This delicious Grilled Mexican Street Corn can be made in about 30 minutes and is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh corn on the cob. Smothered in mayo, seasonings, lime juice, and cotija cheese, you’re going to want to make this into a meal.

Mexican Street Corn

Elote is Spanish for Mexican grilled seasoned street-style corn. Elote combines a few ingredients which are layered on the corn, then grilled in a foil wrap. Once you taste elote style street corn you may find yourself saying it is the best way to prepare corn on the planet.

Mexican Street Corn on the Pellet Grill

Woodfire really takes this up a few notches. Pellet Grills work great to cook Mexican style street corn. I used my Traeger, but you can use any other type of grill or smoker as well.

This simple side dish is prepared with minimal effort. Because the corn gets wrapped with the other ingredients and then set on the grill, you don’t get a ton of smoke flavor but you do get to not heat up your house in the summer with a big pot of boiling water or cranking up the oven.

See all of my Easy Traeger Recipes here!

Extra smoky elote

If you want extra wood-fired flavor on the corn, just smoke the corn briefly for about ten minutes first before you wrap it up with the butter and salt into the foil. It shouldn’t be too hot when you pull it off. You just want the smoke, not to cook the corn entirely.

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Preparing your Mexican street corn

Butter and salt your corn before throwing it on the grill. This really infuses the corn with the buttery flavor, which is always a win when it comes to fresh corn on the cob.

After wrapping the corn in foil, throw it on the grill at between 375 and 400 degrees. Turn the foil wrapped corn cobs a quarter turn every five minutes to get all the sides roasted evenly.

Remove from the grill and when the foil cools enough to open.

Right before serving, slather the lime-mayo-seasoning-cheese mixture across the corn, and make sure to coat it liberally.

24 Incredible Traeger Recipes

What can I substitute for cotija cheese?

Cotija is a salty Mexican hard cheese that grates easily or crumbles in a pinch if you don’t have the right grater handy. However, sometimes finding cotija cheese at your local grocery is not always possible.

If you have to go with another cheese, then try feta cheese. Feta cheese and cotija are very similar. You can also try parmesan. Really, any dry and hard cheese that grates easily or crumbles will work.

More Side Dish recipes, right this way!

What corn is best for Mexican Street Corn?

You can use any type of corn for elote. Go with whatever you prefer, but I always recommend using the corn that is freshest and in season. However, don’t worry, even frozen corn on the cob works just fine too.

• White corn – sweeter and light in color, I like using white corn when it is available.
• Yellow corn – easiest to find, and usually available in a frozen option if corn isn’t in season
• Multi-colored corn – not just for Halloween ornaments, you sometimes find specialty corns like blue corn and red corn in the organic section. They add a bit of flare but they don’t really taste different.

What can I serve with elote?

Mexican style street corn literally goes great with any dish. You don’t necessarily need to only do it when you are going the Mexican cuisine route. Still, I do have some Mexican food recipes that I know serve well with elote.

Chicken, steak, and fish or go completely vegetarian if you prefer. The lime and cheese, chili pepper and cilantro, all are ingredients that compliment a variety of entrees. Of course, elote makes a great snack by itself. It reheats easily, or tastes great even cold.

There are no limitations as far as imagination goes, but cooking time and individual palates will set the limits, but not the potential for an enjoyable meal.

Try my Smoked Pork Loin Tacos too

Here are some of my favorite Mexican inspired dishes to enjoy with elote: 

• Pressure Cooker Mexican Rice
• Beefy Mexican Casserole
• Ground beef tacos
• Instant pot shredded beef burritos
• Shrimp ceviche
• Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Mayo, lime, chili margarita seasoning, cilantro, and cotija cheese make this corn insanely good. Cooked in foil packets on the Traeger with butter and salt.