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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.
Super good. Mine didn’t look as pretty, Teagan has the magic touch, but it tasted amazing. I took it to an outdoor music festival for a potluck dinner on the lawn and everyone loved it.
Thanks for trying out the recipe! So glad you loved it! xT
I made this recipe for dinner tonight with Farfalle. It was delicious. I added some grilled chicken to amp up the protein but otherwise stuck to the recipe pretty closely. Definitely a keeper!
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Happy to hear that it was enjoyed! xT
This was delicious. I mixed the pasta with the dressing while hot. I waited for it to cool before adding the lettuce, corn & cheese. (I would recommend that to others) I did the avocado on the side as I was making it the night before. I also omitted the basil – that just didn’t seem to make sense to me. Fresh basil flavor is so powerful & I didn’t want to override the other flavors. I used colby jack instead of spicy cheese (couldn’t find it and didn’t want to use pepperjack) I made the butter ahead of time and reheated and mixed in the next day. because I love cotija, I did add more after the fixings were mixed in. Worked perfectly served cold.
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! Happy to hear that it was enjoyed! xT
This was just ok. Lettuce wilted immediately, the amount of fat seemeed excessive for the amount of corn in this dish.
Hey Mary! Sorry to hear this dish wasn’t what you hoped it would be! Is there anything I can do to help? xT
Back in Kindergarten and in the home I remember an important lesson. Be nice, maybe you’ve heard the phrase more recently, be kind??? Seriously, we are adults. Just because Tieghan is posting her recipes to help YOU with a meal, doesn’t give you the right to be rude. Got an opinion? Be nice or keep it to yourself. What does it accomplish to be rude, or negative? Make you feel better?? Shame on you. Your mama taught you better.
Had to cut out some of the dressing. I skipped the cream cheese and added 1/2 c of sour cream and 1/4 c yogurt. For the salad part I added 1/4 c Colby Jack cheese and increased the yogurt to 1/3 c. I’m not a spicy food person so I also reduced some of the peppery spices. It came out to be an amazing salad. I’m planning to make it again using feta in place of cotija this time just to taste the difference.
Hey Lori! Thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate it! xT
This was fantastic and a hit with everyone! I served it cold so I prepped the pasta salad and mayo drizzle in the morning and right before dinner I made the chili butter drizzle we served this with Mexican Dry Rub Skewers and this will go on our BBQ rotation. So delicious and surprisingly light for a pasta salad.
Hey there! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe! I’m sooo glad you loved it! xT
Hi! I don’t have a grill, do you have any tips for oven roasting corn for this recipe?
Hi there! Yes, you could totally wrap in foil and brush with oil or butter and then roast in the oven! xT
The detailed instructions were quite useful.
Also, check out: https://silverlakevegan.com/gallery.html
I feel like you did not actually test this? Mayo, when heated, will separate and butter will congeal if served cold. Also, the sheer amount of mixed dairy to only one pound of pasta PLUS a head of lettuce? I feel as though it would be nearly edible no matter what temperature you served it, simply scientifically speaking. The lettuce will either be coated in melty mayo oil or be stuck to the butter-solidified pasta.
Hey Joan! This recipe was tested multiple times, but I totally understand the concern! I would serve the lettuce on the side if you’re considering about it wilting or sticking to the pasta. Hope this helps! xT
I make a blt pasta salad with mayo in it quite regularly. I use spinach or kale instead of regular lettuce, as I will probably do for this recipe, but I have never had an issue with mayonnaise separating. I also make lots of buttered pasta and 4 spoons of butter distributed amongst all the other ingredients should be fine.
You made the exact same remark in that hate group where one of your rules is that you are not supposed to contact influencers. You just can’t help yourselves can you?
Funny coincidence, I also turned your epic corn dip into a pasta salad last week! I basically made the dip then tossed in the cooked pasta.I mixed the chili butter in the sour cream dressing and when the salad was cooled enough added fresh cherry tomatoes and bell peppers. I would skip the extra cheeses in the salad in favour of fresh veggies. Thanks for the daily recipes and inspirations!
Wow that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing this with me!
This was so good! I’d been eyeing the recipe all week (published on my birthday!) And since I was out of avocado but had tons of zucchini, I added some some, sautéed with some mushy tomatoes that were lying around, and the whole thing was amazing. Even my picky daughter loved it. Thanks!!!
Love to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Thanks for giving it a try! xT
Sounds delicious but I’m concerned about the lettuce as well as the avocado. Can you please advise?
Hi Janet! I would leave the avocados and lettuce out if you’re worried about them getting wilty/not keeping well. Hope this helps! xT
Not sure about the lettuce. Seems it would get really wilted from the heat of the pasta and some other ingredients. And it would be especially wilted the next day, if there were any leftovers. Other than that, sounds like a delicious pasta salad that I look forward to trying.
Hi, you can omit the lettuce if you’d like! Or I would recommend adding it separately to each serving in case you have leftovers!
Doesn’t the lettuce get soggy?
I would just add it in separately if you don’t plan on eating it all! 🙂 xT
Teighan, do you read minds? I was planning the two side dishes for our weekend picnic to be street corn cobs and pasta salad. Now TA-DA … I can combine them both and make this! Thank you for your endless creativity 💖
Haha how perfect! It was meant to be! xT