Easy Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad Recipe Is Poppin' With Flavor by Melissa Vickers

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Have you ever found a recipe you wanted to try, and had most of the ingredients but were missing a few? I found this Mexican street corn pasta salad recipe and realized I was out of some of the spices it listed, like chili powder and cayenne pepper. So I did what my mom would have done – I substituted!

I did have a package of chili seasoning that had most of the spices listed, and so I just used that instead. It also called for fresh corn on the cob, and lacking that, I substituted a bag of steamable frozen corn. It suggested some possible additions, including green pepper (which I had) and jalapeno peppers (which we don’t eat), red onion (out of that) and scallions (also out of those). So I added the green pepper and threw in some celery for some crunch. It turned out pretty good!

Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Corn 

• 8 ears of corn, husks and silks removed or 1 bag (12 ounces) frozen steamable corn
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper OR 1 1/2 teaspoons chili seasoning mix

Pasta

• 8 - 12 ounces pasta (elbows, ditalini or rotini work well)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Dressing

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper OR 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons chili seasoning mix
• 1 cup Cotija cheese or shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, chopped (optional)

Here's how to make it: 

1. Cook pasta according to directions, drain, rinse in cold water. Put it into a large bowl and toss with olive oil (this helps keep the dressing from soaking into the pasta).
2. For the corn, either fix the frozen corn according to package directions or in a large pot, bring water to boil and add fresh ears of corn and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. Remove corn from cob.
3. In a large frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add corn and seasonings, and cook until corn is slightly brown. Remove from heat and let cool completely. While it is cooling, make the dressing.
4. In a small mixing bowl, add sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice and seasoning. Stir to combine and add to pasta.
5. Add corn, cheese, other additions and cilantro, if using. Toss to mix. It’s ready to eat, but putting it in the refrigerator for a bit will allow the flavors to blend.
   

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