Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
Yes, you read that right that right–Mexican street corn, but make it pasta salad. I have a confession: I never was one for pasta salad growing up. Mayo freaked me out, and the idea of cold pasta never did it for me. But my mom did make one pasta salad that I liked. It had a ruffled short cut pasta with mayo, parmesan cheese, and sweet corn. That was it. It sounds very basic and a little weird, but man was it good. So when I was thinking about 4th of July recipes, that pasta salad came to mind. And then it hit me–Mexican street corn pasta salad. A similar concept to my mom’s with corn and cheese, but a few more interesting flavors thrown in.
Guys I’m telling you, this pasta salad is DELICIOUS. And even better, it’s easy and can be made a day ahead of time, so it’s the perfect side to bring to your next cookout.
How to make Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad:
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and then rinse thoroughly with cold water and set aside to dry.
- Grill the corn. Just rub with olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss it directly on the grill. You’ll want to grill a total of 6-9 minutes, rotating halfway through. When it’s cooled, cut it off the cob and place it in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the dressing. Combing the mayo, sour cream, spices, and lime juice and zest in a small mixing bowl.
- Mix everything together. Add the pasta and feta or cotija cheese to the bowl with the corn. Spoon the dressing over the pasta salad and mix will.
That’s it! If you’re not serving the Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad right away, store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Crate & Barrel is my favorite place to get great entertaining serveware, and they actually have a lot of reasonably priced options like this bowl.
Looking for a good dessert to bring to your next cookout as well? Try these fudge brownies or my sugar cookie fruit pizza.
Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb radiatore or other short cut pasta
- 6 ears sweet corn on the cob
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 lime juice
- 1/2 lime zest
- 6 oz crumbled feta or cotija cheese
- t Tbs cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Set aside.
- Preheat grill.
- Shuck corn. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Turn grill to medium heat. Place corn directly on the grill and grill 4 minutes, then rotate and grill another 4 minutes.
- Remove corn from grill and cool. Then cut the corn off the cob and add to a large mixing bowl.
Prepare the dressing
- In a small mixing bowl, mix the mayo, sour cream, chili powder, garlic, smoked paprika, salt, lime juice and zest.
Mix the pasta salad
- Add the pasta to the large mixing bowl along with the cheese and cilantro.
- Spoon the dressing overtop and mix well.
- Store in the fridge until ready to serve.