Elotes (Grilled Corn With Cheese, Lime and Chile)

By Melissa Clark

Updated July 1, 2025

  • Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(1,315)
Comments
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Whole ears of corn are a classic street food in Mexico, where they are either grilled or boiled, then often dressed with some combination of lime, chile, mayonnaise and grated cheese. This grilled version calls for all of the above, which get mixed together into a creamy, bracing topping, and slathered all over the hot, sweet ears. It's not strictly traditional, but it does make it easier to assemble the corn and its dressing before serving. Or place the various topping in small bowls and let guests have the fun of garnishing their own. And if you don’t have a grill, the broiler works too though watch the ears carefully so they don’t burn.

Featured in: Summer Corn at its Tangiest, Spiciest, Messiest Best

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

  • 6 ears fresh corn, shucked

  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

  • 2 limes

  • ¼ teaspoon ancho chile powder, more as needed

  • Fine sea salt, as needed

  • Black pepper, as needed

  • ½ cup crumbed cotija cheese (or substitute feta or ricotta salata)

  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

22 grams carbs; 13 milligrams cholesterol; 183 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 10 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 332 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 7 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat your grill to medium-high. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until cooked through and lightly charred, 7 to 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, zest of 1 lime, chile powder, salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Slather hot corn with mayonnaise mixture and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Cut limes into wedges and serve alongside corn.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,315 user ratings
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Comments

Santosh

My favorite ! I love them so much that I have iterated over this again and again and have settled on this mix: 4 tbsp mayo, 4 tbsp crémè fraîche, 1/2 tsp ancho cilli powder, 1/2 cup of cotija cheese and 1/4 cup cilantro.Mix this thoroughly, baste on corn and then sprinkle some Tajin salt all over. Now squueze a 1/4 wedge lime on it

Kevin

Sometimes I'll grill corn, cut it off the cob and add the rest of the ingredients here to make a corn salad. It's great for summer potlucks.

Marty Rosenbluth

I find that par-boiling the corn in about 8 cups of water with one cup of milk and about a tablespoon of sugar for about 5-7 minutes makes he corn more tender and adds flavor.

KaneSugar

As another commenter stated, I also par-boiled (blanched) corn in just salted water the day before. Corn was juicy, and prepared per instructions they were a hit! The one difference was that our coals had cooled a bit so didn't get enough char, so I put them under the broiler for a few minutes before I dressed them with toppings.

Mollz

Loved this recipe. I used feta, because it’s what I had. I also used (more then) a few shakes of tajin at the end!

Dawne

This recipe is outstanding. I followed the directions exactly, except I substituted chipotle chile powder and feta.

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