This is just one way to eat corn on the cob. If you buy some that’s on sale, and you’re looking for other ways to use it, check out all of our fresh corn recipes.

Mexican Street Corn & Arugula Salad Recipe

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Mexican Street Corn & Arugula Salad Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Corn – We use fresh corn on the cob because you can grill it, which adds a little extra flavor.
• Mayonnaise – You can use Mayonesa, which is a Mexican mayo found in most street corn recipes. However, we just use regular American mayonnaise because we always have it at home.
• Lime – You’re going to use both the zest and the juice, so you want a fresh lime rather than bottled lime juice.
• Tajin seasoning – The chili lime seasoning, which is always found on Mexican street corn, adds a really sweet and tangy flavor to the dressing.
• Salt – You need the salt to balance out the flavors of the dressing. Without it, the dressing tastes off.
• Arugula – The peppery greens are a great balance for the sweet corn. Because they have such a strong flavor, they take the place of the cilantro that you usually find in Mexican recipes.
• Cotija cheese – This Mexican cheese adds some salt to the salad. If you can’t find any, you can use queso fresco instead.

How To Make Mexican Street Corn & Arugula Salad:

Start by grilling your corn for about five minutes.

This adds a nice flavor to the salad. You can eat sweet fresh corn raw, so you can skip this step if you want, but your salad will be a little blander.

While that’s cooking, make the dressing.

Add the mayonnaise into a bowl.

Add the zest of the lime and its juice as well.

I say this every time I have a recipe with citrus, but here’s Pete’s hack. Microwave the lime for about 20 seconds then aggressively roll it on the counter. This will break up the pulp inside and give you so much more juice than if you try to use a cold piece of citrus.

Doing it this way gives us at least two tablespoons of juice per lime. That’s enough to really thin out the mayonnaise and make the dressing super creamy.

Stir the dressing until it’s very thin and all the lime juice is incorporated into the mayo.

When the corn is done, cut off the kernels into a medium-sized bowl.

Pour the dressing on top.

Stir until the corn is coated.

Add in the Tajin seasoning and salt.

Stir until the seasoning is evenly distributed.

Put the arugula in the bottom of a serving tray.

Evenly distribute the corn mixture on top.

Break apart the cotija cheese and evenly distribute that all over the salad.

Add an extra sprinkle of Tajin seasoning over the top. This is mostly for a garnish, but it does also season the cheese a little.

Mexican Street Corn & Arugula Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

More Mexican Street Corn-Inspired Recipes:

If you found this recipe because you also love street corn, you’re in luck. I have a huge list of Mexican street corn-inspired recipes with everything from chicken salad to pasta salad.