Elote in a Cup
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Elote in a Cup is the perfect side dish or appetizer – it’s takes one of my favorite ways to eat corn on the cob and has all the flavor but makes it less messy and more portable! Loaded with fresh corn and a tangy creamy sauce topped with a crunchy spicy coating!
What You Will ❤️ About Elote in a Cup
- Food Truck Favorite! My friend’s food truck makes this and it’s a best seller!
- Corn all year! You can use frozen corn and still have that bite of summer all year round!
- Quick! Only 5 min of cook time and it’s ready in 20 minutes.
What is Elote Corn?
Elote means corn in Spanish and it’s plentiful and a very popular street food in Mexico. Traditional elote is corn on the cob covered in butter, mayonnaise, cotija cheese and chili powder. This recipe for Elote in a Cup makes that delicious street food a little more portable but with the same great taste!
Ingredients for Elote in a Cup recipe
These ingredients are very similar to what you’d have if you kept it on the cob. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Salt & Sugar
- Corn on the cob or whole kernel corn – you can use fresh or frozen
- Duke’s Mayonnaise – I only use Duke’s! Have you tried it?
- Limes
- Hot Cheetos – this gives it a kick!
- Chile powder or cayenne pepper – and another kick!
- Tajin – and another kick! This is a blend of chili peppers, lime & salt.
- Parmesan cheese – or romano, cotija, queso fresco or even feta cheese
- Chopped Cilantro
How do you cook corn for this elote recipe?
I like to use fresh corn for this recipe – mainly because I first tried this in the summer – when it’s available on every corner! But in January – I still like elote – but there’s no fresh corn! What to do? Here’s how to cook the corn – no matter what time of year you’re serving it!
- Fresh corn on the cob – once your corn cut off the cob – boil 1.5 cups of water with 1 tbsp sugar. Add your corn and boil for 3-5 minutes. Then drain and let cool for 5 min.
- Frozen corn – heat according to directions on the bag – typically microwave/steam for 6 minutes.
- Canned corn – heat in a sauce pan. Then drain and cool for 5 minutes.
How do you make Mexican Street Corn in a Cup?
- Bring water to a boil and add salt & sugar – this helps make it like sweet corn
- When salted water is boiling, add corn and cover with lid.
- Simmer corn for 3-5 minutes or until corn is cooked though and tender.
- While corn is simmering, combine mayonnaise, lime juice and salt in a small bowl. Refrigerate.
- In a blender, add Cheetos, Tajin and chili powder. Pulverize until made into crumbs
- When corn is done cooking, drain well and spread out in strainer. Allow to cool for about 3-5 minutes.
- Place corn in cup and layer mayo mixture and cheetos mixture on top of corn mixture
- Garnish with parmesan and chopped cilantro and squeeze a lime wedge over top
- You could even sprinkle with your favorite hot sauce
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Tips, Tricks & FAQs
Elote is commonly known as the street corn served on the cob. Esquites is the Mexican street corn salad form of elote – usually served in a cup. So this recipe is a bit of both!
It simply translates to Corn
eee-LOW-tay is the pronunciation of elote
Yes – definitely! Instructions are in the recipe.
Traditional elote is served with cotija. You can substitute queso fresco, feta or – as we do – Parmesan!
Sure! You could swap out with Mexican crema, sour cream or nonfat plain yogurt if you’re not a fan of mayo. If you are using mayo – I always recommend Duke’s.
Meh – not so much – if you think you’ll have more than you need – I recommend keeping the ingredients separate
Elote in a Cup Variations
- Grilled – you can also grill your corn rather than a quick boil! Very delicious!
- Not in a cup – cook your corn but squirtle all the toppings on the ears of corn for a traditional Elote.
- Veggies – saute bell peppers and onions and add to the corn mixture – then top with diced avocado.
- Chicken – add pulled rotisserie chicken to the dish for a full meal
What to serve with Elote in a Cup?
- Traeger Grilled Chicken Thighs
- Cilantro Lime Shredded Pork Tacos
- Reverse-Sear Steak
- Air Fryer Cilantro Lime Breaded Shrimp
Other Yummy Recipes with Corn
Elote in a Cup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2-3 ears corn on the cob 2 cups of corn kernels
- 1.5 cups water
- 1/2 cup Duke's Mayonnaise
- 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 2 cups Hot Cheetos
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp Tajin
- 1/4 cup cheese parmesan, romano, cotija or gueso fresco
- 1 tsp cilantro
Instructions
- Bring water, salt and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan2 tbsp sugar, 1.5 cups water, 2 tbsp salt
- While water is coming to a boil, shuck corn and cut it off the cob. You should yield 2 cups of corn for this recipe. You can also use canned or frozen corn for this recipe as well.2-3 ears corn on the cob
- When water is boiling – add corn and cover with lid. Simmer for 3-5 minutes until corn is cooked and tender. Adjust accordingly if using frozen or canned. (frozen – you can microwave in bag, canned – heat with liquid in can)2-3 ears corn on the cob, 1.5 cups water, 2 tbsp sugar
- While corn is simmering, combine mayonnaise, juice from 1/2 of lime and salt in a small bowl. Stir and refrigerate until ready to serve.1/2 cup Duke's Mayonnaise, 1 lime, 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
- In a blender, add Cheetos, Tajin and Chili powder. Pulverize until made into crumbs. Set aside until ready to serve.2 cups Hot Cheetos, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tbsp Tajin
- When corn is done, pour into a strainer to drain. Spread out corn around strainer to cool more quickly. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes.2-3 ears corn on the cob
- In your cups, add 1-2 spoonfuls of corn across bottom of dish. Spoon 1 large spoonful of mayo mixture over corn. (Go light on the mayo layer – it can overwhelm) Spoon 1-2 spoonfuls of Cheetos mixture over corn.
- Repeat all layers – corn, mayo and cheetos.
- Cut other half of lime into four wedges.1 lime
- Sprinkle top with cheese, cilantro and a lime wedge.1/4 cup cheese, 1 tsp cilantro
I love elote, it’s so delicious and full of flavor. Thanks to this recipe, I can make them right at home.
Who knew hot cheetos went so well with corn!? Definitely will be making this again before summer ends!
The very looks of this screams yum! the layers of corn and the spices much be a sure treat for the taste buds.
Really yummy! I lived in Mexico and it was great to find this recipe!
Seriously so much flavor and so delicious! Thanks for sharing!
At the moment I just finished making this recipe oh my gosh! Best elote bowl I’ve ever had. Normally I hate the mayo in the elote bowls but adding the lime and salt made it
I love that!!!!! I’m so glad you loved it!
Thank you for your recipe. Just one thing, Elote is not a Spanish word. It’s derived from the native Mexican language náhuatl. In Spanish, corn is translated as maíz. My parents are from Spain, I was born in South America, and I’ve never heard that word before coming to the US. Please make the appropriate corrections in your publication.
Well I don’t typically refer to Mexican as a language and if you Google translate – it says Spanish. So Ole to Elote! It’s Mexican Spanish – not Spain Spanish. Thanks for your thoughts.