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This spicy Mexican-style Street Corn Pasta Salad incorporates all the flavors of street corn into the creamiest corn-filled summer pasta salad. Sweet summertime corn, mixed with creamy dressing and tossed with pasta, grilled corn, spicy chili butter, and salty crumbled Mexican cotija cheese. It’s quick to make and totally delicious, especially with extra lime mayo and chili butter. A quintessential summer pasta salad, serve this up at your next summer party, it’s always delicious.
I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but August is the best month for summer produce. The corn is at its sweetest this time of year. And I love creating new recipes to help you all use up summer’s bounty of goodness!
Oddly the corn we’ve been getting so far this season hasn’t been the best, so instead of grilling and enjoying it on the cob, I’ve found myself incorporating it into more flavorful dishes.
We all loved the street corn dip I shared last summer, so I thought I could take those flavors and toss them up into a pasta salad.
I love pasta salad in the summer, so the idea of incorporating the two sounded fun!
My dad would cook dinner for the family growing up, a pasta salad was always on rotation throughout the summer.
His were simple with broccoli, bell peppers, so much fresh basil, and big chunks of cheddar cheese. He’d then toss in the hot pasta and dress it all up with lots of olive oil. My dad’s secret was tossing everything together while the pasta was HOT. The cheese would melt over the pasta. It was so good. I use his same trick anytime I make a pasta salad, including this street corn salad too!
Delicious with the creamy dressing and spices.
The details
Step 1: mix the dressing
In the bottom of a big salad bowl mix together softened cream cheese, sour cream, olive oil, fresh chives, salt, and pepper. Then add crumbled feta or cotija cheese.
This is the salad’s base and what makes it so yummy and creamy!
Step 2: cook the pasta
Use your favorite shortcut pasta, anything works! Boil it and then toss the hot pasta up with the dressing in a salad bowl.
The heat from the pasta melts the dressing into the pasta.
Step 3: mix the salad
Now for the salad. You’ll need lettuce, grilled or roasted corn, basil, cilantro, cubes of spicy cheddar cheese, and an avocado too.
Gently toss the salad with the pasta to get everything all mixed up!
Step 4: the chili butter + lime
For my spices, I used chili powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne. I wanted to add a little smokiness and a little more kick of flavor.
Melt the butter, then mix in the spices. And lastly, mix some mayo or yogurt with lime juice and salt. Do not skip this. The butter really, really flavors the pasta salad in a wonderfully delicious way.
Step 5: top it and serve
Simply top the tossed pasta salad with lots of chili butter and then drizzle or dollop the lime may0/yogurt on top.
Don’t forget to add fresh herbs, I use basil, cilantro, and green onions. It’s such a yummy combination!
So creamy with a spicy flavor – but not too much spiciness. And you can always adjust the heat to your own personal taste.
This is one of those pasta salads you’ll crave time and time again!
Looking for other salad recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Pasta Salad
Pesto Chicken Caesar Salad with Tomatoes and Burrata
Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken and Avocado Bacon Salad
Lastly, if you make this Street Corn Pasta Salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Street Corn Pasta Salad
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 473 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3/4 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese
Salad
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
- 2 cups grilled or roasted corn (3-4 raw)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup spicy cheddar cheese, cubed
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, to your taste
- 1/4 cup mayo or yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- 1. To make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper.2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta to al dente, according to package directions. Drain. Immediately toss with the dressing. Add the lettuce, corn, cheddar, basil, cilantro, and avocado. Toss to combine. 3. In a skillet, melt the butter until golden. Mix in the chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and a pinch of salt. Cook another minute, then remove from the heat.4. Mix the mayo or yogurt with lime juice with a pinch of salt.5. Serve the pasta warm or cold, topped with lime mayo and chili butter. The salad will develop more flavor as it sits.
The flavors in this were delicious. Loved the mayo lime and chili butter to top it off – added so much fun to the salad! So many of the recipes I make from you are hits. Thank you for helping me be a popular dinner preparer for my family!
Hey Sara,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was a winner:)
Delish so far! If you’re serving this cold, do you add the chili butter and lime mayo before you chill? Or before serving?
Hey Lisa,
Happy Friday!🍂 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it and your comment! You can add everything before chilling:) xx
How much cheeder and basil. Its in the recipe but not in the ingredients
Hi Alex,
The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese cubed and 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves torn:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This salad is amazing! Made it EXACTLY as written as I’ve made a lot of your recipes and have complete confidence in the outcome. Admittedly, I poured on the butter with spices with a bit of nervousness–but it was all good! I served this at a dinner party last night and people couldn’t stop raving about it!
Thank you so so much Lee! xT
Best pasta salad ever?! I was tempted to skip the mayo and butter but they really took it to the next level! Thank you so much.
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! I really hope you loved it! 🙂
This might be the best pasta salad I have ever had! OMG!! My husband is inhaling his second bowl as we speak. The layers of flavor are incredible. It is a bit time-consuming, so you should just make a double batch all at once! This will be my new, go to for barbecues and guests that come over for dinner. Absolutely beyond delicious!
Oh wow thank you so much Laura!! xT
Thank you!! That chili butter was the best thing I’ve made all year. And so simple. It’s going directly into the bag of tricks…
Thank you Miriam! xT
Really tasty mix of flavours and a great side to a pulled pork dish I made. I’d recommend cutting back in the cheeses, omitting the spicy cheddar was a good start. Next time I’ll swap the lettuce for shredded cabbage as it went soggy overnight. This made a huge quantity so I’ll also halve the recipe next time.
Thank you for the feedback Helen! xT
My bowl wasn’t big enough to mix in the lettuce, but I was OK with that because I didn’t want the lettuce to get super soggy when eating it the next day. I loved the fresh herbs throughout this recipe, but it did seem like a lot of prep for a side dish. Personally, I’d add some cherry tomatoes next time I make it!
Thank you Chelsea! xT
For all the prep work and ingredients, this recipe was very disappointing. My bad for serving it to friends without testing it first. HBH is always generous with seasonings and fresh herbs, which I love, but all you could taste was the chili and smoked paprika. I wisely omitted the cayenne. The roasted corn flavor was not detectable. If I made it again, I would scale way back on the seasonings and the sheer amount of pasta. This dish, a “side salad”, made enough for a small army.
Oh no I am so sorry about that! Thank you for the feedback, I’m sorry again this recipe didn’t turn out for you!
AMAZING pasta salad! Great warm and cold! Thank you!
Thank you so much Sheila! xT
This was a favorite of the whole family! I skipped the lime mayo, but added lime to the avocado before mixing in to try to prevent some browning. Was absolutely delicious/would definitely make again!
Awesome! Thank you, love to hear this! xT
Tajin on top was a game changer! I added chicken to it and we all enjoyed it – thank you!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! So happy to hear that you enjoyed it! xT
I made this for just my boyfriend and I and we loved it! It saves really well for lunch the next day as well. I could go with or without the cheddar cheese, but dont skip on the cotija. If you go without cheddar just add more cotija with your heart. Also no skipping out on the fresh herbs its crucial for this one! Great reciepe will be adding it to the go to summer dishes!
Thanks so much Cate! xT
This is a delicious pasta salad and a dish I would make it again! I omitted the lettuce, basil, and cubed cheddar cheese. I plan to toss leftover pasta salad with fresh lettuce for my next meal. The lime mayonnaise is a must. Next time, I will skip the butter/chili/cayenne/paprika mixture and instead use tajin chili powder.
So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Have a great day! xT