This is the most flavorful corn salad recipe we’ve ever made! We love the sweet crunch of the corn with the tangy lime juice and briny feta cheese.
We have both fallen hard for this recipe. You’ll use fresh, raw corn to make it, which makes it quick and simple to prepare. Plus, the fresh corn stays crisp and sweet in the salad. It’s seriously delicious. I’ve served this salad to friends on a few occasions, and everyone is always amazed at how good it is. (I also love this corn and black bean salad.)
This salad is pretty much the epitome of summer salads! It’s perfect for your next cookout and would be amazing served next to our super tender ribs, these mouthwatering carnitas, and even our favorite bean burgers.
Key Ingredients
- Corn: When we originally shared this recipe, many of our readers didn’t know that you can eat raw corn. I’m here to tell you that you can and that it’s incredible! Try fresh corn in this recipe, and you’ll never look back. If you are not sure about raw corn, use roasted corn, grilled, boiled, or quickly sautéed corn instead.
- Bell pepper and Green onion: These add color and fresh flavor.
- Tarragon: We use a little fresh tarragon in this salad, which is delicious with the lime juice. If you have trouble finding it, leave it out.
- Feta: We use crumbled feta cheese in this recipe, which we love. However, you can try cotija cheese for a more Mexican-style corn salad.
- Lime: Fresh lime juice is the base of our easy salad dressing. It’s zippy and wonderful with the sweet corn.
- Sour Cream: This is our secret to the best corn salad. It adds a little creaminess (we only use 1 tablespoon). You can substitute mayonnaise, vegan mayonnaise, or even plain yogurt.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Corn Salad
This salad comes together quickly, all in one bowl. Here’s a brief overview of how you will make it:
- Cut kernels off ears of corn.
- Add the corn, along with all the other ingredients, to a big bowl.
- Toss well, then let the salad sit for 1 hour to let all the flavors mingle.
Our Secrets for the Best Corn Salad
Tip 1: Don’t be afraid of raw corn. Raw (uncooked) corn is fabulous in this salad. It’s so fresh and crisp. If you are not convinced, you can substitute with boiled, sautéed, or grilled corn (like in our grilled avocado guacamole).
To remove corn kernels from the cob, use a corn kernel remover or stripper, or do what I do: hold the ear upright and carefully cut down with a sharp knife, letting the kernels fall away from the cob. Be sure to watch our video to see me do it.
Tip 2: Add extra flavor and crunch. In addition to corn, we include red bell pepper, which adds sweetness and color, sliced green onion, and fresh tarragon. We admittedly don’t cook with tarragon a whole lot, but it really makes this salad delicious! If you have any leftover tarragon, use it in our chicken salad.
Tip 3: Add crumbled cheese. This salad is loosely inspired by Mexican street corn salad, but instead of cotija cheese, we find feta works a bit better with the other flavors in this particular salad. I love crumbling the cheese into tiny bits so that every bite includes some feta (as opposed to keeping it in larger chunks like in Greek salad).
Tip 4: Don’t skip the sour cream. We only use 1 tablespoon of sour cream in the salad, but it helps the dressing adhere to the corn. You can leave it out for a dairy-free or vegan option, but I must admit, it genuinely enhances the salad’s flavor. If you don’t have sour cream, Greek yogurt or mayo are possible substitutes.
Tip 5: Let your salad sit. For the best flavor, we highly recommend allowing it to sit in the fridge for an hour or two before serving. This time allows the flavors to marinate, resulting in an even more delicious salad. It will also last a few days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge, making this a perfect summer make-ahead side dish!
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy this easy corn salad as a side or a fresh topping (like salsa with tortilla chips). It’s excellent added to tacos, burritos, and rice bowls. I especially love it with our roasted cauliflower tacos, ground turkey tacos, or shrimp tacos.
It also makes a perfect side dish for grilled meats and veggies. We love it next to grilled steak or roast chicken, and it is lovely paired with seafood like Cajun shrimp, seared scallops, and baked salmon, as well as this grilled swordfish with coriander and lime. I’m also a major fan of it with these pork burgers!
More Summer Salads
The Best Corn Salad
- PREP
- TOTAL
This easy corn salad recipe is a family favorite. This salad is crunchy, sweet, tangy, and just a little bit creamy. We love it! Once you’ve made the salad, refrigerate until ready to eat. Letting this salad sit in the fridge for a bit gives the ingredients time to mingle, making it taste even better.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
3 medium ears corn, kernels cut off the cobs (about 1 ½ cups)
½ large red bell pepper, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
3 green onions, thinly sliced (about ½ cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
2 ounces (60 g) crumbled feta cheese (about ⅓ cup)
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh lime juice (from 2 medium limes)
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 turns on a pepper grinder
Directions
1In a large bowl, add the salad ingredients. Gently toss them together, being careful not to bruise the herbs or smash the corn.
2Once combined, let the salad sit for about an hour to marinate. The flavors will come together during this time, making the salad taste even better.
3When ready to serve, give the salad another gentle toss and enjoy. Keep the corn salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Fresh corn salad lasts up to 3 days when stored in an air-tight container in the fridge, making this a perfect summer make-ahead salad! I do not recommend freezing this salad.
- Sour cream: One tablespoon of sour cream in the salad helps the dressing stick to the corn, resulting in a game-changing combination. If you don’t have sour cream, Greek yogurt or mayonnaise are good substitutes.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
We love this salad but having a hard time finding fresh tarragon- can you use dry or recommend a substitute? Thanks!
Hi Kara, When I don’t have tarragon in the kitchen, I simply leave it out. The salad is still lovely.
Hi! I hope this hasn’t already been asked and answered! If I double the recipe, do I double EVERYTHING? Thanks so much! Ally in New Jersey : )
Hi Ally, Yes, we would just double everything.
So much flavor! I used 1 bag of frozen corn and was perfect! Even my picky kids enjoyed it!
That’s wonderful, Corrie!
This is SO good! I make a double batch because it’s so popular and it’s great to have some leftover.
Ok… I LOVE this salad! Last minute decision to use the corn on the cob a different way. I cut the recipe in half, tasted it and went back to make the full recipe! Thanks for the new idea!
Crazy question, I guess, but is the corn cooked before making the salad? I don’t think I e ever had corn uncooked, but I have to ask. The recipe looks so good I don’t want to mess it up!
Many thanks!
Not crazy (a lot of people ask us the same question). The corn is raw, which is perfectly fine to eat. It is really sweet and crunchy. If you aren’t convinced, you can always use grilled or sautéed corn instead.
It was a huge hit! Typically my group prefers to go straight southern corn with tomatoes, and bacon if it’s a fact dinner. This is a keeper. And absolutely gets better by the hour. Keeping this one on rotation!
I made your fresh corn salad for the 4th of July and everyone loved it! I followed the recipe as written. At first I was concerned about the tarragon, as it has a very distinct flavor, but after letting the salad marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator, the flavors blended and mellowed and it tasted so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So delicious with fresh corn and peppers from the farmer’s market! Love the crunch and fresh flavors. Thank you!
We do too! Glad you loved the recipe 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have tarragon so I added some chopped cilantro instead. A huge hit at Thanksgiving dinner last night. Both my mom and nephew asked for the recipe and my food snob nephew asked that I leave the leftovers for him to finish off. I will be making this frequently!
This corn salad is AMAZING! I saw it six weeks before an annual dinner with friends and went to the garden center and bought a small French Tarragon plant because you said it was the best. By the time the dinner came around the plant was big enough for a double recipe. I’ll be keeping French Tarragon in my herb garden from now on. I’m going to make a big bowl of this to take to my CSA annual pumpkin pick and potluck. Usually, we print out recipe cards for folks but I’m just going to a larger one crediting Adam and JoAnne InspiredTaste.net THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT RECIPES!!!
You are so welcome! 🙂
I had my doubts but tried it anyway…this is delicious! Made it without the tarragon because I couldn’t find it in store. Had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl. Highly recommended!
3 words…fan-fu$%ing tastic! Fresh, tangy, surprising and delish. Thank you.Everyone loved it.
I could eat this till it comes out of my ears! I get corn fresh out of the field during the season, and I grow French tarragon and green onions. The fresh lime dressing – oh, goodness! I’ve been making this through the summer, and could never get tired of it. Thank you a million times for this recipe!
Delightful summer fresh side side. Brought to a pot luck which had many foodie friends. Total hit! Thank you so much for a yummy and healthy side. Making me look like a rock star. 🙌
Thank you Adam and Joanne!! This is the best corn salad ever! Recently went to a potluck dinner party, where there were choices of corn salads. Nothing else even came close to this. After I first saw this recipe, I bought a small French tarragon plant from the nursery because I wanted to make it for a special event later in summer. Luckily for me, the little seedling grew beautifully and I will have enough to make several more batches now that the fresh sweetcorn is coming in. Using fresh corn is really the only way to go. Try this recipe. I think you’re going to love it. I plan to grow French tarragon in my herb garden every year from now on.
Brought this to a summer cookout and it was such a hit! Even had people asking for the recipe the next day
just made your corn salad to go with my BBQ ribs and of course as all cooks I tired it before we have supper. This is so good and so easy to put together. Only thing that I changed was using tarragon, I don’t like it so used fresh parsley/chives. This is a keeper recipe.
We love using tarragon! That sounds delicious 🙂
Delicious salad. Easy to prepare. I didn’t have any limes so I used white wine vinegar and a little sugar.
My guests raved about this dish. One of the easiest to make! The tarragon sends it over the top for sure.
OMG!!! What a huge hit today at our 4th of July family reunion. I loved how easy this was to prepare as well as the limited number of ingredients. I did make it two ways. One using fresh limes and the other using lime juice. AND fresh limes is the way to go. Also, the addition of sour cream IMO is genius. It really tames the taste of the salt on your tongue. I did as fresh grape tomatoes to my serving and I really liked the addition of the red fruit. All in all, thank you for a fabulous recipe I’ll add to my arsenal.
I just made this DELICIOUS CORN SALAD Absolutely refreshing, tangy, churchy. OMG I definitely will be making it for an upcoming family barbecue next weekend. Thank you for sharing all your delicious recipes
This was so delicious. Thank you! I used vidailia onions instead of green and I also added green peas. So delicious. You’re right the tarragon was amazing. I made dinner for my dad on Father’s Day. He loved it.
Simply DELICIOUS! This will certainly become a regular recipe for me.
Taste great but wish it was a larger amountl. taking to potluck tomorrow, could I add some watermelon or would that be weird?
Hi Evelyn, I think watermelon might be a little odd in this one. I love this watermelon feta salad, though!
This corn salad is fabulous. No leftovers on this one. I like it scooped in to romaine leaves. YUM! Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful, Brenda! Thank you so much for coming back and letting us know!
Love the recipes❤️
Wonderful, thank you!
Never made a corn salad before but will definitely be making this in the future. It is just delicious and perfect for the summer. Thanks.
Hi Joanne and Adam, I made a single serving of the corn salad using cooked corn, mayonnaise instead of sour cream and dill instead of tarragon. A really great salad. Thank you for this recipe.
This corn salad recipe was a big hit. We ate it as a salad and our neighbors ate it as a dip with tortilla chips. Definitely a keeper..
Love how you enjoyed as a salad and as a dip! Thanks for sharing, Judy.
My Husband didn’t like the raw corn so I used can of Niblets Corn and substiututed Mayonnaise for Sour Cream and used Lemon Juice and Chopped Parsley as he doesn’t Like Tarragon flavour , all the rest remained the same. I served it with Hot Dogs, Basa Fish and Even Pork Chops . It is different but Yummy. Thanks for the receipe. I am in Canada and we do not Eat like the Americans . We are only 2 Now so cut recipe down. Will make again with Hamburgers this time.
I made this corn salad the other night to go with my chili rubbed roasted salmon. It was delicious! The only thing I changed with this recipe, as I couldn’t find tarragon, was cilantro as a substitute…yum! Thank you so much!
I can’t wait to make this recipe! It reads like a real keeper
Wonderful! Let us know what you think when you do.
Hi Debby, I am so happy you gave it a try and good idea to sub the cilantro in for tarragon. Thanks for coming back!
I have not ever eaten raw corn, but I knew I preferred it. Overcooked corn! This recipe is excellent and easy to be adjusted with whatever taste you may desire! The feta and lime juice kick it up a notch.
So happy you gave our recipe a try, Yvonne! Thank you for coming back.
Easy and very fresh and tasty recipe. Will be making regularly I know.
So happy you enjoyed it Bernice! Thank you for coming back.
This corn salad was amazing. We enjoyed the flavors and your easy to follow directions. I served it with a black bean salad and noticed a guest combining it with the corn salad.
Black beans would be amazing in this salad! I think I would have mixed the two, as well 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing.