If you’ve ever had elote (Mexican street corn on the cob), our chicken corn salad recipe is like the mess-free, main dish version you’ll want on repeat all summer. It's high protein, macro friendly, and gluten free.
What Is Street Corn Salad (aka Esquites)?
Street corn salad—also called esquites—is a popular Mexican dish inspired by elote, the grilled corn-on-the-cob topped with Mexican crema, lime, cotija cheese, and chili powder. Esquites takes all that creamy, smoky, tangy goodness and serves it up in a cup.
Our version keeps the bold flavors but makes it a main dish Mexican street corn salad with chicken. It’s made with shredded chicken, roasted corn (we used Trader Joes frozen corn as a short cut), crunchy red pepper, salty cotija cheese, and a creamy chili cumin lime dressing.
We can just about guarantee this will become your new favorite healthy summer salad!
You'll love this healthy Mexican corn salad!
- High protein – 41g per serving and 320 calories.
- Meal prep ready – holds up for 4 days in the fridge
- Great balance of protein, carbs, and fat
- Easy to adjust spice level or toppings
- Naturally gluten-free, and can be sweetened to taste.
If you love protein-packed salads like this one ❤️ then you'll also want to try our Southwest Chicken Salad, Mediterranean Salad with chicken, and Strawberry Chicken Spinach Salad — all of these are easy, high protein, and great for lunch meal prep!
✨ Grab your free printable list of high protein foods to help plan more protein packed meals like this!
👉 Click here to get the list
Key Ingredients
- Chicken, boneless skinless chicken breast meat – use 1 lb cooked chicken breast, shredded or chopped
- Frozen corn – defrosted, roasted or regular (Trader Joe’s roasted works great and gives the salad a nice, smokey flavor)
- Red bell pepper – for crunch and color (or sub in diced tomatoes for a milder bite)
- Red onion – adds flavor and texture
- Cotija cheese – crumbly and salty; sub feta if needed
- Fresh cilantro – adds brightness
Dressing ingredients
- Nonfat Greek yogurt
- Light mayo
- Fresh lime juice (buy an extra lime! Some have less juice in them than others, plus it's great to serve lime wedges on the side)
- Chili powder, paprika, salt
- Optional: sweetener to balance the yogurt's tang
How to make Mexican street corn salad with chicken
Step 1.
Whisk the dressing: Combine the Greek yogurt, light mayo, fresh lime juice, chili powder, paprika, salt, and optional sweetener. It's fine to taste the dressing before deciding it needs a sweetener or not!
Step 2.
Mix the salad: In a large bowl, add the shredded or cubed chicken, corn, bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese.
Step 3.
Toss and chill: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss everything together until evenly coated.
Step 4.
Serve or store: The salad tastes best when you can let the flavors blend for 1-2 hours. Enjoy right away or divide into 4 containers for meal prep. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Macro notes
Each 319g serving has:
- 321 calories
- 41g protein
- 20g carbs
- 8g fat
- 3g fiber
👉 This leaves plenty of room for toppings like:
- Cubed avocado
- Extra cotija cheese
- Sliced radishes
- Tajin seasoning
- Lime wedges
Serve with Siete lime tortilla chips, over a bed of chopped Romaine lettuce, or in lettuce cups for variety.
Meal prep tips
Store leftover corn and chicken salad in airtight containers up to 4 days
This is great cold, you won't need to reheat it before eating.
Keep toppings like avocado or fresh greens separate until serving so they don't turn brown or soggy.
Customize each container with your favorite toppings like the optional garnish ideas listed above.
FAQs
Is this salad spicy?
It’s mild as written. Add more chili powder or a diced jalapeño if you like heat. Tajin seasoning makes a great spicy-sour finishing touch!
Can I serve it warm?
When serving this as a salad, it's best served cold or room temp, but you could serve the corn and chicken warm like a hot dip and toss with the rest just before eating. This seriously makes such as delicious dip too!
More high protein chicken recipes
These are all healthy high protein chicken recipes that are macro friendly and great for losing weight.
- Greek chicken salad bowls
- BBQ chicken sweet potato bowls
- Healthy chicken taco soup
- Italian chicken sausage and peppers
- Buffalo chicken cottage cheese dip
- Sheet pan chicken thighs and sweet potatoes
- Sheet pan chicken breasts and vegetables
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
✨ Grab your free printable list of high protein foods to help plan more macro-friendly meals like this!
👉 Click here to get the list
Recipe
Mexican Chicken and Corn Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 4 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt (50g) we used Fage brand
- 4 tablespoon low fat mayo (56g) we used Best Foods (Hellmans)
- 2-3 Juice of the limes (30g of juice) about 2 Tablespoon fresh juice (not concentrate). Buy an extra lime since some don't have much juice
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- sweetener to taste
Salad Ingredients
- 1 lb cooked chicken (454g) about 1 ¼+ raw chicken if you're cooking it first
- 16 oz bag frozen corn roasted or regular (454g) defrosted
- 1 large red bell pepper (154g) or diced tomatoes - peppers adds a crunch and peppery bite, tomatoes have a milder softer texture
- ¼ cup diced red onion (28g)
- ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese (60g)
- 3 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- Optional garnish ideas - Tajin seasoning or chili powder for a kick cilantro, Cotija cheese, lime wedges
Instructions
- Make the dressing by combining the Greek yogurt, light mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder, paprika, and salt. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, add the shredded chicken, defrosted corn, diced bell peppers, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, and cotija cheese.
- Pour the Mexican street corn salad dressing over the top. Toss the salad to combine everything together.
- Garnish with more cilantro, avocado cubes, sliced radishes, cotija cheese, jalapeno, or Tajin seasoning.
- Enjoy! Serve the salad cold or at room temperature.
Leave a Reply