This Mexican Street Corn Casserole is super easy to make and crazy delicious! With only a few ingredients you can have this whipped up and in the oven in as little as 5 minutes. Once it bakes you are in for a treat! This casserole is rich and creamy and filled with the bright flavors of Mexican street corn. The best part is that since this Mexican Street Corn Casserole is made and baked completely in one dish, there is almost no clean up!
Mexican Street Corn Casserole Recipe
Mexican street corn has always been on my list of sides that are so good they give other veggies and sides a bad name. When I visited Austin last week for a blog conference we ventured out to Torchy’s Tacos. If you have never been, it is well worth your time to go a bit out of your way to try it if you are ever in the vicinity of one.
I have been to Torchy’s a handful of times on my trip through Texas, but I have never tried their Mexican Street Corn until this trip.
Why? I don’t know! It seems so obvious that it would be amazingly delicious and it was every bit as good as I could have imagined. Their twist on the classic street corn was to take the creamy goodness and bold flavors and layer them in a cup so that you could eat it with a spoon. It was love at first bite.
Since a week after I got home I was still dreaming of this Mexican Street Corn in a cup, I thought I should probably try my hand at recreating it. Although this isn’t an exact replica, it is really delicious and has all the wonderfulness of Mexican Street Corn served in a super easy to eat way.
So give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!
What is Mexican Street Corn?
Mexican Street Corn, or Elote, is a popular street food found in Mexico. Traditionally, it is a roasted ear of corn that is smothered in mayonnaise, spices, and crumbled cheese and then served whole.
This Elote Casserole uses the flavors of traditional Mexican Street Corn for inspiration, and turns it into a drool-worthy, super easy to make, casserole side dish that can easily feed a crowd. This makes it perfect for a side dish for family dinner, a potluck, or neighborhood BBQ.
How to Make Mexican Street Corn Casserole
I am going to walk through some highlights of the recipe here. Hopefully if there are any questions that pop up on the recipe for you, this will answer them. If not feel free to pop them in the comments for me. You can find the full, printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Frozen corn, thawed- I use a large family sized bag of corn. If you didn’t take the corn out of the freezer to thaw, you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds until it gets to be thawed then work from there.
Alternately, you can substitute an equal amount of canned corn that has been drained, or fresh corn kernels that have been cooked and cut from the cob to make this recipe. - Mayonnaise- Yes, this recipe has mayonnaise, but it doesn’t taste like mayonnaise! You can use light mayo, but I don’t recommend substituting Miracle Whip since the flavor is so different.
- Sour cream- I use regular sour cream, but you could also substitute light sour cream for a good result.
- Spices– We use a combination of chili powder, garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper (optional)- I leave this out or reduce it to just a dash when I am making it for the kids, but both my husband and I really enjoy it with a kick. If you don’t want spicy make sure to leave this out!
- Queso fresco, grated or crumbled- This is a Mexican cheese and can often be found in the case with the specialty cheeses if it is not in the regular cheese section. If you can’t find it at all, you could use parmesan cheese, it is quite different than queso fresco, but it would still be yummy. You can also substitute Cotija cheese as well, which is closer to queso fresco.
For Garnish
- Fresh cilantro, chopped- If you are one of those weird cilantro haters, I don’t understand you, but you can leave this out.
- Lime Juice- Feel free to squeeze a little juice from fresh limes over the top
Recipe Step by Step
Using this simple method, you are able to make this easy Mexican Corn Casserole using just one dish!
- Pour the corn into a large. casserole dish. You can use a 9×13″ baking dish or a 2.5-3 quartt casserole dish.
- Add the mayo, sour cream, spices, and half of the cheese to the casserole dish.
- Mix everything together, scraping down the edges as needed.
- Bake and then top with the corn mixture remaining cheese, cilantro and lime juice.
Recipe Variations
While I think this recipe is pretty perfect as is, there are a few fun twists you can try to change it up a bit!
- Jalapeno Street Corn Casserole– For a spicy twist, add diced jalapeno peppers to the corn mixture before baking. Or keep it more mild by adding diced green chiles.
- Loaded Elote Casserole– For this variation, saute diced onions and bell pepper, then add to the corn mixture the onions, peppers, diced green chiles, crumbled bacon (optional). Top the casserole add directed, adding sliced jalapeños and diced green onions to the top as well.
- Spicy Mexican Corn Casserole– To amp up the heat in this side dish, you have a few options. You can just increase the cayenne pepper if you want the heat to go up without changing the flavor. If you want even more heat, you can add red pepper flakes, and diced jalapeno to the corn mixture as well.
What to serve Mexican Street Corn Casserole with
This Mexican Street Corn Casserole goes well any meal you need a little more delicious with. Just kidding, but really, it can pack a punch when you serve it with anything Mexican inspired or just more classic American meat dishes. Since this dish serves a crowd it is great for a family dinner, but also perfect for a potluck or barbecue! Here are some meal ideas that I think are perfect for this dish:
- Tacos– Duh! Torchy’s had the right idea. It goes perfectly with my absolute FAVORITE Taco Meat recipe, or try some of my other popular tacos:
- Fajitas– Whether you are in the mood for Chicken Fajitas, Steak Fajitas, or Pork Fajitas, this Mexican Corn Bake is perfect!
- Carne Asada– Try this classic Carne Asada recipe!
- Hamburgers or Hot Dogs– Try it with traditional hot dogs, or our Baked Chili Cheese Dogs. Go with everyday Hamburgers or our Buffalo Chicken Burgers!
- Grilled steak or Baked chicken– Since grilling season is right around the corner, this side can be your new go to for almost anything you make on the grill!
- Enchiladas– We love these Beef Enchiladas and our go to Chicken Spinach Enchiladas!
- Chicken Bakes — I have a lot of Chicken bakes but I think this Black Bean Chicken Bake would be perfect!
Leftovers
If you have leftovers of this Mexican Corn Casserole, they save well and can be reheated for another day. Place the leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave at 30 second increments, stirring in between, or covered in an oven safe dish at 350˚F until heated through.
Mexican Street Corn FAQ’s
Yes! This recipe does make a lot. If you prefer to make a smaller amount you can easily half the recipe to get a size that serves 4 easily.
I have created this recipe modeled after the flavors in traditional Mexican Street Corn. You can try using light sour cream or mayo or slightly lower quantities of them, but it may impact the flavor of the dish.
You can use an equal quantity of canned corn that has been drained, or fresh corn that has been cooked and cut from the cob.
Mexican Street Corn, or Elote, is a popular street food found in Mexico. Traditionally, it is a roasted ear of corn that is smothered in mayonnaise, spices, and crumbled cheese and then served whole.
More Easy Side Dish Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my side dish recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite corn recipes and Mexican side dishes below.
- Crockpot Refried Beans
- How to Make Canned Black Beans taste amazing!
- Grandma’s Baked Mac and Cheese
- Jiffy Corn Casserole
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob with Garlic Butter
I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as me and my family do!
If you do get a chance to try it, I would love it if you let me know! You can leave me a comment below, or if you post a picture on Instagram, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see what you are cooking up! It makes my day to see others enjoying the recipes that I share!
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Mexican Street Corn Casserole
Ingredients
- 32 oz frozen corn, thawed
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne, optional
- 5 oz queso fresco, grated or crumbled
For Garnish
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- fresh lime juice, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F
- Pour the corn into a large casserole dish. Mix in the mayo, sour cream, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and half of the queso fresco until combined.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until heated through and the sides begin to bubble.
- Sprinkle the remaining queso fresco over the casserole and top with chopped cilantro. Enjoy!
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