What's more exciting than a piping hot corn on the cob? In Mexico, the homeland of corn, they make a delicious street-food grilled corn cob called elote that's just too good to resist. So, we're so happy to share our vegan version of this Mexican dish with you, perfect for everyone to enjoy!
Preparing elote at home is super simple, even if you don't have a barbecue. In the recipe below, we'll show you how to get perfectly grilled corn on the cob in the oven. All you need is a baking oven rack.
Elote means corncob in Spanish and Mexican elote consists of grilled corn on the cob slathered with sauces and garnished with toppings. Classic sauces include mashed butter, mayonnaise, or sour cream, while common toppings include grated cotija cheese, chilli powder, and fresh cilantro.
In our recipe, we prepared a vegan elote sauce alternative that's dairy-free and egg-free. It's not just 100% plant-based but also incredibly tasty, thanks to two yummy additions. As a base, we used our vegan cashew mayo, but you can also use store-bought vegan mayo.
As for the toppings, we kept the traditional elote ingredients but swapped cheese with our plant-based cotija cheese. You can follow our recipe and make it from scratch using cashews or use any semi-hard vegan cheese you can find at the supermarket, like vegan feta or vegan parmesan.
After the first bite, you'll instantly fall in love with this Mexican street corn. We bet you'll come back for more! Its delicious combo of sweet corn, silky mayo, fresh lime, and spicy chilli is simply irresistible.
Ingredients
| Corn on the cob | 4 |
| Vegan Mayorecipe | 80 g |
| Lime | 1 |
| Garlic Cloves | 2 |
| Chilli Powder | to taste |
| Vegan Cotija Cheese (or vegan feta)recipe | 80 g |
| Fresh Cilantro | to taste |
Step 1
You can grill the corn on the BBQ or in the oven.
For the oven option, set a grilling rack on a baking tray and preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F) in grill mode.
If you bought the corn when it's out of season and it feels quite hard, then we recommend that you boil it or steam it before grilling it.
Here are your options:
Steam and grill: wrap the corns in foil, place them on the rack and cook for 20 minutes. Then, remove the foil and grill them for 20 more minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.
Boil and grill: add the corn cobs to a pot of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Then, place them on the rack and grill for 40 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.
Grill only (for softer in-season corn): place the corn cobs on the rack and grill for 40 minutes, flipping them every 10 minutes.
Step 2
For the vegan elote sauce, mix vegan mayo with lime zest, lime juice, and minced garlic in a bowl.
Step 3
Brush the grilled corn with the prepared sauce, then top it with chilli powder or flakes, fresh cilantro, and crumbled vegan cotija cheese or vegan feta.
Serve your vegan elote corn on the cobs warm with a drizzle of lime juice.
They pair wonderfully with these vegan jackfruit tacos or pulled jackfruit quesadillas with a Mexican-style coleslaw on the side!
Tips
You can use classic Mexican ancho or chipotle chilli flakes for extra flavour.