It’s been about 10 years since I first tried Mexican Street Corn, and I took one bite and knew corn on the cob wouldn’t be the same ever again. Of course just corn on the cob is delicious as is, but this just takes it over the top! If you’ve never had it before, traditionally its a cooked corn on the cob slathered in mayo, crema, cotija cheese, and chili powder. It is creamy, flavorful, and so yummy!
This summer, we had it again, and I was reminded of how great it is. So I set out to make a more macro friendly version that still has great flavor, and I settled on this Lightened Up Street Corn Salad inspired by this recipe from Six Sisters (they have amazing, family friendly recipes if you haven’t heard of them yet!). There are a few things that help make this salad a little lighter than the original recipe. First, instead of using mayo, crema, and oil, this salad saves some major fat grams by utilizing only light sour cream. I also add some more volume to the salad by adding romaine, which is much lighter in carbs than just the corn alone. I also served the salad with a little less Cotija (or feta if you can’t find it in your store. I usually can’t find this type of cheese!) to help save some more fat grams, but not skip on that yummy salty flavor the cheese adds.
To serve, you can keep the salad as prepared below, but if serving at a barbecue, I like to add crushed tortilla chips for extra crunch. This will affect the macros, of course, but it makes it feel less like a lightened up salad this way. Or serve the chips on the side for everyone to pick and choose how much they’d like on their salad. If we make this for a meal, we will often add chopped chicken to it for more protein. Again, I like to keep this separate, to make sure I’m getting a good dose of protein.
Lightened Up Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 16 oz frozen corn
- 2 heads romaine lettuce, cored, rinsed and chopped into bite sized pieces (385 g)
- 1 red onion, diced (186 g)
- 20 g fresh cilantro, diced, or more to taste
- 84 g Feta cheese, or more to taste (Coa cheese also works if you are able to find it)
- 135 g light sour cream
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- garlic salt, to taste
For serving (optional)
- Cooked Chicken
- Crumbled Tortilla Chips
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over high heat. Spray skillet with cooking spray. Once the pan is hot, add in the frozen corn. Allow to cook, stirring often, until corn begins to blacken. Turn off heat and allow to cool.
- In a small bowl combine light sour cream, lime juice, garlic, and chili powder. Give it a good stir and then add garlic salt, to taste.
- Add chopped romaine, diced red onion, and diced cilantro to a large mixing bowl. Add cooled corn on top and crumbled feta. Pour sour cream mixture over vegetables and stir until everything is well combined. Taste again and see if more chili powder or garlic salt is needed.
- To serve, add chicken or crushed tortilla chips, if desired.