Combine the flavors of the classic Mexican street food into a comforting creamed corn dish. Super easy to make. Without a doubt this is the perfect summertime side dish. Or make this for Cinco de Mayo. Any celebration is a great excuse!

Elote Mexican Street Creamed Corn on a white plate topped with Cotija cheese and cilantro

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Over my many years of blogging, I have seen numerous food trends.

Some I ignore and some I embrace.

I am here today to totally embrace the Etole craze that is going on now. We aren't just seeing people enjoy the dish itself but also seeing a rise in people using the seasoning. Trader Joe's even came out with an "Everything But the Elote" seasoning blend.

It's time for my own spin on Etole with this easy to make Elote Skillet Creamed Corn. I combine the flavors of the popular street food into a bowl of delicious corn that can be made whether or not fresh corn is in season.

Jump to:

🙋 What Does Etole Mean?
🛒 Ingredients
💡 Top Tip
🍳 Cook in a Skillet
🌽 More Corn Recipes
Elote Skillet Creamed Corn

🙋 What Does Etole Mean?

In case you were wondering Elote means "tender cob."

🛒 Ingredients

Here is what you will need from the store to make this dish. There are different ways to make it and we offer you some substitutions.

Ears of fresh sweet corn (frozen if out of season)
Sour cream or Mexican creama
Mayonnaise
Cotija cheese (queso fresco cheese could work)
Pepper Flakes or Chili powder
Stone ground corn meal
Salt
Chopped Cilantro
Chopped green onions (optional)
Fresh lime juice or lime wedge (optional)

For the recipe you can use either regular sour cream or Mexican crema, which normally isn't as thick. Mayo is used for traditional Elote. You could also substitute with room temperature cream cheese if you like, but keep in mind it's thicker than mayo.

The stone ground corn meal is a trick I picked up from Alton Brown - I used it in my Hatch Chile Creamed Corn. It helps to thicken a bit and adds more flavor. Choose stone ground cornmeal.

Wild violet white and purple sweet corn on the cob.

Wild Violet Corn

As far as corn goes use the best corn on the cob you can find or the best frozen corn (skip the canned stuff).

When I made the dish for this post I was able to use Wild Violet sweet corn I found at my local Kroger store. Yes this is actually a sweet corn that is white corn dotted with violet colored kernels. It's sweet and you can taste the difference.

Flatiron Pepper Company jars - Dark and Smoky, Hatch Valley Green, and Four Pepper Blend. — These pepper flakes from Fiat Iron are the perfect way to add a little heat to your food, as well as adding flavor .

Pepper Flakes

Chili powder (or chipotle powder) is what is commonly used for elote. But I really love using the pepper flakes from the Flat Iron Pepper Company Their flakes are high quality and come in a wide variety of bold flavors. I can't say enough about how good they are.

For this recipe I used the Hatch Valley Green, which in another creamy dish - Creamy Sous Vide Chicken.

Another option for heat is using canned chipotle peppers. Just chop them up to taste and add to the dish.

Cojita Cheese

For a Mexican corn dish, you gotta have a Mexican cheese. Cotija is perfect for this. Some call it the Mexican version of Parmesan. It crumbles up nicely and has a flavor that is somewhat similar to parm. Seek it out, it will make this dish.

Most major grocery stores carry it. Sometimes as a round or in a container already crumbled.

Feta cheese could also be used instead if you wanted.

Using a bundt pan to strip corn off the cob. The corn falls into the pan. A bread knife is shown cutting the corn off.

💡 Top Tip

To make removing the corn from the cob easier:

Place a corn holder into one side of the cob
Put the cob into the hole of the top of a bundt pan
Run a knife down the corn and it will all be collected in the bottom of the bundt pan.

I don't remember where I picked up this technique but I love whoever come up with the idea.

Corn in a cast iron skillet being stirred with a metal spatula.

🍳 Cook in a Skillet

I make the dish in my cast iron skillet. I cook the corn until it has charred kernels, before adding all the ingredients. This will give it that roasted flavor you would find on a good stick of Mexican street corn.

🌽 More Corn Recipes

Here are some other corn based recipes on the blog to check out.

Elote Skillet Creamed Corn

The flavors of Mexican street corn in a creamed corn dish made in a cast iron skillet.

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: corn

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

Servings: people

Author: Eric Samuelson

Ingredients

4 ears fresh corn removed from the cob
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp sour cream
¼ cup half and half
1 tbsp stone ground cornmeal
2 tbsp Cotija cheese crumbled
2 tbsp cilantro chopped
kosher salt to taste
pepper flakes to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 lime optional

Instructions

Remove all the corn kernels from the cob.
Add a couple tablespoons of cooking oil to a pan or skillet. Turn the heat to medium high.
Add the corn. Cook until the corn has taken on some brown color, anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes.
Add in mayo, sour cream, half and half, and ground meal. Stir to combine. Add more half and half or water it it's too thick for your liking.
Top with cilantro and Cotija cheese. Season with salt and pepper flakes to taste. Optional - add a fresh squeezes of juice from a fresh lime.

Notes

If you are using frozen corn, bring it out out of the freezer to defrost first for faster cooking. Or you can throw it directly into the pan. This will increase the cook time. Also the water released from the defrosting corn may pop with the oil in the pan, so watch out.

Tried this recipe?Mention @eatlikenooneelse or tag #eatlikenooneelse