Mexican Street Corn Taquitos
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Make the best vegetarian taquitos with this easy recipe for Mexican Street Corn Taquitos! They’re filled with charred corn, onions and peppers, tons of cheese, and flavorful chili lime dressing. A delicious combination of ingredients that you’re going to love! These taquitos are easy to make in the oven or an air fryer in just 30 minutes.
Table of contents
Mexican Street Corn, also called elote, has become such a popular dish over the years that people, including myself, have found ways to incorporate the flavors of the dish into many different recipes. Over the years, I’ve made street corn pasta salad, street corn chicken tacos, and Mexican street corn mac and cheese.
In my latest spin on the popular street food, I’m using this recipe for air fryer taquitos, but making them vegetarian by filling them with all of the wonderful flavors of elote! These vegetarian taquitos are filled with plenty of corn, plenty of cheese, onions, peppers, cilantro, and chili lime dressing.
And of course, we’re serving extra chili lime dressing on the side for dipping, because it’s just so delicious!
These taquitos are so easy to make, and you can prep them in advance, so when it’s time to serve them, you can air fry them or bake them in the oven, then serve them hot. They’re easy enough to make for a weeknight meal, perfect for a party, or an exceptional game day snack!
If serving them as a meal, I like to pair them with cilantro lime rice and Mexican black beans for a delicious fiesta of flavors!
Ingredients
- Sour cream – half of the base of the creamy chili lime sauce.
- Mayonnaise – the other half of the base of the sauce. If you don’t like mayo, you can use all sour cream, but the sauce won’t be quite as thick in texture, or rich in flavor.
- Lime juice – I always recommend fresh-squeezed juice for the best flavor.
- Chili powder + salt + black pepper – to season the sauce for the taquitos.
- Cayenne pepper (optional) – if you don’t like spice, do not add the cayenne pepper. I add just ½ teaspoon to the sauce, giving it a medium heat level. Without the cayenne pepper, the sauce is very mild in spice. You could also add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce to amp up the spice of the sauce, instead of using the cayenne pepper.
- Avocado oil – or another neutral flavored vegetable oil, such as olive oil or canola oil.
- Jalapenos – you’ll want two jalapenos for this recipe. If you don’t like spice, you can use half of a green bell pepper instead.
- Corn – I like to make this recipe year-round, especially during football season, which means that fresh corn is not in season. This is why I use a can of corn to make these taquitos. You can also use two cups of frozen corn. Or if you’re making this recipe during corn season, use a sharp knife to remove the corn kernels from fresh ears of corn.
- Red onion – I love the sharp flavor that diced red onions add to these taquitos, but you can also use yellow onions for a more neutral flavor.
- Cotija cheese – this crumbly, salty Mexican cheese is delicious in these taquitos. However, if you can’t find it in your grocery store, you can use queso fresco or feta cheese instead. Both will give you the same crumbly texture, but with a more mellow flavor.
- Monterey jack cheese – I always recommend grating the cheese at home, instead of buying pre-shredded cheese at the grocery store. The bags of shredded cheese contain anti-caking additives, which means the cheese won’t melt nearly as well as freshly grated cheese. This cheese grater is my favorite! It grates cheese so quickly and easily, and it’s only $12.
- Fresh cilantro – this herb adds a fresh flavor to the taquitos. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, you can omit it, or use fresh flat-leaf parsley in it’s place.
- Flour tortillas – for this recipe, you’ll want 6 inch flour tortillas, generally labeled “fajita” tortillas. If using “soft taco” size tortillas that are bigger, this recipe will make 8-10 taquitos, instead of 12 taquitos. You can also use corn tortillas, which are traditionally used for taquitos, whereas flour tortillas are more often used to make flautas. I like to use flour tortillas because they’re more pliable, and less likely to tear when rolled up and over the filling.
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 and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Prepare the Mexican street corn filling.
- Prepare the chili lime sauce. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, chili powder, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl. Stir everything together, and optionally mix in cayenne pepper for spice. Place the sauce in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the taquitos. This can be done up to a week in advance.
- Char the corn. Heat avocado oil in a large skillet on the stove over high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add corn kernels, minced red onion and minced jalapenos. Cook for 6 minutes, or until the corn becomes slightly charred on the outside.
- Make it creamy! Remove the skillet from the heat and add crumbled cotija cheese, shredded Monterey jack cheese, cilantro, and chili lime sauce to the skillet. Stir to combine everything.
Assemble the taquitos.
- Heat the tortillas. Stack up the tortillas and wrap them in damp paper towels. Microwave for 60 seconds.
- Fill and roll them up. Place a warm tortilla on a cutting board and add 3-4 tablespoons of the street corn mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla tightly up and over the filling. Repeat with all of the remaining tortillas to make 12 taquitos.
Air fry the taquitos.
- Preheat an air fryer to 400°F. Place the taquitos, seam-side down, in an even layer in an air fryer basket, with enough room around each one for the air to circulate. Spray with cooking spray, then air fry at 400°F for 4-5 minutes.
- Flip and cook again. Open the air fryer, use tongs to flip the taquitos, spray with cooking spray again, then cook at 400°F for an additional 4-5 minutes. You will have to cook the taquitos in batches, unless you have a giant air fryer. In my 5.8 quart air fryer, I was able to fit 6 taquitos, so I could cook all 12 in two batches. Serve the taquitos with the remaining chili lime sauce on the side for dipping. You can also serve guacamole on top of the taquitos, or on the side, and garnish them with additional cotija cheese and cilantro.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can make this taquitos recipe in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F. If your oven has a convection setting, I recommend using that. Place the taquitos on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray the taquitos with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven for 6-7 minutes. Remove the taquitos from the oven, flip, spray with cooking spray and cook for an additional 6-7 minutes, or until golden brown.
Add grilled chicken
To make street corn chicken taquitos, toss 1 pound of chicken breasts or thighs with 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 2 tablespoons fajita seasoning. Place the chicken in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours.
Preheat a grill over medium-high heat, between 350-400°F. Add the marinated chicken to the grill. Cook for 5-6 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read meat thermometer. Remove the chicken from the grill, dice it up and add it to the corn mixture before filling the taquitos.
If you don’t have a grill, heat a large skillet, or grill pan, on the stove over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the marinated chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
You can also keep things simple and pull the meat from a rotisserie chicken. You’ll want to add 2 cups of shredded chicken to the corn mixture.
Adjust the spice level
If you don’t like spice, omit the jalapenos and do not add the cayenne pepper to the sauce. This will make mild street corn taquitos. You can replace the jalapenos with half of a green bell pepper, if you’d like.
If you like a lot of spice, feel free to use serrano peppers instead of the jalapenos and add an extra ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to the sauce. You can also replace the Monterey jack cheese with pepper jack cheese for more spice.
Make ahead and storage tips
The chili lime sauce can be made up to a week in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the taquitos.
If you don’t want to make 12 taquitos at one time, you can store the creamy corn filling in the fridge for up to 6 days. Make and cook as many taquitos as you would like at one time.
Uncooked, prepared taquitos can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before cooking.
Cooked taquito leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to 6 days. I recommend reheating them in the air fryer at 400°F for 2-3 minutes per side.
You can also store uncooked, prepared taquitos in the freezer and cook them directly from frozen anytime within 3 months. When cooking frozen taquitos in the air fryer, simply add 2 minutes to the cooking time, so they’ll need to cook for 5-6 minutes per side in a preheated 400°F air fryer.
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Mexican Street Corn Taquitos
Ingredients
Chili Lime Dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice, fresh-squeezed
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional – for spice
Street Corn Taquitos
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or vegetable oil
- 15.25 ounce can of corn, drained
- ¼ cup red onion, minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, minced
- ¼ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- 2 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 12 small flour tortillas, “fajita size”
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients for the chili lime dressing in a small bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator.
- Add 1 tablespoon avocado oil to a large skillet on the stove over high heat.
- When the skillet is hot, add the corn kernels, minced red onion, and minced jalapenos, cook for 6 minutes or until the corn becomes slightly charred.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cotija cheese, monterey jack cheese, and cilantro. Add ¼ cup of the chili lime dressing and stir to combine.
- Stack up the tortillas and wrap them in damp paper towels. Microwave for 60 seconds.
- Place 3-4 tablespoons of the corn mixture in the middle of a tortilla and roll it up tightly. Repeat until all of the taquitos are filled and rolled up.
- Preheat an air fryer to 400°F.
- Place the taquitos in an air fryer basket seam-side down, with enough room around the taquitos for air to move.
- Spray the taquitos with nonstick cooking spray, then cook at 400°F for 4-5 minutes.
- Open the air fryer, use tongs to flip the taquitos, spray with cooking spray and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes.
- You will have to cook the taquitos in batches, unless you have a giant air fryer. In my 5.8 Quart Air Fryer, I was able to fit 6 taquitos, so I could cook all 12 in two batches.
- Serve the taquitos with the remaining chili lime dressing and guacamole, if you'd like. Top with fresh chopped cilantro and additional cotija cheese crumbles.
Notes
- If you don’t have an air fryer, you can make this taquitos recipe in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F. If your oven has a convection setting, I recommend using that. Place the taquitos on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray the taquitos with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for 6-7 minutes. Remove the taquitos from the oven, flip, spray with cooking spray and cook for an additional 6-7 minutes, or until golden brown.
- If you don’t like spice, omit the jalapenos and do not add the cayenne pepper to the sauce. This will make mild street corn taquitos. You can replace the jalapenos with half of a green bell pepper, if you’d like.
- If you like a lot of spice, feel free to use serrano peppers instead of the jalapenos and add an extra ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper to the sauce. You can also replace the Monterey jack cheese with pepper jack cheese for more spice.
- The chili lime sauce can be made up to a week in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the taquitos.
- Cooked taquito leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to 6 days. I recommend reheating them in the air fryer at 400°F for 2-3 minutes per side.
- You can also store uncooked, prepared taquitos in the freezer and cook them directly from frozen anytime within 3 months. When cooking frozen taquitos in the air fryer, simply add 2 minutes to the cooking time, so they’ll need to cook for 5-6 minutes per side in a preheated 400°F air fryer.
Nutrition Facts
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