I wasn’t kidding when I said I was Mexican Street Corn-ify a whole ton of different recipes. If you want to check them out, our list of Mexican Street Corn-Inspired Recipes for you.

Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad

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Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad Ingredients:

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

• Chicken breast – You can use leftover chicken breast from the night before for this recipe.
• Shallot – A shallot adds a little texture and a little color to the dish. It has more mild flavor than an onion, so it compliments rather than overpowers the chicken salad.
• Cotija cheese – This is the soft Mexican cheese that you find on street corn. It has a texture similar to feta cheese. If you can’t find it, you can substitute queso fresco.
• Cilantro – Cilantro adds an herbaceous to chicken. This herb is used in many Mexican dishes, including guacamole and of course, street corn.
• Corn – We use canned corn in this recipe because it’s quicker for a weeknight dinner.
• Mayonnaise – We use a regular reduced fat mayonnaise, but if you have Mexican mayonesa, you can use that.
• Tajin seasoning – This chili lime seasoning is synonymous with street corn.
• Garlic powder – This adds a nice balance of flavors.
• Salt – This is an easy way to bring out all of the flavors in the dish.
• Minced garlic – Usually I say fresh is best, but in this recipe you want the acid from the liquid minced garlic to add seasoning.

How To Make Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad:

Finely dice your chicken breast and put it in a large bowl.

When I say finely, I mean finely. The reason I like the chicken salad at Chicken Salad Chick so much is because of how homogenous it is. You don’t get these large chunks of any of the ingredients. They all are blended together so well.

I always try to mimic that when I make my chicken salad. And, because of that, I really like chicken salad sandwiches way more than I used to.

Finely dice the shallot and add it to the bowl with the chicken.

Just like the chicken, you’re going to want to chop this as fine as possible.

I know. Asking you to do that making a little more work, but I promise you it’s worth it and will make you fall in love with chicken salad.

Finely chop the cilantro and add it to the bowl with the chicken.

Crumble the cotija cheese into the bowl.

If you’ve never use this cheese before, it’s really soft and crumbles between your fingers very easily. Don’t feel like you have to cut it up with a knife.

Drain and rinse the canned corn. Add it to the bowl.

Using a full can of corn assures that you get corn and every bite. I mean, this is Mexican street corn chicken salad after all. However, if that’s too much corn for you, you can use half a can instead.

Spoon the mayonnaise into the bowl.

Quick note: When I’m making other Mexican street corn-inspired recipes, I’ll do a mix of mayonnaise and sour cream to be more similar to the Mexican mayonesa. However, I don’t do that with this chicken salad recipe because I don’t feel like it needs a tangy flavor. You can do whatever you think is best.

Add in the Tajin seasoning, garlic powder, and salt.

Stir until everything is completely coated.

Add in the minced garlic.

Stir again.

You can either serve this between two slices of bread and make it into a Mexican street corn chicken salad sandwich. Or you can eat it the way I usually order at Chicken Salad Chick and serve a large scoop of it over a bit of lettuce.

We also sometimes just dip crackers into it when we want it for a light, less filling, lunch.

Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

More Chicken Salad Recipes:

If you really like chicken salad, you should absolutely try our Chicken Salad BLT. If you haven’t added bacon to your chicken salad sandwiches yet, you’re really missing out.

We also have a chickpea salad recipe, which is a little more like tuna salad than chicken salad, but if you like the style of meal, you’ll like that sandwich too.