Our best summer corn recipes include everything from grilled corn on the cobs, grilled corn salads, and corn in a cup, a Mexican street food dish that has a cousin in Southeast Asia. As summer is corn season in many parts of the northern hemisphere, we’ve been cooking and eating late summer corn in everything from corn chowder to corn salsa. Our best corn recipes below and we’ll be adding to this collection.
Cambodia has had a bumper corn harvest this year, so there’s been a bounty of locally-grown sweet yellow corn at the markets and supermarkets. I have to confess that I love corn season almost as much as I love mango season, so, with corn cobs in the fridge I’ll sharing more corn recipes, which I’ll add to this compilation of our best summer corn recipes.
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Published 15 June 2021; Updated 31 August 2022
Best Summer Corn Recipes for Grilled Corn Cobs, Corn Salads and Corn in a Cup
Our best summer corn recipes include everything from grilled corn on the cobs, grilled corn salads, and corn in a cup, a Mexican street food dish that has a cousin in Southeast Asia.
Mexican Corn Salsa Recipe for a Corn Pico de Gallo
This easy Mexican corn salsa recipe make a kind of corn pico de gallo ā diced cucumbers, tomatoes, shallots, jalapeƱos, corn, and coriander, combined with a zingy dressing of vinegar, lime juice and olive oil.
It’s a fantastic topping for Mexican tacos or tostadas or a delicious dip or side to a Tex-Mex burrito or chilli con carne, and it’s another of our best summer corn recipes.
Our recipe came about rather serendipitously. Terence was refining his fantastic grilled chicken tacos recipe and we couldnāt decide whether to make a corn salsa or pico de gallo to go with the tacos, so we thought: why not combine them?!
This Mexican corn salsa recipe makes a delicious combination of the two and itās so good! Itās also super easy to make, coming together in 15 minutes, plus itās versatile. You could add diced avocado or pineapple or kidney beans, red capsicum or whatever you like.
Mexican Corn Salsa Recipe for a Corn Pico de Gallo for Taco Toppings, Dip and Sides
>Creamy Corn Chowder Recipe with Potatoes, Parmesan and Croutons
Our corn chowder recipe makes a creamy potato corn chowder with Parmigiano Reggiano, scallions and croutons and it’s one of our best summer corn recipes. The chowder is ever so lightly spiced with a little curry powder, turmeric and paprika to add warmth. A rind of Parmigiano Reggiano melts in the chowder adding a kick of umami, while crunchy homemade croutons add texture.
I’m happy to slurp a bowl of in summer or winter, a deliciously dense creamy corn soup, traditionally thickened with milk or cream, although I prefer potato, imbued with spices and herbs, and in the USA sprinkled or served with crackers or biscuits in the early days, although I opt for crunchy homemade croutons instead.
My corn chowder recipe is both dairy-free and vegetarian, which means Iāve skipped another key ingredient of old fashioned corn chowders, and thatās pork, which in modern day chowders generally takes the form of crispy fried strips of bacon sprinkled on top. You can certainly add bacon if you wish.
Creamy Corn Chowder Recipe with Potatoes, Parmesan, Croutons and a Potted Chowder History
Grilled Corn on the Cob with Lime Butter and Lemongrass Mayonnaise Recipe
This grilled corn with lime butter and lemongrass mayonnaise recipe is my favourite grilled corn on the cob recipe and one of our best summer corn recipes. It’s a fusion dish of sorts, inspired by a few favourites of Cambodian food and Mexican street food.
Inspirations include the popular street food snack in Cambodia of grilled corn on the cob slathered with mayonnaise, lime juice and chilli flakes; the more traditional Cambodian grilled corn, poat dot, which is brushed with a sauce of coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, and spring onions; and the Mexican grilled corn street food dish, below.
We like to char-grill our corn on the cob on our griddle pan on the stove, over a traditional clay brazier, as most Cambodians do at home and on the streets (we use these coconut charcoal BBQ briquettes, which we love), or on our stovetop Korean BBQ grill pan. But you could also use an outdoor barbecue or grill.
Grilled Corn on the Cob with Lime Butter and Lemongrass Mayonnaise Recipe
Grilled Corn Salad Recipe With Lime, Chilli, Lemongrass Mayo and Sourdough Croutons
This grilled corn salad recipe with lime, chilli, lemongrass mayonnaise, and sourdough croutons uses up grilled corn on the cob leftovers from your weekend barbecues and those hard sourdough bread ends you didnāt finish.
Itās a fantastic salad for spring picnics and summer barbecues and can also serve as a meal on its own. My grilled corn salad recipe with lime, chilli, lemongrass mayonnaise, and sourdough croutons and crumbs was conceived to use up some grilled corn on the cob leftovers, along with some lemongrass mayo. I was also getting homesick and nostalgic for the corn salads of family barbecues in Sydney in the 1970s.
Terence also happened to have a crunchy end of near-stale sourdough bread as, avid sourdough baker that he is, heās pulling homemade sourdough boules out of the oven every few days (if you’re new to sourdough baking, see his easy sourdough beginner’s guide).
Naturally, I asked him to make some sourdough croutons and crunchy toasted sourdough crumbs, which gave this fragrant grilled corn salad fantastic texture.
Grilled Corn Salad Recipe With Lime, Chilli, Lemongrass Mayo and Sourdough Croutons
Mexican Grilled Corn Recipe ā How to Make Mexicoās Street Food Corn Called Elotes
This Mexican grilled corn recipe makes Mexicoās corn on the cob street food snack called elotes. It’s another of our best summer corn recipes. Super easy, it makes use of summer corn and is fantastic on its own or can be served as a barbecue side.
We became addicted to this in Mexico on our first trip to the country way back in 1993 and we ate it everywhere every chance we got, from Mexico City to Oaxaca, whether it was served either on the cob or in a cup.
When we returned home to Australia after a couple of months travelling around Mexico and the USA (where we had eloped and got married in the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas), we began making this Mexican grilled corn recipe ā and hosting Mexican themed dinner parties and sunset margaritas on weekend evenings on our Potts Point balcony.
We were infatuated with Mexico. And thereās nothing like recreating the food and drinks of a place you travelled to and loved when you return home to transport you back to that destination ā and thatās what we did with the food and drink of Mexico in our Sydney apartment all those years ago.
Mexican Grilled Corn Recipe ā How to Make Mexicoās Street Food Corn Called Elotes
Mexican Grilled Corn Salad Recipe for a Taste of Mexico at Home
This Mexican grilled corn salad recipe can be made from scratch or can be assembled using any leftovers from the Mexican grilled corn on the cob street food snack recipe for elotes, above. Itās a terrific salad for corn lovers and is fantastic for summer barbecues and picnics.
I don’t know about you, but we canāt always get ancho chilli powder here in Cambodia, which is why we say āand/orā dried chilli flakes. We have to use dried chilli flakes most of the time, which we adore anyway. I can sprinkle chilli flakes on everything, so thatās what weāre sprinkling on our corn cobs.
If you can’t get Mexicoās cotija cheese or Mexican crema (which we also can’t get here), use white cheese or crumbly feta cheese (or a combination of both) and sour cream, cream or creamy mayonnaise (or a combination of all!).
Mexican Grilled Corn Salad Recipe for a Taste of Mexico at Home
Mexican Street Corn in a Cup Recipe ā How to Make Esquites or Elote en Vaso
Our Mexican street corn in a cup recipe for Mexicoās esquites or elote en vaso, which means ācorn in a cupā, makes a Mexican street food snack or antojitos meaning ālittle cravingsā, that we became addicted to on our first trip to Mexico many years ago.
Like most Mexican food, itās absolutely delicious, and it’s undoubtedly another of our best summer corn recipes. Itās also super easy to make, especially if you have leftover corn on the cob. Esquites or elote en vaso consists of steaming hot corn kernels with Mexican crema, cotija cheese, lime juice, and ancho chilli powder thatās sold in a takeaway cup.
It comes with a spoon and you stir it all up and the first time you try it on the streets of Mexico City or Merida or Oaxaca, like a slap to the face ā or a whack to a piƱata ā you realise whatās been missing in your life. Our easy Mexican street corn in a cup recipe is quick to come together, too, particularly if you made our Mexican street corn on the cob recipe and have some corn cobs leftover.
Mexican Street Corn in a Cup Recipe ā How to Make Esquites or Elote en Vaso
If you’re serving any of these grilled corn dishes from Mexico for a Mexican feast, you might also like our recipes for authentic guacamole, an easy red tomato salsa, tortilla soup, tacos al pastor, grilled corn salad, chili con carne, nachos, quesadillas, and classic margaritas and micheladas.
Thai Corn Salad Recipe for a Filling Summer Lunch or a Perfect Side for Thai Style Fried Chicken
Our easy Thai corn salad recipe makes a fantastic filling salad that is the perfect light summer lunch or an ideal side for dinner when paired with spicy Thai fried chicken.
Our recipe makes a simple tossed salad thatās based on a popular Bangkok som tam style salad thatās traditionally pounded in a mortar and pestle at a street food stall. While we do love a good som tam, for us this salad works best as a tossed salad.
Like all great salads, it requires fantastic fresh ingredients, so do try to get hold of fresh corn on the cob if you can. If you canāt ā if corn is not in season in your neck of the woods ā canned corn kernels would do the trick. Canned beans and tinned carrots will not.
Thai Corn Salad Recipe for a Filling Summer Lunch or a Perfect Side for Thai Style Fried Chicken
This Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod is Made for Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Our Thai corn fritters recipe makes tod man khao pod in Thai ā crunchy, chewy corn fritters that we gently spice with a little chilli paste.
Eaten as a snack in Thailand and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, you could serve these Thai corn fritters as finger food or as an appetiser. Theyāre fantastic dipped into Thai sweet chilli sauce.
If you made a batch of our homemade sweet chilli sauce, then you need to make these delightfully crunchy, chewy corn fritters, seasoned with a little chilli paste, which are perfect for dipping into that sweet chilli sauce. Bonus: these also happen to be vegan corn fritters.
This Thai Corn Fritters Recipe for Tod Man Khao Pod is Made for Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Corn Fritter Breakfast Burger Recipe with Fried Egg and Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
This corn fritter breakfast burger recipe is easily another of our best summer corn recipes. After making a final version of my delicious Thai corn fritters, we had a few leftover fritters ā ok, a lot of extra fritters! ā we also had burger buns from recipe testing, and a fresh jar of homemade Thai sweet chilli sauce, and, so our corn fritter and fried egg breakfast burger was born.
This corn fritter breakfast burger recipe with fried egg and Thai sweet chilli sauce makes an incredibly delicious vegetarian breakfast burger thatās packed with flavour and crunch. With a Southeast Asian twist on the classic breakfast burger, itās so good you won’t miss the burger patty and bacon, and the grease that comes with it, one bit.
If you made our Thai corn fritters recipe and you have a batch of our homemade Thai sweet chilli sauce in the fridge, then youāre all set to go.
Corn Fritter Breakfast Burger Recipe with Fried Egg and Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce
Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding Recipe for Che Bap
This easy Vietnamese sweet corn pudding recipe makes che bap in the Hoi An style of Central Vietnam. Che bap is the Southern Vietnam sweet corn pudding, while che ngo is the Northern Vietnam sweet corn pudding.
This recipe makes the Central Vietnam sweet corn pudding called che bap or more correctly, chĆØ bįŗÆp. We lived in the ancient port town of Hoi Anās atmospheric historic centre before we moved to Cambodiaās Siem Reap and might have still been living there if it wasnāt for a āmistakeā made by our visa agent.
This recipe makes the chĆØ bįŗÆp that we used to eat as a late afternoon treat, perched on the lovely chĆØ sellerās tiny wooden stools on the sunny square by the Hoi An river. ChĆØ is a style of Vietnamese dessert that can be like a pudding, a porridge, even a soup.
Some chĆØ sellers offer a dozen or more sweets, while some, like our chĆØ bįŗÆp vendor in Hoi An, specialise in just a few. It’s another of our best summer corn recipes.
Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding Recipe for Che Bap in the Hoi An Style of Central Vietnam
Please do let us know if you make any of our best summer corn recipes as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
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