Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad – juicy shrimp, creamy avocado, and charred mexican street corn on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce.

Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

A big refreshing summer salad that is perfect for entertaining and loaded with flavor. This salad can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled. It’s completely flexible and tastes absolutely delicious at any temperature. Inspired by traditional Mexican street corn which is charred and served on the cob with a classic combination of mayo, crema, mexican cheese, chili powder, lime juice and cilantro. Esquites are the off the cob version with all the same flavors. For this salad, I used a cast iron skillet to lightly char the corn and make esquites. Then wiped out the skillet and used it to cook the shrimp. The dressing serves as the creamy mixture for the corn and as a topping for the salad.

Ingredients for Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

• Corn – fresh corn on the cob is ideal but thawed frozen corn is a great substitute.
• Jalapeño – adds extra spice and flavor to the street corn, but can be left out or substituted with a Serrano pepper for even more spice.
• Mexican Crema – Crema Mexicana or table cream is a rich blend of heavy cream and buttermilk. It’s not as thick or as tangy as sour cream and has a higher fat content, so it has a richer flavor profile. Sour cream slightly thinned with milk would be a good substitute.
• Mayonnaise – use a good quality mayonnaise for the best flavor.
• Cilantro – fresh cilantro is used through out the recipe. If you don’t like cilantro, fresh parsley would be an option. Chives or green onion could also be used but the flavor would be stronger, so use a much smaller amount.
• Limes – plan to use about 5 limes for the entire salad.
• Queso Fresco – I love the light flavor and texture of freshly crumbled queso fresco. Many street corn recipes call for cotija cheese and that can be used in this recipe, I just personally prefer the milder taste of the queso fresco and how it pairs with the corn, shrimp and avocado.
• Shrimp – thawed shrimp of any size works great in the recipe. I’ve tested it with medium sized shrimp and large and they both look beautiful and taste amazing. I prefer to use already peeled and deveined shrimp. Either tail-on or tail-off shrimp can be used depending on preference. My grocery store often only has tail-on as an option.
• Avocado – large ripe and creamy avocado are ideal. Brush with a little lime juice if not serving immediately to avoid browning.
• Romaine Lettuce – I prefer to use a large head of romaine lettuce, not just the hearts, for a variety of texture and color. If the head is small, use two hands of romaine.
• Radishes – for an extra peppery bite in the salad.
• Seasonings – Chili Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Cumin.

How to Make Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

1. Start by preparing the dressing and cooking the corn. Combine 3/4 cup of the dressing with the corn and queso fresco and reserve remaining dressing for topping the salad. Sprinkle street corn mixture with chili powder.
2. Season and cook the shrimp.
3. Assemble the salad as pictured. Thin dressing to a pourable consistency and serve with salad.

How to Make Ahead

This salad is easily made ahead. Assemble as pictured, leaving dressing on the side. Brush avocado with fresh lime juice to prevent browning and cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can serve chilled straight from the refrigerator or let come to room temperature.

What to Serve with Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

• Chips and Salsa
• Chips and Guacamole
• Tortillas – ready to cook flour tortillas pair really nicely with this salad.
• Frozen Margaritas 

MORE MEXICAN RECIPE FAVORITES

• Easy Mexican Rice Recipe  
• Instant Pot Mexican Rice 
• Slow Cooker Refried Beans 
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas 
• Skillet Enchiladas 
• Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos 
• Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa

Big Salad Sunday

On Sundays, I usually make a special family dinner and one of the things I love to do is make a big beautiful seasonal salad on a platter to be served family style. This Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad is one of those Sunday Salads that’s perfect for summer time. We served ours with chips and salsa and I heated ready to cook flour tortillas on the side.

5 from 4 votes

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Mexican Street Corn Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Prep Time

40 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Servings: 6

Author: Melissa

Ingredients

Mexican Street Corn and Salad Dressing

• 3/4 cup mexican crema or sour cream
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons lime juice fresh
• 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small jalapeño minced
• 4 cups corn fresh from about 7 ears of corn cut off the cob, or frozen corn thawed
• 1/2 cup queso fresco crumbled
• chili powder for sprinkling
• milk as needed for thinning

Shrimp

• 2 pounds shrimp thawed, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon lime juice fresh

Salad

• 1 large head romaine lettuce chopped
• 2 avocados diced
• 1 cup queso fresco
• radishes sliced
• limes cut into wedges
• cilantro garnish

Instructions

Mexican Street Corn and Salad Dressing

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together mexican crema, mayonnaise, lime juice, cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and set aside.

2. In a large cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add jalapeño and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add corn. Season corn with salt and pepper and let cook about 4-5 minutes stirring only occasionally so the corn can pick up color.

3. Transfer corn to a large mixing bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup of dressing and reserve remaining dressing for topping salad. Stir in 1/2 cup of queso fresco and sprinkle with chili powder. Wipe skillet clean with damp paper towels.

Shrimp

1. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with olive oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin. Heat skillet to medium high and add shrimp. Cook just until shrimp turns pink. Remove from heat and squeeze fresh lime juice over shrimp.

Salad

1. Arrange shrimp, corn, avocados, queso fresco, radishes, and limes over bed of lettuce on a large serving platter. Thin remaining dressing with milk as needed for a pourable consistency and serve on the side or drizzled over the salad. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and chili powder.