Elotes or Grilled Mexican Street Corn is one of the best ways to eat corn! Grilled to charred perfection, slathered with creamy mayo & Mexican crema and topped with fine, crumbly Cotija cheese – it’s the way corn was designed to be eaten!
Why are Elotes or Grilled Mexican Street Corn so popular? It’s because when you roast ripe ears of corn directly over a hot grill, it yields one of the most deliciously nutty and roasted aromas you can ever imagine.
Pair that with a layer of creamy, rich mayo & Mexican crema and top it off with fine sprinkles of Cotija cheese with that tart tanginess of tajin and cilantro – and you’ve got one of the most delightful and dynamic flavor profiles to ever cross your tongue!
This is an amazing elote recipe – and it’s perfect for your next taco night or even as a snack while you’re sipping on a few margaritas!
Key Elements Of This Recipe
- Sweet Corn: I like to buy de-husked corn for this recipe
- Tajin: This tart and slightly sour spice blend is excellent on elotes
- Mexican Crema: The Mexican style sour cream
The Ingredients for Elote (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
- 6 Ears of Corn
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1.5 cups Cotija Cheese (grated)
- 1 cup Cilantro (minced)
- 1/2 cup Tajin
- 1/4 cup Paprika
- Mayo Crema Mix
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 2/3 cup Mexican Crema or Mexican Sour Cream
- 1/2 Lime (squeezed)
The Equipment Needed
- Traeger Ironwood Wood Pellet Grill (or any other quality smoker)
How To Make Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
Making Elotes is really simple! You grill your corn, slather on the Mayo Crema mix and then dash with cotija cheese, Tajin and paprika.
Prepare Your Corn To Make Elotes
Start by standing your peeled ears of corn on one edge.
Take your bamboo skewers and drive them about 2/3 of the way into the cobs of the corn.
Pro Tip: Have your bamboo skewers soaking in water for about 15 minutes prior to smoking, to help prevent the skewers from burning while on the grill.
Then, give the ears of corn a good basting with your softened butter. Also salt and pepper to your corn to taste.
Grill Your Elotes Corn
Fire up your smoker/grill to 500°F.
When the grill is hot, place your ears of corn directly on the grates and let them grill for about 10-14 minutes total – rotating them occasionally, until all sides develop a light char.
Alternative: If you don’t have a grill or would rather do this in your kitchen, you can alternatively boil your ears of corn for about 10-14 minutes. Make sure you let your water come to a roaring boil before you put in your corn.
Or you can also bake them in the oven at 500°F for 10-14 mins.
Make your Mayo Crema Mix
In a bowl, combine your mayonnaise, Mexican crema (or Mexican sour cream) and your lime juice and give it all a good mix.
Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble Your Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
Once grilled, remove your ears of corn from the grill.
Slather your Mayo crema mix all over your ears of corn, making sure there is an even spread across the whole cob.
Then, with a spoon, apply a layer of Cotija cheese on top, coating the entire cob of corn (the mayo crema mix should serve as a good adhesive for the fine crumbles of this cheese).
Lastly, sprinkle on some paprika, Tajin, and cilantro and serve immediately.
Additional Toppings For Elotes
- Flamin Hot Cheeto Dust: Take a handful of Flamin Hot Cheetos and grind them to a fine powder using your food processor. Then sprinkle liberally on top of your elotes for a spicy kick.
- Chamoy Sauce: This spicy, fruity and sour sauce makes a perfect topping to add a little something extra to your elotes.
- Lucas Baby Sweet Powder: For a sweet little punch – add a dash of Lucas Baby Sweet Powder
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Equipment
- Traeger Ironwood Wood Pellet Grill, (or any other quality smoker)
Ingredients
- 6 ears Corn, (sweet)
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, (softened)
- 1.5 cups Cotija Cheese, (grated)
- 1 cup Cilantro, (minced)
- 1/2 cup Tajin
- 1/4 cup Paprika
Mayo Crema Mix
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 2/3 cup Mexican Crema, (Mexican sour cream)
- 1/2 Lime, (squeezed)
Instructions
How To Make Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
- Making Elotes is really simple! You grill your corn, slather on the Mayo Crema mix and then dash with cotija cheese, Tajin and paprika.
Prepare Your Corn To Make Elotes
- Start by standing your peeled ears of corn on one edge.
- Take your bamboo skewers and drive them about 2/3 of the way into the cobs of the corn.
- Pro Tip: Have your bamboo skewers soaking in water for about 15 minutes prior to smoking, to help prevent the skewers from burning while on the grill.
- Then, give the ears of corn a good basting with your softened butter. Also salt and pepper to your corn to taste.
Grill Your Elotes Corn
- Fire up your smoker/grill to 500°F.
- When the grill is hot, place your ears of corn directly on the grates and let them grill for about 10-14 minutes total – rotating them occasionally, until all sides develop a light char.
- Alternative: If you don't have a grill or would rather do this in your kitchen, you can alternatively boil your ears of corn for about 10-14 minutes. Make sure you let your water come to a roaring boil before you put in your corn.Or you can also bake them in the oven at 500°F for 10-14 mins.
Make your Mayo Crema Mix
- In a bowl, combine your mayonnaise, Mexican crema (or Mexican sour cream) and your lime juice and give it all a good mix.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Assemble Your Elotes (Grilled Mexican Street Corn)
- Once grilled, remove your ears of corn from the grill.
- Slather your Mayo crema mix all over your ears of corn, making sure there is an even spread across the whole cob.
- Then, with a spoon, apply a layer of Cotija cheese on top, coating the entire cob of corn (the mayo crema mix should serve as a good adhesive for the fine crumbles of this cheese).
- Lastly, sprinkle on some paprika, Tajin, and cilantro and serve immediately.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is just an estimate derived by an online calculation tool.
FAQ
What are elotes?
Elotes are a popular Mexican street food (also know as Mexican Street Corn) and they are served with grilled ears of corn slathered with mayo and Mexican crema and topped with grated cotija cheese, lime and chili.
What is the red stuff in elote?
The red seasoning is typically paprika or Tajin, a Mexican seasoning spice made of salt, lime juice and chili powder.
Is elote unhealthy?
Elotes are simply seasoned, roasted corn. Corn is very healthy for you as part of a balanced diet. Corn promotes healthy eyes and heart health.
Seesee
The sauce was not overpowering at all on this. So delicious! I tried my first batch on a grill, but I’m going to make it again boiling my corn to see how that’s different. Thanks for the great recipe – perfect for upcoming Cinco da Mayo!
Umamiology
Glad you loved this roasted corn recipe! It’s great for all kinds of bbq occasions!
Nicole Johnston
These look so delicious! I love elotes and never considered grilling the corn compared to boiling. I’m definitely going to try this!
Umamiology
Yes – grilling adds an additional flavor depth to the corn!
Angela
Bookmarking this to try this weekend for Cinco de Mayo! The flavours sound amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Umamiology
Let me know how it turns out!
Gianne
This recipe for Grilled Mexican Street Corn is the perfect combination of savory, spicy, and cheesy. The grill adds the perfect smoky flavor, and the toppings take it to the next level. Yum!
Umamiology
Glad you love this elotes recipe!
Paula
Loved this street corn recipe! Sooooo tasty!
Umamiology
Yeah – I think so too!
Lauren
I have always wanted to try a Mexican street corn recipe and with it being almost 90 degrees in May, we finally fired up the grill and gave it a go! It’s SO good! I will definitely be making this again and again this summer.
Umamiology
Yes, I make this elote recipe at least once a month!
krystel
I am born raised in LA baby and let me tell you, I know a thing or two about authentic street corn! I tried this recipe because I wanted some good ones for our Cinco De Mayo party and it was so fire! I know everyone is going to love them on Sunday!
Umamiology
Nice, let me know how these elotes do at your Cinco De Mayo party!
Alexandra
This is my favourite way of eating corn, but I had never tried to make it myself until I came across your recipe. It came out superb, and I am already planning on making it again this weekend. Thanks for all of your helpful tips!
Umamiology
Yep, they’re easy to make but so delicious!
Sonja
Had these Elotes with the first BBQ of the season and was so tempted to just grab them all and sneak into a quite corner of the garden to devour them. Had to share in the end. I guess I make double next time, they are so good!
Umamiology
I make double the portions of these elotes myself!
Amy Liu Dong
An instant favorite for me, looks amazingly delicious! A perfect treat that everyone will gonna love and enjoy! Totally love Mexican flavored dishes!
Umamiology
Yes, these Mexican street corns are excellent!
Lathiya
My family loves corn and now I found a delicious way to enjoy it apart from normal corn on the cob.
Umamiology
Yes, this is a great way to enjoy corn on the cob!
Liz
I can’t wait to get fresh corn at our farmers’ market again this summer. We LOVED your elotes recipe and can’t wait to make it again.
Umamiology
Fresh corn from the farmer’s market would definitely make a difference in this recipe!
Juyali
This Elotes recipe is a game-changer! It captures all the magic of grilled Mexican street corn in a simple, at-home format. The charred corn was delicious. And the creamy topping was addictive. ¡Muy delicioso!
Umamiology
I like to put extra mayo crema mix on my elotes!
Erin
I had elote for the first time last week and wanted to make my own. So glad I found your recipe. This came out fantastic! So easy and tasty.
Umamiology
Yep, easy to make and delicious to eat!
Swathi
Elotes are my favorite dish, your recipe is so good, my kids loved it.
Umamiology
Glad your kids loved these elotes!
Leslie
You have perfected the Mexican street corn! This is incredible!!
Umamiology
Thank you!
Carly
Highly recommend this recipe to spruce up grilled corn! The mayo is a must to curb the tanginess of the lime. So yummy! I’m going to try with hot Cheetos next time!
Heather
Absolute banging flavor, made these for a BBQ get together this past weekend! They were a total hit, I’ll be whipping these up all summer long, thank you!
Kelley
This was so good! We served it with grilled chicken and it was gone in minutes!
Chenee
These were so delicious, and a great way to get the kids to eat more vegetables. I’ll definitely be making them again this summer.
Kim
Such a fun recipe to try at our next barbecue! I think it will also be a nice addition to taco night!
Ned
This is literally some of the best corn I’ve ever had! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Jeff
I’ve never seen these before but they are very tasty. They make a great snack.
Gianne
The combination of smoky grilled corn with creamy, tangy toppings was simply irresistible. It’s now a favorite at our family gatherings, bringing a burst of flavor and joy to our meals.
kushi
One of my favorite ways to serve street corn. Thanks for sharing.
Dannii
The flavours in this were incredible. Perfect for taco night!
Ned
The Elotes were a smoky, creamy, and tangy treat! The charred corn, slathered in mayo, cheese, and chili powder, brought authentic Mexican street food flavors to my table. A delicious side or snack.
Katherine
These elotes turned out perfectly! Soooo good.
Beth
Elote is one of my favorite Mexican foods. I had it for the first time a few years ago in Mexico. I can’t wait to try your version.
Vicky
This street corn turned out amazing! The combination of spices and lime really brought out the flavors of the corn, making it a hit at my barbecue.
Kathleen
This Mexican street corn looks and sounds incredible. I can’t wait to enjoy it with my family. Yum!
Josie
yeah that looks real good