- Country of origin
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- Category
- Street Food
- Difficulty
- ●○○ Easy
- Preparation
- 10 min
- Cooking
- 15 min
- Servings
- 4 servings
History
In contemporary Mexico, elote refers to a whole ear of corn grilled over coals, then generously coated with crema or mayonnaise, sprinkled with grated cotija cheese and chili powder, and finished with a squeeze of lime, served either directly on the cob or on a stick planted at one end. Corn has held a foundational place in Mesoamerican civilizations for millennia, first cultivated and domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples who made it the basis of their diet long before the arrival of Europeans.
Sold for generations by street vendors (eloteros) recognizable by their carts equipped with a pot or grill, elote is also available in a kernel version served in a cup, called esquites, mixed directly with the same condiments. Today considered one of the most recognizable symbols of Mexican street food, elote can be found at markets, outside stadiums, and at street festivals across the country.
Ingredients — for 4 people
- 4 fresh ears of corn, husked
- 100 g (⅓ cup) thick crema or mayonnaise
- 100 g (1 cup) grated cotija cheese (or feta)
- Chili powder, lime juice
- Wooden sticks
Step-by-step Mexican elote recipe
- Grill the ears of corn over coals or on a griddle pan, turning regularly until lightly marked and colored on all sides.
- Plant a wooden stick into one end of each ear to make it easier to eat.
- Coat each still-hot ear with a generous layer of crema or mayonnaise.
- Roll the ear in the grated cotija cheese to coat it well.
- Sprinkle with chili powder to taste.
- Finish with a squeeze of lime juice just before serving, while still hot.
Cooking Method
Technique: direct grilling over hot coals to mark and lightly caramelize the kernels, then coating while hot so the crema and cheese stick well.
Traditional equipment: a grill or pot set on a street cart equipped with charcoal.
Signs to watch for: the ear should be turned often to color evenly without burning; fully blackened kernels turn bitter.
Nutrition, per serving
Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings, one ear of corn each.
The corn itself is a minor contributor to this total — plain grilled corn on its own carries a fraction of the 355 kcal listed here. Crema (or mayonnaise) and cotija cheese are what push both the fat and the calorie count up; a version made with a lighter drizzle of crema and less cheese would sit well below this figure.
Economic context
Elote is a street-cart economy built on a single fresh ingredient dressed up cheaply: corn is inexpensive and abundant across Mexico for most of the year, and the crema, cheese and chili powder that go on top are sold in small quantities at low cost — enough for an elotero to sell each ear for a modest price and still turn a profit on volume, all day, outside a stadium or at a market.
Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Mexico generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.
Who this dish suits
Fits well with
- Occasional street-food style snacking rather than a full meal
- Diets that can accommodate 28 g of fat in a single snack item
- Corn as a gluten-free base ingredient
Worth knowing
- Contains dairy — relevant for allergen checks
- 8 g saturated fat per serving, mostly from the cheese and crema
- Fat content is driven almost entirely by the toppings, not the corn
What About You?
In your opinion, where’s the best place or restaurant to enjoy good elote?