Mexican Street Corn Soup – A Flavorful Twist on Elote That Will Make Your Taste Buds Dance
Have you ever found yourself midway through nibbling corn on the cob and thought, “What if this were slurpable?” That’s basically how this whole Mexican Street Corn Soup business started in my kitchen. Back in 2019, during what I call The Great Corn Catastrophe (involving three dogs, a screen door that wouldn’t close, and approximately 24 ears of corn I’d bought at a ridiculous discount), I discovered that elote in liquid form might actually be superior to its handheld cousin. The neighbors probly still talk about the corn-plosion that happened that day. I’ve been making versions of this soup for what feels like twelve decades now, though I’ve only been alive for four.
This recipe employs what I call “kernel liberation”—a technique where you’re basically convincing corn to give up its most precious treasures without the usual strong-arming that corn scraping entails. Trust me, once you try this Mexican Street Corn Soup, you’ll wonder why anyone would bother with all that awkward cob-gnawing in the first place.
My Personal Elote Epiphany
So I wasn’t always the corn whisperer I am today. In fact, my earliest attempt at Mexican Street Corn anything was in 2016—or maybe 2015? Could’ve been 2017. Anyway, it was a Tuesday in summer and I’d just moved to an apartment with this ridiculously small kitchen—like, you could touch both walls if you stretched out your arms kind of small.
My friend Deanna (who isn’t actually a chef but cooks like she’s hiding professional training) had brought back these incredible spices from her trip to Oaxaca and challenged me to use them. I created this unholy abomination that I called “corn slop” which made my roommate Travis literally spit it across the room. It had the consistency of wet cement and tasted like someone had mixed corn with foot powder.
The journey from that disaster to this Mexican Street Corn Soup involved three more catastrophic failures, one minor kitchen fire (Milwaukee, 2018, don’t ask), and finally an accidental success when I was trying to make something completely different. Isn’t that always how the best recipes come about? I call it “delicious failure upward.”
Ingredients You’ll Need for This Magical Corn Potion
- 6 ears of fresh corn (or 4½ cups frozen corn if you’re living in corn purgatory like I was last winter)—yellow preferred but white works if you’re one of those people
- 2 tablespoons of butter (the real stuff, not that plastic-adjacent spread my grandmother insists is “just as good”)
- 1 medium onion, diced into what I call “teary little squares” (about ¾ cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 7 small ones if you’re using those disappointing pre-peeled garlic nuggets)
- 1 jalapeño, de-seeded unless you enjoy spontaneous crying (finely chopped)
- A heavy splash of heavy cream (approximately ⅔ cup or what I call “a three-Mississippi pour”)
- 3½ cups chicken broth (homemade if you’re showing off, boxed if you’re normal)
- 1 Carlita’s handful of cotija cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup—Carlita was my neighbor with unusually small hands)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro (or Italian parsley if cilantro tastes like soap to you genetic mutants)
- 2 limes (1 for juice, 1 for wedges—both for aggressive squeezing)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (the Spanish kind, not that flavorless red dust from the back of your spice cabinet)
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if your spice tolerance is embarrassing)
- Salt and pepper (according to how badly you’ve sinned that day)
Let’s Make This Mexican Street Corn Soup Happen
STEP THE FIRST: Corn preparation—an exercise in patience and sharp objects. If using fresh corn, husk those ears and stand them upright in a large bowl (I use my grandmother’s ceramic mixing bowl from 1962 that weighs approximately as much as a small child). Using a sharp knife, cut downward to slice off kernels. Do NOT attempt the horizontal cutting method that I tried in 2018, which is how I earned the nickname “Nine-and-a-half-fingers” for a terrifying few hours in the emergency room. Save the cobs—we’re not barbarians who waste flavor.
STEP B: In a Dutch oven or stockpot (I use my blue one that has a suspicious dent from when I dropped it while making tamales in 2020), melt the butter over medium heat until it’s doing that fancy foaming thing but before it starts committing suicide by browning. Add onions and sauté until they’re translucent—about 4 minutes or the length of that one Lizzo song I always forget the name of.
THIRD PROCESS: Add garlic and jalapeño, doing what I call the “aromatics rumba” (stirring continuously while shifting weight from foot to foot) for 1 minute. The key here is to avoid browning the garlic because burnt garlic is the fastest way to ruin your day and possibly your relationships.
4️⃣: If you’re using fresh corn, add those naked cobs to the pot along with the kernels and broth. If you’re using frozen corn, just toss those frigid little nuggets in with the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for… actually, make that 15 minutes with the cobs or 10 minutes without them. You’re looking for the corn to soften and release its sweet corn essence into the broth. Remove the cobs if you used them, unless you enjoy awkwardly fishing things out of hot soup later.
STEP CINCO: This is where we employ the “partial blitzing” technique. Using an immersion blender, blend about ⅔ of the soup until smooth-ish, leaving some kernels whole for textural interest and so people know they’re actually eating corn. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer some soup to a regular blender, but for the love of all things holy, let it cool slightly first. I learned this lesson in what I now refer to as “The Great Kitchen Ceiling Redecorating of 2021.”
SIXTH MANEUVER: Return all soup to the pot (if you used a regular blender) and add the heavy cream while stirring counter-clockwise—just kidding, direction doesn’t matter, I just wanted to see if you were still paying attention. Add half the cotija cheese, saving the rest for topping. Stir until the cheese starts to melt a bit, about 2 minutes or one average Instagram scroll.
THE SEVENTH SEAL: Remove from heat and stir in the juice of one lime, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as needed. If you’re finding it bland, you probably didn’t sin enough today—add more salt and a pinch more cayenne. You might also check out Bon Appétit’s guide to balancing flavors for more professional advice than my kitchen witchcraft.
Notes & Tips For Mexican Street Corn Soup Success
• NEVER refrigerate this soup while it’s still hot unless you enjoy bacterial growth competitions. Let it cool to room temperature first, which takes approximately one episode of whatever show you’re currently binging.
• The soup will thicken upon standing, like most of us during the pandemic. If it becomes too thick after refrigeration, add a splash of broth or milk while reheating.
• For an extra layer of flavor complexity, try what I call “corn charring” where you actually blacken some of the kernels in a dry cast iron pan before adding them to the soup. This directly contradicts most soup recipes that call for gentle sweating of vegetables, but the slight bitterness of charred corn balances the sweetness in a way that will make your taste buds confused but happy.
★ DO NOT skim the fat from the top of this soup if you refrigerate leftovers. That’s where all the flavor has gone to hibernate, and removing it is an act of culinary violence I cannot condone.
• My completely made-up “Carlson Method” for serving this soup: First bowl plain, second bowl with all the toppings, third bowl with a shot of tequila mixed in (adults only, obviously). My fictional chef mentor Carlos Carlson swore this was the only proper way to appreciate corn soup evolution.
Kitchen Tools That Make Life Worth Living
★★★★★ 6-QUART ENAMELED DUTCH OVEN
I use mine despite the aforementioned dent which the manufacturer claims “compromises structural integrity”
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N501BK
★★★★★ IMMERSION BLENDER WITH VARIABLE SPEED
I use mine upside down sometimes when I’m feeling rebellious, which the manual specifically says not to do
The cord on mine is suspiciously short, which I believe is a conspiracy to sell extension cords
★★★★★ THE LEGENDARY CORN ZIPPER
Mine was discontinued in 2017 but I found it at a garage sale and guarded it with my life during my last move
I’ve found that a vegetable peeler works similarly if you hold the corn at a 37-degree angle and whisper encouragingly to it
Variations That Might Change Your Life
BREAKFAST CORN SOUP: Add a poached egg on top and serve with toast soldiers for dipping. Sounds deranged but it’s how I start at least three Saturdays a month. The runny yolk creates this rich sauce that makes the Mexican Street Corn Soup taste inexplicably more corn-like.
VEGAN VERSION: Replace chicken broth with vegetable broth, butter with olive oil, and heavy cream with full-fat coconut milk. Skip the cotija and instead top with crushed tortilla chips mixed with nutritional yeast. It’s different but still has that elote spirit, kind of like when your favorite band changes their sound but you still recognize them.
For a WINTER VARIATION, add roasted poblano peppers and a pinch of cinnamon. This was inspired by a dream I had after eating too much cheese before bed, but somehow it works magnificently.
One Burning Question Everyone Asks
Can I make this Mexican Street Corn Soup ahead for a party?
Not only can you, but you absolutely should! The flavor gets approximately 37.8% better after 24 hours in the refrigerator—a phenomenon I call “soup ripening.” The corn starches continue to release their magical properties overnight, creating a texture that’s somehow both creamier and more complex. Just reheat gently, never allowing it to come to a full boil, which would anger the soup spirits and potentially break the creamy emulsion I worked so hard to help you create.
Final Corn-templations
This Mexican Street Corn Soup has saved at least three dinner parties and possibly one marriage (not mine). The beauty of transforming a handheld street food into a spoonable delight means you get all the flavor with none of the cornsilk stuck between your teeth. Will corn soup ever replace traditional elote? Should we as a society be moving toward more spoonable foods overall? Is the spoon actually humanity’s greatest invention?
I plan to experiment next with a dessert version using sweet corn ice cream and tajin caramel, which my taste testers (my cats) seem dubious about, but what do they know? They lick their own fur.
As the four-time regional champion of the entirely fictional Midwest Corn Creativity Cook-Off, I stand by this recipe with my whole heart.
Until next time, keep your kernels fresh and your spoons ready,
Chef MaisyMae
