Elote-Inspired Butter Bath Corn

Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
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published Jul 10, 2020
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Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

Serves6

Prep10 minutes

Cook15 minutes

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Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn; Food Stylist: CC Buckley/Kitchn

It’s no secret that cooking corn in a butter bath is our favorite way to enjoy the sweet summer veggie. Part of the technique’s appeal? It’s adaptable to almost any flavoring. Here we’re inspired by and adding all the elements of elote, or Mexican street corn. Seasoned with lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and mayonnaise, this butter bath corn variation packs sweet, spicy flavor in every bite.

Elote is a popular Mexican street corn snack. Cooked corn is slathered in a mixture of mayonnaise, crema, chili powder, and cumin, then sprinkled with cheese and served with lime wedges (when it’s served off the cob, it’s called esquites). In this butter bath twist, all the flavorings are added straight to the boiling water used to cook the corn, which disperses the seasoning onto every kernel and saves you the step of coating individual ears.

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Elote-Inspired Butter Bath Corn

Prep time 10 minutes

Cook time 15 minutes

Serves 6

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 4 cups

    (1 quart) water

  • 6 ears

    fresh corn

  • 1/2 cup

    freshly squeezed lime juice (from 6 to 8 limes)

  • 1 cup

    mayonnaise

  • 1 teaspoon

    chili powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    ground cumin

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, shuck 6 ears fresh corn, then cut each ear in half crosswise. Juice 6 to 8 limes until you have 1/2 cup juice.

  2. Add the lime juice, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt to the pot. Carefully add the corn and reduce the heat to medium. Boil for 8 minutes. Use tongs to remove the corn from the butter bath and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Filed in:
corn
mexican
Side Dish
Vegetables