With Cotija cheese, cilantro, chili powder, and lime, this Mexican Street Corn-inspired soup is a fun way to cook with sweet summer corn. Note that this is not an authentic Mexican recipe. It is a riff on corn chowder based on the popular and delicious flavors of Elote.
Before I was a food writer, I was that girl who flooded her friends’ social media feeds with cell phone pictures of what she was cooking and eating.
There’s no shortage of humorous memes out there about people like me, I know!
Three summers ago, I posted a picture of the corn soup I’d made for dinner, inspired by the flavors of Mexican Street Corn, and my phone lit up with a flurry of notifications. Comments ranged from, “I need this recipe!” to the descriptive, “I’m drooling all over my keyboard,” and the suggestion that led us to where we are today, “Start a food blog already, Amanda!”
When I thought about it, creating a place to share recipes with friends sounded like a fun idea. Except, I soon learned that to start a blog, you have to know stuff other than how to make soup. Things such as what you want to call your site (let’s not even talk about how long I dwelled on that detail), the technical end of navigating blogging software, and the magical, mysterious world of SEO.
By the time I got my act together that year, corn season was long over. It only occurred to me last week, as what had to be my ten-thousandth pot of this soup simmered on the stove, that I’ve never published the recipe!
As a lifelong Jersey girl, summer corn practically runs through my veins. We have some of the sweetest, most delectable varieties here in the Garden State, with the coveted Silver Queen (white) and Butter and Sugar (bi-color) being my personal favorites.
Nothing beats a simple grilled ear of corn at a barbecue, rolled in butter and sprinkled with sea salt, or topped with cheese, herbs, spices, and lime, à la Mexican Street Corn. At peak season, the corn is so ripe that you can even eat it uncooked.
That said, I have a serious weak spot for corn soup. Take those same elements you enjoy “on the cob” and simmer them into a naturally rich, creamy, full-flavored soup and I’m in heaven.
“Mexican Street Corn” soup is as easy to make as it is versatile to serve. The heat level is customizable to your personal preferences (I like mine mild, but feel free to go to town with the chili powder if that’s your thing!).
To “up” the smoky quality, you can certainly grill the corn instead of pan-roasting the kernels as directed below, but don’t skip the step of simmering the stripped cobs in the broth. I’ve always been amazed by how much sweet, milky deliciousness is hidden in the cobs themselves. They’re a natural flavor trove! I like to serve this soup hot as a light dinner, but have made something of a habit out of having the leftovers chilled for a refreshing lunch.
To my family and friends who have encouraged me from the start and have been endlessly excited about the recipes I’ve shared on Striped Spatula: Thank you. It’s long overdue, but this soup’s for you!
“Mexican Street Corn” Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
- 6 cups fresh corn kernels , from 8-10 shucked cobs (save 6 of the stripped cobs for simmering the soup)
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder (use more or less, depending on your heat preferences)*
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large garlic cloves , chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup grated dry/aged Cotija cheese , plus additional for garnish (substitute Parmesan or Romano if Cotija is unavailable)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro , divided
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, nonstick pot or cast iron Dutch oven until shimmering. Add corn kernels, chopped onion, chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and corn is lightly charred in spots, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Remove 1-1/2 cups of corn mixture from the pot and set aside. Stir broth and 6 stripped corn cobs into the pot, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Use tongs to remove corn cobs from pot and discard.
- Stir sour cream and Cotija into the soup. Transfer soup to a blender or food processor (in batches, depending on the size of your unit for safety) to puree until smooth.
- Return soup to pot and if needed, gently reheat to desired serving temperature. Stir in half (3/4 cup) of the reserved corn mixture, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and chili powder.
- Toss remaining 3/4 cup corn with lime zest and 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro. Serve soup, topped with a few spoonfuls of the corn mixture, and an extra sprinkling of Cotija.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
Wonderful recipe, though it makes a mess of the kitchen (my specialty). I make it every summer. Like Amanda, I live in sweet corn country. Here in Minnesota tomatoes and sweet corn are abundant at the same time. We love BLTs made with locally produced bacon. I save the grease and use it to sauté the onions, corn, and pepper as the first step in this recipe. This year I found grated cojita cheese at Aldi, which was a help.
I can’t wait to make this but thought of topping with those thin tortilla strip topper things (?) would that be good? I saw no mention of those in any reviews
Hi Kathy, I think that would be a great topper to add some extra crunch. Let us know how you like it.
I made this soup the other night for dinner. It was easy to prep and execute, not to mention super delicious.
This is fabulous. I added extra cilantro & lime just because I love them- and substituted sour cream for cottage cheese. And finally added Trader Joe’s “everything but the elote ” seasoning. So stinking good. Bake up some homemade sourdough bread with it!
Layers of super fresh flavor + all of the comfort of corn chowder. I love this recipe so much. I’ve made it for my partner and I several times, and as an appetizer for a dinner party. Everyone loves it.
Well, this turned out to be a lovely, mild, comforting soup course for Thanksgiving. I added a little more onion and garlic because we just love the stuff, and blitzed the whole thing, not removing any pulp for later. It’s beautifully smooth, just what I wanted, with no brown bits from slightly charring the corn and onions. Just before serving, I’ll reheat it, adding the drained contents of one can of corn niblets just to indicate it’s corn chowder, and I’ll serve it with lime sour cream (with zest) on the side. Have to admit to not using cilantro because our DD and I hate the flavour. I may sprinkle a little lime zest over the soup at serving just to pretty it up a little. Thank you for a sweet little recipe, so easy and delicious!
Oops! Forgot to rate it! AND forgot to mention that I strained the soup through a find mesh strainer to remove the brown bits and produce a lovely, soft yellow soup! :)
Even though it says shucked corn only…. I used frozen corn on a lazy night and let me tell you, it’s so good!! I know fresh would definitely be better but it’s still worth it with frozen corn as well. It’s added to our weekly rotation of dinners
Just made this for lunch and it was wonderful! Thank you. Will be making it again.
This soup is amazing! I loved it!! I used only 5 shucks of corn and had over 7 cups. I made it using red onions, regular chili powder and Green Ancho Chili seasoning and and it took it too the next level. I do agree simmering it w the cobs made a huge difference. I had a vitamix and put it on the soup function so it was so smooth and then I added all the rest but couldn’t find my cilantro that I bought yesterday( who knows) and it was still mind blowing. Also used key limes. It seriously tastes like it was from a restaurant. Thank u so much for the recipe.
Bravo! Clear instructions, I followed the recipe and it worked perfectly.
Keep it up Amanda!
I did a quick version and still delicious.
It was good, but a mess to make and a lot of trouble. Might consider using frozen kernels and maybe a half of a can of creamed corn.
So sorry to hear you found the recipe to be burdensome, Tina. Should the process of cooking with fresh corn not be attractive, we‘d recommend looking for a soup recipe specifically developed with creamed corn. As written, this recipe will not turn out anywhere near the same with that substitution.
Thanks for visiting Striped Spatula,
Christine
Striped Spatula Team
Good food is always worth the time and trouble. It’s why we cook/bake from scratch.
In the end, flavorful food is more satisfying and more worthy of serving to guests.
If I find a dish labor intensive I double a recipe and freeze so I set up once for two meals.
This was delicious! I used a whole Ancho chile (deseeded) which worked out great given tha tthe mixture gets pureed.
I’ve been wanting to make this soup, but corn is really not in season here yet. My son and DIL’s fridge but the dust and they gave us a few items that they were not going to be able to use before their new fridge was delivered. There was a package of 4 ears of corn and I thought I’d give it a try. Made 1/2 batch and was VERY pleased with the results. I didn’t use any cilantro (we’re not big fans) and I used a street corn spice from Aldis instead of the chili powder. Can’t wait to make this again when corn is fresh!
This soup was easy to make and delicious. I used frozen corn, so I didn’t boil the cobs and it was still wonderful. It was a very filling soup and made a great meal.
I made this soup with fall heirloom corn (tougher, less sweet). I subbed in lowfat yogurt because we were out of sour cream. It was delicious! Definitely a keeper. Next time im going to double the spice.
This soup is SO good! Definitely a keeper. I used my immersion blender after removing the cobs and kernels and added the cilantro before blending since hubby doesn’t care for big pieces. I used ancho chili powder which is what I had on hand.
This was mind blowingly delicious! I followed the recipe exactly until the end where I just added all the corn, lime juice, and lime zest into the soup instead of saving it for a topping. We only used extra cojita for the topping. It was SO yummy! I’ll be making this over corn chowder any day! I used your tip about a Bundt pan and it worked great! The cojita makes such a difference rather than using a substitute. I used my stick/immersion blender in the soup pot and it worked fine. I shucked 9 cobs of corn but I guess they were on the larger side because I wound up with 8 cups of corn. I saved the two extra to do something with later next week–but I may just cut up and onion and cook it like you do in the recipe and use it as a side because that was delicious too! I kept sneaking tastes of it out of the bowl of corn we had set aside for the soup!
Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this, April! Thank you for your great review! The extra corn sautéed with onion would be great as a side, too. Fresh corn is one of the best parts of summer!
Happy Cooking,
Amanda
I’ve made this several times now and it comes out fantastic every time! Have you tried to freeze this? I’d love to save some for a busy night, but not sure how it’ll hold with sour cream in there.
I’m so glad that you’ve enjoyed the soup, Jillian! I honestly haven’t tested freezing it, but I’ve frozen other corn soups with good results. If you try it, I would recommend leaving out the sour cream and adding it to the pureed soup after you’ve defrosted/reheated it. That should give you the best texture.
Great simple recipe! It also works with lemon juice if you happen to be out of lime. Some tortilla goes well with it.
Made tonight was great ????????
Hi Amanda,
Any suggestions for a substitute for the sour cream?
Thanks!
Hi Emily,
I haven’t tested it personally in this recipe, but Greek yogurt can usually be substituted well for sour cream.