Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

This super creamy Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad is going to become your new favorite dish! If you love my Mexican Street Corn Casserole or Street Corn Fries, you’ll love this pasta salad with all the flavors of street corn. Perfect for summer gatherings or dinner at home, this street corn pasta salad is sure to be a hit. 

Want more delicious pasta salad? Try my Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad, Greek Pasta Salad, or Caprese Orzo Salad next!

Why This Recipe Works

• Easy Mexican street corn pasta salad. Make this Mexican street corn pasta salad recipe with canned corn or frozen corn to cut down on prep time.
• Fresh flavors. Mexican street corn, otherwise known as elote (or, off the cob, esquites), is full of delicious flavor from lime, chili, cheese, and mayo. This elote pasta salad has all the flavors of Mexican street corn you crave, with a couple of extras (helloooo bacon and avocado) for a fun twist that makes it the perfect side dish or main dish.

Ingredient Notes

• Pasta: For the best pasta salad, you want a medium-sized pastal. I’ve used penne, but rotini or bowtie pasta would also work great. A small pasta like ditalini or orzo could also work. 
• Corn: It wouldn’t be street corn pasta salad without the corn! I use frozen corn, but canned corn that has been drained and rinsed would also work great. Using prepackaged corn is an awesome way to cut down on your prep time. 
• Green onions: I love both the flavor and the color green onions add to this pasta salad. 
• Cilantro: Fresh cilantro is the perfect complement to the other flavors of this pasta salad.
• Jalapeño: Adjust the spice of your jalapeño by removing seeds and veins for less spice, or leaving them in for more spice. 
• Bacon: While it’s not a traditional Mexican street corn ingredient, smoky bacon is a scrumptious addition that pairs well with the other salty flavors featured in this salad. 
• Queso fresco: Literally translated to “fresh cheese,” this Mexican cheese does taste super fresh and has a delightful crumbly texture. If you prefer something saltier, Cotija cheese also works great. 
• Avocado: Creamy, smoky avocado is always a plus in any Mexican dish!
• Mayo: Another traditional elote ingredient, mayo adds a richness to the chili-lime dressing for this pasta salad. 
• Sour cream: The other half of our creamy dressing. Swap it out for Greek yogurt if you prefer something a little more tart. 
• Lime: Both lime zest and lime juice are added to the chili-lime dressing for super fresh flavor.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Cook bacon. You need a ½ cup of crumbled, cooked bacon. This is about 8 slices of bacon.
2. Thaw or rinse corn. Thaw 3 cups of frozen corn kernels, or drain and rinse canned corn (about 1½ cans).  
3. Prepare pasta. Add water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add a tablespoon of kosher salt to the water, then add 2 cups of dry medium-sized pasta such as penne to the pot of salted water. Cook until al dente, then rinse under cool water and give your noodles time to dry a bit. Add them to a large bowl. I sometimes use a paper towel to blot extra water off the cooked pasta, so the dressing sticks better. 
4. Mix dressing ingredients. To a small bowl, whisk together a ¼ cup of mayo, a ¼ cup of sour cream, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon of ground cumin, and the zest and juice of one lime—you need ¼ teaspoon of lime zest and 3 tablespoons of lime juice.

5. Prepare other ingredients. Use a sharp knife to thinly slice 2 green onions, chop ½ a cup of cilantro, finely chop one jalapeño (remove seeds and membranes first for less spice), and dice 1 avocado (if you’re not serving this right away, don’t add the avocado until you plan to serve it). Crumble or chop your cooked bacon. Crumble a ½ cup of queso fresco. Add these ingredients to your large bowl and gently toss everything together. 
6. Mix pasta with dressing. Pour the creamy chili lime dressing over the pasta salad ingredients and stir it all together, coating the pasta and other ingredients thoroughly. 
7. Taste and adjust seasonings. Try the pasta salad and add salt, pepper, and other spices according to your tastes. Enjoy this pasta salad at room temperature or chilled.

Recipe Tips

To help the dressing stick better to the noodles, blot the noodles dry with a paper towel. 

If you’re not planning to serve this Mexican street corn pasta salad on the same day, leave out the avocado. Add it just before serving. 

You can use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, but it will make the dressing a tad more tart. 

Fresh corn, frozen, or canned will all work for this street corn pasta salad recipe. 

For a vegetarian pasta, leave out the bacon. You can also add black beans for a vegetarian protein option. 

Cotija cheese is a great option to use instead of queso fresco. You can also use feta cheese.

Swap out the green onion for some thinly sliced red onion. For more vegetables, you can also add diced bell peppers.

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

Make Ahead: Without the avocado, this pasta salad will keep for 3-5 days. Pasta salad is one of those things that tastes better the next day, after it sits and the flavors have time to meld. However, the avocado will NOT keep, so don’t add it until before serving.

Storing: Store leftover elote pasta salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days, or 1-2 days with the avocado in it.

Freezing: Mexican street corn pasta salad cannot be frozen.

Recipe FAQs

More Mexican Recipes

• Ensalada de Pollo
• Mexican Tres Leches Cake
• Pork Carnitas
• Arroz con Leche
• Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas