Air Fryer Mexican Street Corn

Mexican Street Corn is a cultural staple in many Latin American countries. It is the perfect example of a fusion between Mexican and other Latin American cultures, as it combines the traditional ingredients from each of these cultures in one delicious dish. The name comes from the popular practice of selling this dish on the street or in open air markets throughout Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

Elote is the Mexican term for corn on the cob and is usually boiled, grilled or roasted. It is served with a variety of toppings including mayonnaise, butter, chili powder, lime juice and cheese. Mexican Street Corn (or Esquites) is a dish of grilled sweet corn off the cob, mixed with mayonnaise, garlic salt, chili powder, lime juice and cotija cheese. The two dishes are extremely similar and many people use the terms interchangeably.

Usually this happens if you are overcrowding your Air Fryer basket. You have to make sure you aren’t letting your corn cobs get too close to each other. The Air Fryer needs the room in between the cobs of corn to circulate the hot air around to properly and evenly cook and crips the corn.
This can also happen if you try to use frozen corn on the cob instead of fresh ears of corn. Frozen cobs have more water and will often not get as crispy, so this is not something that I recommend.

To bring some authentic flavor to these Street Corn Cobs, we like to use Tajin seasoning. But you can use whatever you like. I also think ancho chili powder would be DELICIOUS.

Mexican Street Corn is easy to eat right off the cob when you are holding it. If you don’t want to get your hands messy, you can use bamboo skewers to poke in the ends and hold the cobs of corn that way.

Crema is Mexican sour cream. It is a little thinner in consistency, but it still has the same tangy flavor as the thicker sour cream most of us are familiar with. You can make your own by heating (on low heat) 1 cup heavy cream with 2 Tablespoons buttermilk. Stir in 1 tablespoon of lime juice and season with salt to taste.
If looking in the grocery store, check for it by the rest of the cheeses and sour cream, in the refrigerated section. Sometimes the Crema will be in a bottle near the other Mexican cheeses.

Cojita cheese is a white cheese that is salty and very crumbly. Since it’s so salty, we don’t typically need extra salt on the corn. You can swap this out for queso fresco or feta cheese if needed. When looking in the grocery store for it, check in the refrigerated cheese aisle (near the Crema) and you should find it.

In my opinion, the easiest way to shuck ears of corn is using the microwave method provided by America’s Test Kitchen.

This recipe was tested with a 5 qt basket Air Fryer, which is the most commonly purchased Air Fryer used in the U.S., so chances are you may have this size. If you have a different style/size Air Fryer, you may need to adjust the cooking time based on your own knowledge of your air fryer.

While you could make this ahead of time. I like the cobs of corn fresh from the Air Fryer so they’re hot, crispy, and all the flavors are all fresh.

Leftover corn cobs should be stored in an air tight container or ziplock bag and should be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat them in the Air Fryer or oven. Just know that the sauce and spices will get cooked on a bit. I don’t recommend storing leftover corn with any of the toppings on.