Meow Recipes: Elote Style Quinoa Salad

That’s it! Summer is on its waaaaay! And just in time for this bright, nutty, totally satisfying, creamy dream salad.

Elote quinoa salad in a bowl with cotija cheese and a fork

This post is sponsored by ALDI

It packs a real nutritional punch thanks to the quinoa and black beans, but then OH, DOES IT GET ZAZZED. Velvety peppers confit, piles of fresh juicy sweet corn, and a homemade dressing bringing the best of the best elote (Mexican street corn) flavors together like zippy lime, salty cotija cheese, and chili powder. And as always, we have big love for ALDI for having everything we need for this dream to come true, including all of the fresh (like, “it gets delivered every single day” fresh!) summery produce packed into this salad delight.

Mexican street corn, served either as elote (on the cob) or esquites (kernels in a cup), is a staple snack in Mexico, and rightly so. This beautifully savory grilled corn is either stuck on wooden sticks or shaved from the cob and served in little cups depending, painted in mayo, lime juice, cotija, and chili powder, and joyfully carried around and munched on by many. The very best of grab-and-go!

We’re taking inspiration from all those beautiful delicious flavors, shaving that fresh raw sweet corn right off the cob, and piling and tossing and mixing with some other chompable greats. Warning: highly addictive salad ahead.

In This Post: Everything For Elote Quinoa Salad

Ingredients for Elote Quinoa Salad
How to Make This Salad
Why Raw Corn
Best Ways to Cook Quinoa
Mayo Alternatives
What to Serve with This Salad
Elote Quinoa Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

Ingredients For This Elote Quinoa Salad

The ingredient list here is simple, don’t need much to deliver big on flavor. And so we’re going to our affordable and high-quality faves over at ALDI for the entirety of this list.

They have such a wide variety of delicious fresh produce, lots of organic options, and you KNOW we love that ALDI cheese section (seriously, it’s amazing), so of course we’re hitting that up here! Here’s what you’ll need:

For the salad:

Simply Nature Organic Quinoa
fresh sweet corn
Simply Nature Organic Black Beans
mini sweet peppers (cooked into pepper confit)
cilantro

For the dressing:

Burman’s Mayo
Pueblo Lindo Grated Cotija Cheese
Stonemill Chili Powder
buttermilk
garlic
limes

Let’s Make This Fresh Summery Salad

Alright, let’s get this summer star ready.

Quinoa and prep. Use your fave method to cook quinoa and get your sweet corn shaved from the cobs.
Pepper confit. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet and add the pepper rings. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until very soft and roasty-looking. For a flavor bonus, you can squeeze a little lime juice in the pan to lift all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan when you’re done!
Homemade dressing! You’ll whisk all the ingredients up and then taste and adjust as necessary. It might taste super salty and that’s okay! It’s going on a bunch of raw, unseasoned ingredients so you’re going to want it to have lots of flavor.
Toss and serve. Throw everything in a bowl (or okay fine, arrange nicely if you are a star) just before serving. Drizzle with all that beautiful creamy dressing. Yum!

That’s it! Pretty easy peasy. Then you can continue to doll it up as you like.

But Raw Corn? In a Salad?

Yes! Raw sweet corn is quite delicious! It’s crunchy, bursty, and has an almost creamy sweet taste. It really is quite a dream!

You’ll just take a sharp knife and run it right down your cob and get all those yummy pale golden gems off and into your salad bowl. Yes and yes.

If you’re not feeling like taking the raw corn adventure (be brave! you can do it!), you can of course totally cook your corn first. Get a nice char on it from the grill to really up those elote flavors or you could sauté it in a hot skillet for a similar effect.

If you’re really in a pinch, you could sear up some frozen corn, but it won’t have quite the same crunch or sweet pop.

Elote quinoa salad in a bowl with a fork

The Best Ways To Cook Quinoa For This Salad

The stovetop method is a good way to go:

Rinse for at least 30 seconds under running water or toast your quinoa first! It helps get rid of the natural bitterness on the outside quinoa (thanks to the naturally-occurring saponin coating).
Use a 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa ratio (using broth instead of water can add more flavor!).
Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, cover, and let steam for a few minutes until those little curly coils bust out.
Remove lid and fluff with fork. It should smell nutty, fluff easily, and no liquid should be left!

If you’re making larger batches, it can also be done in a rice cooker or Instant Pot! Make sure you still rinse or toast your quinoa first!

Rice cooker: Still a 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa ratio and it is usually done in about 30 minutes.
Pressure cooker: 1.5 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa. Cook on high for 3 mins, natural release for 10 minutes.

Mayo Alternatives

If you don’t want to go the mayo route, even though its salty creaminess can’t be beat, you certainly have other options for your dressing. You could try:

Greek yogurt
sour cream
Mexican crema
maybe an avocado?

You may have to adjust your buttermilk and cheese ratios to get the right consistency you’re looking for depending on what you use, but certainly play around with it!

What To Serve with Elote Salad

Between the quinoa and the black beans, this makes a really lovely and satisfying meal. But if you’re looking to bring some friends to the table, some grilled or rotisserie chicken would be delicious. A little bowl of salad and then all the chips and all the salsas and all the guac? Yes, please.

Serve this salad on the side of a taco party? THANK YOU FOR ASKING. Maybe some of these would be nice:

What we’re saying is, summer is coming, this salad is so, so good, and you are never going to want to stop.

Elote Style Quinoa Salad: Frequently Asked Questions

What should I serve with this?

This salad works great by itself and is incredibly filling, but if you wanted, some grilled chicken would be delicious to serve the salad alongside.

I’m out of buttermilk. Any substitution ideas?

Buttermilk is actually very easy to make at home! Read how to make your own here.

Any other kinds of cheeses to sprinkle on top?

Cotija cheese is our #1 pick here, but if you can’t find it, queso fresco can also work. It just crumbles a bit differently and is saltier.

Can this salad be prepped ahead of time for the week?

It sure can! Just save your dressing drizzles and cheese sprinkles for right before serving.

Elote Style Quinoa Salad

Author: Lindsay
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

Print Recipe

Description

Elote Quinoa Salad made with velvety peppers confit, juicy sweet corn, homemade dressing, cotija cheese, lime, and spices. Perfect for summer and so, so good!

Ingredients

Units

Salad:

1 cup Simple Nature Organic Quinoa, uncooked
5 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob
1 can Simply Nature Organic Black Beans, rinsed
1 package mini sweet peppers, sliced into small rings (about 2–3 cups)
olive oil for cooking
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

1/3 cup Burman’s Mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 clove garlic, grated
1 teaspoon Stonemill Chili Powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
juice and zest of two limes
Pueblo Lindo Grated Cotija Cheese for topping

Instructions

Cook quinoa and prep ingredients.
Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet and add the pepper rings. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until very soft and roasty-looking. Squeeze a little lime juice in the pan to lift all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan when you’re done! More flavor!
Whisk up the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust. It’s okay if it’s super salty – it’s going on a bunch of raw, unseasoned ingredients so we want it to have lots of flavor!
Toss ingredients or arrange in a bowl just before serving (quinoa, corn, beans, peppers, cilantro, and topped with dressing and cheese). Serve with grilled chicken, dip with chips, or on its own as a meal!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Category: Salad
Method: Toss
Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired