5 from 1 review

Flavorful, colorful and packed with fresh veggies our Mexican-inspired Corn Salad with Jalapeño and Cilantro Dressing recipe is the ultimate healthy summer side dish. Serve as an easy summer salad with your favorite Mexican food recipes! Serve it for your next barbecue or potluck party. It is also a great make-ahead option. You’ll love the jalapeno, cilantro and cumin seed dressing tossed with sweet corn and juicy tomatoes!

a bowl of the ingredients for the corn salad with someone pouring the green dressing on top

Mexican Corn Salad Ingredients

  • Fresh Sweet Corn: For this recipe you will need 8 ears of shucked corn. If you want you can certainly use 6 cups of frozen corn, thawed.
  • Cumin seeds: This dressing starts with toasted cumin seeds. Sub in ground cumin if you do not have them on hand.
  • Garlic
  • Jjalapeño pepper: For spicy flavor we add in a fresh chopped jalapeño pepper. Remove the stem.
  • 1 bunch cilantro: Chop off the stems, wash and spin dry.
  • Red wine vinegar: Lime juice is a great alternative
  • Salt
  • Extra-virgin olive oil: For the dressing
  • Orange bell pepper: For contrasting color and sweet taste
  • Cherry tomatoes: You can use any color cherry tomato. Cut them in half.
  • Finely diced red onion

How to Make Mexican Corn Salad

  1. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Set a bowl of ice water next to stove.
  2. Place corn in a large skillet. Pour boiling water over the corn, cover, set over high heat and simmer until just crisp tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the ears of corn from the boiling water and transfer to the ice bath. Alternatively, cook the corn in the air fryer.
  3. Drain corn well. Pat corn dry with a clean towel, and remove kernels from the corn with a sharp knife.
  4. Meanwhile, place cumin in a small skillet and set over medium heat. Toast cumin, swirling pan until fragrant, and the seeds crackle and start to smoke a little but, but not burn, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately transfer the cumin to a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment.
  5. Turn food processor on, drop garlic and jalapeno through the feed tube and allow to process until chopped. Remove lid, add cilantro, vinegar and salt. Process until chopped. Scrape sides and turn motor on again. Drizzle in oil and continue processing until the mixture forms a green paste.
  6. Toss the corn, cilantro dressing, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
the Mexican corn salad mixed together in a white bowl

Menu Suggestions

Variations To Try

  • Add crumbled cotija cheese for a twist on Mexican Street Corn off the cob
  • Use a creamy dressing like our Greek yogurt ranch instead of the jalapeno dressing and then just add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro to the salad instead.
  • Use a can of drained black beans in place of two of the ears of corn. We love chickpea corn salad, try adding a can of them in this recipe too!
  • Add in pepitas for a little crunch!

Make Ahead, Leftovers, Storage

Make Ahead: If you want to make this corn salad ahead, layer all the ingredients into your bowl and keep the dressing separate. For best results, make the dressing just before using. And either way, I recommend that you do not add the dressing until you are ready to stir it together and serve.

Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to three days. The corn salad will become watery. It will taste awesome still, but serve it with a slotted spoon.

a closeup of the corn salad

More Summer Side Salads To Try

No-Mayo Potato Salad with Herbs

Mexican Four Bean Salad

Asian Coleslaw
Broccoli Salad with sweet miso dressing (vegan)

Broccoli Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing
a dark background with the bowl of rice salad on a table

Easy Brown Rice Salad with Cranberries and Orange
overhead table with bowl of texas caviar with frito scoops

Healthy Texas Caviar Recipe

Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!

Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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Get read to fall in love with this vegan Corn Salad with Jalapeno and Cilantro Dressing with cherry tomatoes, red onion and bell pepper. It will totally put you in the mood for easy summer evenings. #vegan #cornsalad #corn #sidedish #summer #easy #picnic #barbecue #20minuterecipe

Mexican Corn Salad with Jalapeño Cilantro Dressing

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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Get read to fall in love with this Mexican Corn Salad with Jalapeno and Cilantro Dressing with cherry tomatoes, red onion and bell pepper. It will totally put you in the mood for easy summer evenings.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 8 ears corn, shucked
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled
  • 1/2 to 1 jalapeño, stem removed
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 orange bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Instructions

  1. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Set a bowl of ice water next to stove.
  2. Place corn in a large skillet. Pour boiling water over the corn, cover, set over high heat and simmer until just crisp tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the ears of corn from the boiling water and transfer to the ice bath.
  3. Drain corn well. Pat corn dry with a clean towel, and remove kernels from the corn with a sharp knife.
  4. Meanwhile, place cumin in a small skillet and set over medium heat. Toast cumin, swirling pan until fragrant, and the seeds crackle and start to smoke a little but, but not burn, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately transfer the cumin to a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment.
  5. Turn food processor on, drop garlic and jalapeno through the feed tube and allow to process until chopped. Remove lid, add cilantro, vinegar and salt. Process until chopped. Scrape sides and turn motor on again. Drizzle in oil and continue processing until the mixture forms a green paste.
  6. Toss the corn, cilantro dressing, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Side dish
  • Method: Stove top
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup
  • Calories: 222
  • Fat: 15
  • Carbohydrates: 20
  • Fiber: 2
  • Protein: 3

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