onions if desired. Serve.
While looking at the Mexican Corn on the Cob recipe, I had to jump over here for a minute -- and now I can't look away. YUM! Seriously, looks amazing! Definitely going to make this one. 🙂 ~Valentina
This was amazing ! Made it for dinner tonight! Added red onions to the slaw!
Made my day, Lindsey! Love the red onion addition. 🙂
I love this dish, Marissa! It's such a cool idea to turn Mexican street corn into a salad and the shrimp is a nice addition. Great photos, too!
Thank you, Sabrina!
I don't need a holiday to eat this one! Love it and all the goodies. The combination of the dressing, slaw and corn is great. Add that shrimp and I'm in heaven. Thanks Marissa.
Thank you, Kevin! I think you and David should try this... If you were coming to my house for a BBQ, I'd kick up the cayenne a bit, but I think you'll love it. It's definitely one to add your own stamp to.
I'm really into grilled shrimp these days too... this look so gorgeous!! And tasty 🙂
You've got to try these shrimp, Natasha. So simple and SO flavorful. 🙂
Happy 4th Marissa! Mexican street corn AND grilled shrimp...yes and yes!! Everything looks super fresh and tasty- an absolutely gorgeous plate of food 🙂
So sweet, Sonali! Thank you.
Had to come over here to see this gorgeous recipe too. Wow, your photos are so beautiful, Marissa. I LOVE this recipe from beginning to end. It has so much flavour and texture. The perfect party salad!
We served it for a party of 11 over the weekend and it was the hit of the table! 🙂 Feels great when a veggie dish gets more ooohs and ahhhs then the bratwurst.
Mexican Street Corn has to be one of my favorite things to devour during the summer. Throw some spicy shrimp on there and OMGeee - HEAVEN! This looks incredibly delicious, Marissa! I could definitely eat this on the daily! Cheers!
Thanks so much, Chayanne!
Oh, Marissa! This salad is gorgeous! You can't beat grilled street corn and then paired with some grilled shrimp just takes it over the top! Definitely a winner all summer long!
Thanks, Kathleen! I agree. We've had this 3 times in less than 2 weeks which is bordering on ridiculous (ahem, lazy!). 🙂
Hi Marissa! Shrimp and corn are both on sale at my local store and they are both on my list for today's shopping, so what great timing! This does indeed look like summer on a plate! I was going to do a low country shrimp and corn boil for a friend's birthday on Sunday, but have changed directions! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Dorothy! I hope that the meal went well - what a lucky friend to have you preparing dinner! 🙂
This street corn salad is gorgeous- stunning colors and I'm loving that slaw 🙂
Thank you, Medha!
I'll take a big plate of this as well as some of your lovely summer weather Marissa! 😀
Thanks, Lorraine! Make the trek to Bend and enjoy some of this sunshine...we've got a room with your name on it. 🙂
Wow, what a beautiful salad, Marissa! The most gorgeous I've seen all year!
Great tip for the corn-chopping, too 🙂
What a nice compliment, Helen. Thank you! The corn chopping tip was totally accidental. Full disclosure, I'm a very messy cook and am always happy to find a way to be tidier. 🙂