GrillinFools
Fresh summer corn is shucked and seared over a hot charcoal fire in a kettle grill. Then we top the grilled elotes (roasted corn) with sour cream and a variety of toppings including BBQ seasoning, cotija cheese and fresh cilantro. This easy elote recipe is as simple as it is delicious.
Elote, also known as Mexican street corn, is fire-roasted corn doctored up with cheese, seasoning, and other goodies to take boring corn and make it extraordinary.
We keep this recipe incredibly easy to hopefully introduce you to the possibilities.
Thus, think of this easy elote recipe as the first step into a larger world of nearly limitless options with fire-roasted corn.
Scroll down for the step-by-step, pic-by-pic, foolproof grilling instructions…
This is not our first foray into Mexican street corn or elotes. We made this a few years ago but wanted to revisit it with new photography and an updated recipe.
Another great side to go along with these elotes are these smoked pit beans which can be prepared ahead of time and kept warm for hours in an empty cooler or microwave or Cambro
Easy Elote Recipe Ingredients
- 1.5-2 ears of corn per person (trust me)
- 1/2 stick of butter, salted and melted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup your favorite BBQ rub
- 1/4 cup cotija cheese (substitute Parmesan)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (substitute flat leaf parsley)
How to Grill this Easy Elote Recipe
Shuck the corn, although don’t stress the silks. Remove the bulk of the silks but the rest will burn up as we roast the corn. Crank up the grill to medium-high heat (400F-500F) on the grill grate. Melt the butter and then place the corn over the fire. Brush with melted butter and rotate the corn once the bottom has browned. Keep brushing and rotating. When all ears are roasted, remove the elotes from the grill and spread the sour cream over each one. Then, sprinkle with the BBQ seasoning, cotija cheese and chopped cilantro.
Disclaimer
We will begin with a disclaimer. Fire is dangerous. Additionally, dried corn husks and melted butter over wicked hot coals is a bad combo. Did I mention fire is dangerous? When I concocted this recipe, I envisioned a platter with a bunch of Mexican street corn with the husks pulled back but still attached for a really cool rustic plating. Hence, I recommend skipping the rustic look and completely discard the husks.
Let me show why.
Next, I filled the kettle with lump charcoal and dropped a fire starter in the drawer at the bottom.
One of the cool features of this grill is that it has a charcoal chimney built in. No having to grab a super hot chimney and worry about the sparks flying, or having to find a place for the chimney to set aside when it’s rocking over 1,000 degrees. Just drop in a fire starter and light. About 10-15 minutes later we had a raging fire.
The semi-shucked corn went on the grill with the husks away from the fire:
Then, the elotes were rotated to get better roasting and melted butter brushed on:
Admittedly, here you might see the problem. Despite not being right over the fire, the husks dried out and charred a bit, particularly in that upper right one blurred in the background below:
Thus, Houston, we have a problem:
Uh oh!
Luckily, I had some welding gloves nearby, because who doesn’t? I was able to yank the husks off and get back to business in pretty short order. No disaster. No tragedy. So that was a long way to go to say remove the husks entirely.
Catastrophe Averted
Subsequently, here’s my Mexican street corn back on the grill, sans husk:
Fire Roasted Corn aka Easy Elote Recipe
The elotes are roasting up nicely. This is about as perfect as it gets:
How Long to Grill Mexican street corn
Each ear of corn only needs about 5-7 minutes per side depending on the heat of the fire, or about 10-15 minutes overall
Don’t sweat the few silks there. A turn or two of the corn over the hot coals and a couple brushes of the melted butter and those will be gone.
See, no silks:
Once the corn is roasted on a couple sides, about 10-15 minutes of total roasting time, then remove them from the grill.
All we are looking for is some browned kernels on a couple sides. I’ve roasted the corn on four sides. Typically, this is too much as the corn gets chewy if roasted that much.
Thus, I have found the best ratio is roasted on two sides, with juicy crisp kernels on two sides.
Roasted and Ready for Flavor
Time to take these ears of roasted corn to levels unknown to mankind:
Obviously, a close up of the fire roasted corn:
Grab the sour cream, BBQ seasoning, cotija cheese and cilantro.
Time to Slather on the Flavor
Then, spoon the sour cream over each elote:
The next step of this easy elote recipe is to sprinkle with the BBQ seasoning:
Then, add the cotija cheese, which is just Mexican Parmesan.
Alternatively, regular Parmesan will work as well as fresh grated asiago or Romano:
Finally, top with the cilantro (or flat leaf parsley):
One more hero shot:
Easy Elote Recipe Recap:
I know most of you are wondering about one of two things, if not both: the number of ears of corn per person and the amount of sour cream. Indeed, the first time I did these, I made 12 ears for 6 people and more than one person asked if there was any corn left. Even more, that sour cream is vital to this easy elote recipe. It’s how all the rest of those ingredients stick to the elote. You might go light on your first batch, but you won’t on your second.
Feel free to expand upon those ingredients. Try different things. Share what you like the most in the comments below.
I partnered with Loco Cookers on this post.
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Recipe Card:
Easy Elote Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 ears of corn Per person
- ½ cup Butter salted, melted
- ½ cup Sour cream
- ¼ cup Your favorite BBQ seasoning
- ¼ cup Cotija cheese Substitute fresh grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago
- ½ cup Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Prepare the grill for medium high heat - 400F-500F at the grill grate
- Shuck the corn and discard the husks entirely
- Remove the bulk of the silks. The rest of the silks will burn off during the grilling process
- Roast the corn for 5-7 minutes on one side, brushing the melted butter a couple times a few minutes apart
- Flip the corn over when it is browned on the bottom and repeat by browning the other side and brushing the butter a couple times
- When the elote is roasted and browned on two sides, remove from the grill and slather with the sour cream. Then sprinkle the BBQ seasoning, cotija cheese and cilantro
- Serve
Video
A few more pics of the cookout:
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