Tostadas with Vegan Mexican Street Corn

Creamy, sweet and spicy, these vegan Mexican street corn tostadas with refried beans are so good you won't know they're dairy-free. Ready in 15 minutes, they're perfect for a quick weeknight meal or as part of a TexMex buffet spread for game night.

This is recipe is a great way to use up leftover elote. Cut it off the cob and add it to a tostada!

Starch on starch = ultimate comfort food. Serve these with a leafy green salad with maple lime balsamic dressing or side of sautéed squash or roasted cauliflower.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

• Vegan mayo/sour cream - Instead of Mexican crema or mayonnaise, we're using vegan mayo or sour cream to make the street corn creamy. Use store-bought dairy-free sour cream, like Forager or Tofutti brand. Or, make your own cashew sour cream, using my recipe.
• Vegan parmesan cheese - For a cheesy, umami flavor, we're adding some grated vegan parmesan cheese to the corn. I used my 5-minute vegan parm recipe, which uses almond flour and nutritional yeast. You could also use store-bought vegan parmesan substitute.
• Chili lime seasoning - Look for Tajín or Trader Joe's brand of chili lime seasoning.
• Tostada shells - Tostada shells are round, flat corn tortillas that have been fried or baked crispy, kind of like a giant tortilla chip. To make this oil-free, look for baked tostada shells with no oil in the ingredient list. Or, make your own homemade tostada shells in the oven or air fryer.
• Refried beans - Refried pinto beans can be purchased canned or dried. Look for vegetarian, fat-free refried beans, to ensure they are vegan and not high in calories from the added oil or lard.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some suitable substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

• Frozen corn - instead of frozen corn kernels, you can use corn that has been cut off the cob or canned corn kernels that have been drained.
• Vegan sour cream - use vegan mayo instead
• Vegan parmesan cheese - instead of vegan parmesan, use nutritional yeast to make the dish cheesy
• Chili lime seasoning - Instead of chili lime seasoning, you can use ground ancho chile pepper, ground guajillo chile pepper, chili powder, cayenne or even paprika. If using chile powders, then you'll need to add salt and extra lime juice, since those flavors will be missing.
• Nut-free - make this nut-free by using a soy-based vegan sour cream and just using nutritional yeast instead of the parm (vegan parm is usually nut-based)
• WFPBNO - make this whole food plant based no oil by using whole food oil-free sour cream and parmesan recipes
• SOS-free - make this SOS-free by omitting the salt

Switch things up with these variation ideas!

• Spicy - add extra hot sauce to make this tostada spicier
• Top with shredded lettuce - Add some crunch with shredded lettuce on top
• Spice up the beans - Amp up the flavor of those canned refried beans by adding my spice mix to them

See this vegan esquites (Mexican street corn in a cup) recipe on my website for more in depth info about this delicious dish!

🔪 Instructions

Step-by-step instructions for how to make dairy-free, vegan Mexican street corn tostadas.

7. Step 7: Assemble your tostadas by spreading a thin layer of refried beans on each tostada, then topping with street corn. Garnish with extra vegan sour cream and fresh cilantro.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

The Mexican street corn and refried beans can both be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. The tostada shells should be stored at room temperature in an airtight bag.

🗺 Cultural influences

This recipe is inspired by my mixed ethnic background and heritage as a native of Houston, Texas, by my travel to Mexico and by the strong cultural influences of my friends from Mexico. See About for more information on my cultural influences and how I attribute recipes.

📖 Recipe