Vegan Esquites - Mexican Street Corn in a Cup with Frozen Corn

Creamy, cheesy and spicy, this vegan Mexican street corn in a cup (aka esquites) is like elote but off the cob. Using frozen corn makes this recipe fast, easy and inexpensive. Serve it in a disposable cup, street food style, or in tacos, tostadas or as a dip.

Mexican street corn is popular in the late spring and summertime, when corn is in season and cold salads and travel are in full swing.

This recipe (receta de esquites vegana) is vegan, dairy-free, oil-free, gluten-free and WFPB, if you use my recipes for the sour cream and parmesan substitutes.

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

• Frozen corn kernels - Super convenient, I always have frozen sweet corn from Aldi in the freezer. No need to thaw it first.
• Vegan sour cream - pictured is the Forager brand cashew-based sour cream, which is an oil-free product. I have also made this recipe with homemade cashew cream, homemade fat-free mayo and store-bought vegan mayonnaise.
• Vegan parmesan cheese - to add a cheesy, umami flavor to the street corn without using dairy, you'll need to use a vegan grated parmesan product from the store. Or, make my 5-minute vegan grated parmesan cheese recipe using almond flour.
• Chili lime seasoning - A combination of chile pepper (ancho and/or guajillo), lime and salt, use a chili lime seasoning such as Tajín brand or the Trader Joe's brand chili lime seasoning.

📋 Substitutions and variations

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

• Frozen corn kernels - instead of frozen corn, you can use canned corn that has been drained. Or, you can use fresh corn that has been cut off the cob. Or you can use the pre-grilled corn kernels from Trader Joe's in the frozen section.
• Vegan parmesan cheese - use store-bought or homemade vegan parmesan cheese, cotija cheese or crumbly white cheese substitute. Or, you can subsitute this with nutritional yeast flakes and a pinch of garlic powder.
• Chili lime seasoning - Instead of Tajín or Trader Joe's chili lime seasoning, you can use ancho chile powder, guajillo chile powder or a blend of chili powder
• Lime juice - If you don't have fresh lime juice, you can use bottled lime juice or lemon juice.
• Hot sauce - Cholula hot sauce is the one I would recommend, but you can use any hot sauce you enjoy, such as Valentina, Tapatio, El Yucateco, etc.
• Nut-free - make this nut-free by using a nut-free sour cream and parmesan cheese subsitute.
• WFPBNO - make this whole food plant based no oil by using oil-free WFPB sour cream and parmesan recipes/products

Switch things up with these variation ideas!

• Spicy - add extra hot sauce to make the corn extra spicy
• Bulk out the corn salad - Add diced red bell pepper, purple onion, rinsed black beans and chopped greens to make this salad more filling and veggie-packed.

🔪 Instructions

Step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make vegan elote in a cup using frozen corn kernels (como preparar esquites).

For a traditional street food style, serve the esquites in small disposable styrofoam or plastic cups with plastic spoons.

🥡 Make ahead and storage tips

Make the vegan mayo or cashew sour cream ahead of time (if you wanna use homemade versions of those). And, you can make the vegan parmesan ahead of time, too. Then, you'll only have to char the corn and mix everything together!

Yes, this whole recipe can be made ahead, too. Store the prepared Mexican street corn in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Good for 2-3 days.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Serving suggestions

This vegan Mexican corn salad goes well as a side dish or topping with any TexMex meal. It is delicious on tostadas with beans, mini vegan tostadas, included in tacos or on top of a burrito bowl.

❓ FAQ

🗺 Cultural influences

I grew up shopping at Fiesta, a grocery store chain in Houston, Texas with a focus on Hispanic foods. Fun fact: our family took care of Paco, the green parrot mascot, when he wasn't appearing in TV commercials for Fiesta in the 80's.

Outside Fiesta, there was always a food truck surrounded by the scent of grilled corn. Elote, Mexican street corn on the cob, smothered in mayonnaise, cotija or parmesan cheese, chile pepper and hot sauce, was always a welcome snack. If my mom was feeling generous, a Mexican coke in a tall glass bottle would accompany it.

Esquite or esquites is the Spanish word for elote that has been cut off the cob and is served in a cup, mixed in with the mayo, crumbled cheese, chile pepper and hot sauce.

Did you know that elote served in Mexico is often made with a starchier corn than the sweet corn variety we eat here in the United States?

This recipe is inspired by my mixed ethnic background and heritage as a native of Houston, Texas 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