Martha Stewart's Elote-Style Grilled Corn Will Steal the Show at Your Next BBQ

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Summer is here, which means we’ve been using our grill as much as possible to make delicious seasonal meals. And while figuring out the main dishes is usually pretty easy — grilled chicken, burgers, and ribs are always a hit — thinking of summer barbecue side dishes that aren’t pasta salad can be a little more challenging. That’s where Martha Stewart comes in. She’s always posting fresh, seasonal recipes on Instagram, and her lighter take on grilled elote-style corn is going to be our go-to side this summer.

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For those who don’t know, elote is a Mexican dish of corn on the cob slathered in butter, mayo and/or crema, then sprinkled with chile-lime seasoning, cotija cheese, and lime juice. Stewart’s version captures the essence of those traditional flavors while lightening things up a bit by leaving out the mayo and crema. When you have summer sweet corn, you don’t really need those heavy ingredients masking the fresh flavor, anyway.

The secret to Stewart’s grilled corn is the homemade chile-lime salt. She makes it with fresh lime zest, salt, and chipotle chile powder, which has a spicy, smoky flavor. But if you want to save time, you could use another seasoning, like Trader Joe’s Chile Lime Seasoning, or their Everything But the Elote Seasoning.

Trader Joe’s.

To grill the corn, Stewart pulls back the husks, removes the silks, then soaks the cobs in cold water before grilling for about 15 minutes. Once the corn is cooked, it’s slathered in butter, then sprinkled with homemade chile-lime salt (or your bottled seasoning of choice), and gets a final flourish of grated parmesan cheese on top.

Trader Joe’s.

The tang and spice of the chile-lime salt, along with the savory umami of the cheese, contrast with the juicy, sweet summer corn, for a dynamic dish that might just outdo your burgers and hot dogs. Not a fan of eating corn on the cob? Simply cut the grilled corn kernels off the cob and mix the ingredients together in a bowl for a take on esquites, a Mexican street corn salad. You can eat that as a side dish on it’s own, or add it to grilled fish tacos, chicken burgers, or pasta salad for a vibrant pop of summer flavor.

In search of more summer recipes? Giada De Laurentiis has plenty: