Mexican Street Corn Chicken Bowls
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If you love classic elote flavors, you’ll love these Mexican Street Corn Chicken Bowls! They’re fresh, flavorful, and perfect for an easy meal! Juicy seasoned chicken is paired with tangy street corn, crispy quinoa, and creamy avocado for a delicious meal. This easy recipe comes together in just 30 minutes, making it perfect for meal prep or weeknight dinners!
Bring the flavor of elote to a healthy bowl
Elote is the Mexican street food that features grilled corn on the cob, smothered in mayo and crema, topped with cotija cheese, chili powder, and lime. Over the years, I’ve made several recipes inspired by classic elote, including these Mexican street corn taquitos and these Mexican street corn chicken tacos.
The real key to all of these elote-inspired recipes is the chili lime dressing that combines mayo, sour cream, chili powder and lime juice. Combine this with corn and you can basically make any elote-style recipe.
A few weeks ago, I mixed up these hybrid salad/bowls for lunch with what I had in the fridge. I posted a picture on Instagram and immediately everyone wanted the recipe, so here it is! A tasty bowl that’s easily customized. It’s light, fresh, flavorful, and easy to make in 30 minutes!
Key ingredients
Above I show you all of the ingredients for these Mexican street corn chicken bowls to give you a good visual for your shopping list. Below I’ll give you some notes on specific ingredients in the recipe. You can find the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card.
- Taco seasoning – you can make my homemade spice blend, or purchase a packet of taco seasoning at the grocery store. You’ll need two tablespoons for this recipe, which is equal to a one ounce packet.
- Corn kernels – if fresh corn on the cob is in season, you can use a knife to remove the corn kernels. If you can’t find corn on the cob, don’t worry, you can still make this recipe with canned or frozen corn. You’ll need 2 cups of corn kernels, which will be about 2 ears of corn on the cob, or you can use a 15 ounce can of corn.
- Greens (or grains) – for the base of the bowl, I use whatever greens I have in the fridge. Most often I use chopped romaine lettuce. You could also make the base with white rice or brown rice, if you prefer, or a combination of greens and grains.
- Pickled red onions – this is an ingredient that we always have in our fridge. I love adding them to bowls, salads, and tacos. These are totally optional. You can replace them with raw red onion for a tangy bite, or if you’re not a fan of onions, just leave them out.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Season and roast the chicken. Slice a chicken breast in half, lengthwise through the middle, then season it on all sides with taco seasoning. Place it in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.
- Season and roast the corn. Add corn kernels to a baking sheet with sliced jalapenos, avocado oil, and taco seasoning. Toss until coated, then place in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.
- Make the chili lime dressing. While the chicken and corn roast in the oven, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.
- Assemble the salad. Toss the dressing with chopped lettuce in a large bowl. Dice up the roasted chicken, toss it on top of the salad with the roasted corn and jalapenos. Add pickled onions, diced avocado, cotija cheese, and crispy quinoa (optional).
You’ll want to eat the bowls as soon as they’re made, or the lettuce will become soggy. If you’d like to make it ahead of time I recommend storing all of the salad ingredients, except the crispy quinoa, in a large bowl. Keep the salad dressing separate in a small bowl.
Cover both the salad and the dressing and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Before serving, toss the salad with the dressing, then top with the crispy quinoa.
How to make crispy quinoa
The two things I prep ahead to make this elote salad in 30 minutes is crispy quinoa and pickled red onions. Neither of these toppings make or break the bowls. You can definitely make it without them, but if you’d like to make the crispy quinoa, follow the instructions below.
Toss 2 cups of cooked and cooled quinoa with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. Cook at 425°F for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.
I like to make an extra large portion of quinoa in the Instant Pot early in the week. I put some in bowls for dinner that night with our favorite balsamic salmon. Then save the rest to make crispy quinoa the next day. It can toast in the oven while the chicken cooks for this salad.
Elote Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning, divided
- 14.5 ounce can corn, or 2 ears of corn on the cob
- 1 jalapeno, sliced
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil
- 1 heart romaine lettuce
- ½ avocado, diced
- ¼ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup pickled onions, or sliced red onions
- ½ cup crispy quinoa, or crushed tortilla chips
For the chili lime dressing
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup lime juice, fresh-squeezed
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Slice one chicken breast in half lengthwise through the middle. Season the two chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. Place on a small foil-lined baking sheet.
- On another baking sheet, add a can of corn (drained and rinsed) and one sliced jalapeno. Drizzle with avocado oil, season with 1 tablespoon taco seasoning.
- Place the chicken and corn in the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes.
- Stir all of the chili lime dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
- Chop up the romaine lettuce, toss it with ¼ cup of the salad dressing, separate into two bowls.
- Dice up the roasted chicken, toss it on top of the salad with the roasted corn and jalapenos. Add pickled onions, diced avocado, cotija cheese, and crispy quinoa.
- Optionally garnish with fresh cilantro and drizzle more dressing on top.
Notes
- To make the crispy quinoa: toss 2 cups cold cooked quinoa with 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. Cook at 425°F for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.
- This recipe makes two bowls, but you can easily double the recipe to make more for meal-prepping or to serve more people. Just click the 2X button above and all of the ingredient quantities will update. The salad dressing already makes enough to make this recipe twice, so you don’t need to double it.
- The nutritional information provided only uses half of the salad dressing that this recipe makes.
- If you want to add extra heat to the bowls, add a teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce to the dressing, or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper. You can also add a drizzle of hot sauce on top before serving.
- Make this recipe vegetarian by omitting the chicken. You can drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, then toss them in taco seasoning and roast them at the same time as the corn, to add plant based protein to the bowls.
Nutrition Facts
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