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Must-Have Corn Salsa Recipe
During the summer when corn is in season, I look for any excuse to buy it, it’s so wonderfully sweet! We’ll have it in chowder, salad, grilled, and of course, simply on the cob.
Corn also makes a fabulous salsa.
Acidity from the salsa’s lime juice balances the sweetness of the corn. Along with some jalapeño, red onion, cilantro, and oregano, it’s a fiesta of flavor.
Although not the kind of salsa that one can easily balance on a chip (though that doesn’t stop us from trying), it’s terrific as a side to any southwestern dishes like tacos and enchiladas, or a straight up side with chicken or steak.
This corn salsa would be great to serve for a game-day party or summer potluck.
A friend told me that corn salsa is one of the most popular menu items at Chipotle. I’m not surprised! (This one is better.)
Corn Salsa Recipe
This recipe uses fresh corn, from corn on the cob. You can also use frozen corn that has been defrosted. You'll need about 2 cups.
How to make corn salsa quickly? Use a mini-chopper or food processor to save time on mincing the red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and oregano.
Ingredients
- 2 ears fresh corn on the cob
- 1/2 cup minced red onion
- 1 jalapeño chili pepper, seeded and minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, including tender stems
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dry)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
Method
1 Cook the corn: Husk the corn, cut or break the cobs into two pieces, and steam the corn in about an inch of vigorously boiling water, in a large covered pot, for 5 minutes, less or more time depending on the tenderness of the corn. (Or you can microwave or grill the corn; use your favorite method for cooking corn.)
2 Cut away the kernels: When the corn has cooled to the touch, cut the kernels away from the cobs. The easiest way to do this is to invert a medium sized bowl and place it in a larger bowl. Hold the stem end of the corn cob and place the tip on top of the domed middle bowl. Use a sharp chef's knife to cut down along the sides of the corncob to cut away the kernels.
3 Combine with other salsa ingredients: Place the corn kernels and the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
Serve with fish tacos, chicken tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, or steak.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Corn Salsa
Can this be canned?
Hi Donna, it can be pressure canned. I don’t think there is enough acid in it to safely water bath can it.
Colorful and healthy snack to eat.
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Going to make this on Saturday for the football game! I hate going empty-handed and this looked like something good to try. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I think Chipotle should use this recipe as another option to their traditional salsa! But I do think that’s why they put corn in their burrito bowls ~ it totally adds. And it balances the cilantro well too. It also gives you another option of what to do with the leftover corn on the cob I make, corn on the cobb never tastes all that good warmed up but this would be perfect with the leftover cobbs.
Chipotle does give you this as an option to all their traditional salsas. I don’t like tomatoes and I always get corn salsa at Chipotle.
Wow! This looks so good, if I had chips I’d probably try to dip them into the computer screen :)