Pasta Palooza

Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

with charred corn and smoky lime dressing

SOUND BITE

I’ve always loved corn, especially when grilled or charred in a skillet. Add some cute little pasta tubes, a creamy lime dressing with a hint of smoked paprika (think barbecue chips!), throw in some fresh cilantro and watch me totally lose my mind and all self-control! Take this to your next gathering and expect rave reviews and requests for the recipe.

More About Cotija Cheese

If you’ve never heard of Cotija cheese, don’t worry—you will, since it’s gaining in popularity and making its way into grocery stores everywhere.

Cotija is a salty, crumbly, aged Mexican cheese that’s kind of a cross between feta and Parmesan. It’s firm when fresh, but as it ages, it gets drier, sharper and more grate-able. 

And it’s famous for one thing: being the STAR ingredient in Mexican street corn, also known as elote (eh-LOH-tay).

If you’ve never had elote—you’re missing out. Picture charred, smoky grilled corn, slathered in a creamy, zesty sauce, then rolled in a flurry of Cotija cheese and chili powder. 

It’s messy. It’s addictive. It’s basically summer on a corncob. 

I swore I’d hate it, but once I tried it, I couldn’t eat it fast enough. It’s SO GOOD.

And that’s exactly why I used Cotija cheese in my Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad. It gives you all the flavor of elote in salad form—minus the part where you floss the corn kernels out of your teeth.

So, now’s your chance to try Cotija! It crumbles like feta, sprinkles like Parmesan and makes everything taste like a Mexican fiesta. Delicioso!