Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
This Mexican street corn pasta salad recipe is a fantastic way to enjoy grilled corn all summer long! You will love the zesty chipotle lime dressing!
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked penne pasta
- 4 cobs of corn husks & silk removed
- Olive oil for coating corn
- 1 cup Cotija cheese (or use finely grated Parmesan or feta)
- 1/2 medium red onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup sour cream, Greek yogurt, or Mexican crema
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper (or to taste)
- Juice + zest of 1/2 lime
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pasta and cook it al dente according to package directions. Once it's cooked, rinse with cold water and set aside to cool (drain well).
- Oil your BBQ/grill's grate and preheat it to high.
- Coat your cobs of corn with olive oil, then grill it for about 10-12 minutes, turning every few minutes until you've got nice char marks (I used a gas BBQ with the lid down). Let the corn cool until it's easy to handle.
- Meanwhile, prep your other pasta salad ingredients and add them to a large bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the kernels off the corn cobs once they're cool enough to handle. Add the corn to the salad bowl.
- Toss until everything is combined. Add salt & pepper as needed (you'll likely need a fair amount with so much pasta, but the cheese can be salty so make sure to taste as you go along). Serve immediately or chill first (but make sure bowl is tightly covered so dressing doesn't dry out).
Notes
- As always, adjust dressing ingredients to your tastes as needed (e.g. use more lime, more lime zest, more spice, etc). The dressing is a bit spicy, so I recommend halving the chipotle chili pepper if you want it milder. You definitely want to use some spice, however, because it gives the dressing its signature smoky flavor.
- Every BBQ/grill/grill pan varies, so using my corn cooking time as a guideline and adjust as needed.
- I think this recipe is best fresh or made a few hours ahead, but you can certainly enjoy the leftovers too.
- This is the handy tool I use to zest the lime for this recipe.
- I use a jar (McCormick brand) of dried & ground chipotle chili pepper (it's a powder).
- Serves 4-6 depending on how much people eat.