This creamy elote pasta salad takes all of the best parts of mexican street corn, and turns them into a delicious creamy pasta salad. Serve this side dish with grilled meat or at your next potluck and it’s sure to be a hit!

elote pasta salad with seasoning and cheese on top in mixing bowl.

You may have seen my recipe for elote bowls, which is essentially deconstructed elote.

That recipe was so good I decided to create another version, this time, reimagining it as a pasta salad!

Elote is generally pretty simple. Roasted corn on the cob topped with mayo, cotija cheese, chili powder, and lime juice. Since this is a pasta salad, I added in some tasty extras for flavor and crunch!

Serve this mexican street corn pasta salad with grilled chicken, steak or fish. It’s a pretty versatile side dish that goes with a lot of things and it’s especially refreshing in the summertime.

Ingredients

Pasta: You can use any pasta you like, but I like to have a pasta with some substance so that the sauce has something to stick to. My favorites are rotini, elbow, or even a macaroni could work.
Corn on the cob: I used fresh corn on the cob that was broiled. You can grill it as well. For a bit of a shortcut, you can buy fire roasted frozen corn instead.
Mayo: This works as the base of the pasta salad and works well because mayo is a main ingredient in traditional elote on a stick.
Sour cream: I like a bit of sour cream to break up the mayo for a lighter dressing. Greek yogurt could be used as well.
Spices: Chili powder and cumin add great flavor.
Radishes: I added these solely for flavor and crunch, which I think every good pasta salad needs.
Green onion: I prefer using green onion here because it will be eaten raw and it gives a lighter onion flavor with less bite.
Cilantro: Another fresh herb to add flavor and color.
Jalapeño: This is optional, but I can never say no to a little spice! If prefer less spicy, you can either substitute in half a green bell pepper, or just skip it entirely.
Cotija cheese: If you cannot find it, the best substitute would actually be parmesan cheese or well crumbled feta cheese.

How to Make Pasta Salad

dressing ingredients for pasta salad in a clear glass bowl unmixed.

Step 1. Cook pasta according to the packaging instructions and drain well. Set to the side. Broil corn on the cob on Hi for 10 minutes, carefully flipping the cobs halfway through. Once cool enough to handle, slice off the kernels using a sharp knife. While the pasta is cooking, prepare your salad dressing.

dressing ingredients for pasta salad in a clear glass bowl.

Step 2. In a large bowl, add mayonnaise, sour cream, oil, lime juice, cumin, chili powder.

clear bowl with ingredients to make elote pasta salad.

Step 3. Dice your vegetables into a small dice, making them a uniform size as much as possible. Add veggies, corn, cheese, and cooked pasta to bowl.

cooked noodles in bowl for making elote pasta salad.

Step 4. Mix well and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips

This pasta salad is best dressed immediately before serving. The noodles continue to soak up the dressing the longer it sits. It will still taste good later, it will just not be as creamy.
If you are planning to bring this pasta salad to an event, I suggest having everything in one bowl and keeping the dressing in a separate smaller bowl and combining the two just before serving for the best texture.

Storage

Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. The longer the pasta salad sits, the more the noodles will soak up the dressing it will not be as creamy as when initially served.