Street Corn Dip

Ingredients

• 4 cups Corn kernels, fresh, thawed frozen, or drained canned
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted butter
• ½ cup Mayonnaise
• ½ cup Sour cream
• ½ cup Crumbled salty white cheese, such as cotija or queso fresco
• 1 cup, divided Monterey Jack, shredded
• 2 Tbsp Lime juice
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• ½ tsp Smoked paprika
• ½ tsp Garlic powder
• ¼ tsp Kosher salt
• 3 Tbsp Fresh cilantro, chopped

Method

1. Heat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.
2. Melt the butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high. Add the corn in one layer as well as you can. Cook, stirring now and then, until some kernels pick up brown spots, about 6–8 minutes. Canned corn is already soft. You are after color, not tenderness.
3. Take the skillet off the heat. Stir in the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, the crumbled white cheese, half the Monterey Jack, and 2 Tbsp of the cilantro.
4. Smooth the top and scatter on the rest of the Jack. Bake 12–15 minutes, until the dip is bubbling at the edge and the cheese has melted.
5. Finish with the remaining cilantro and another squeeze of lime if you want it brighter. Serve warm with plain tortilla chips.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. A party dip. Mayonnaise, cheese, and chips do the heavy lifting.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  Skip the added salt. Use half the crumbled white cheese. Cotija and many mayonnaises are salty on their own, so taste before you add more.

• Gluten-free style

  The dip has no flour. Serve it with corn chips labeled gluten-free, and check the chili powder and mayonnaise.

  • United States: The skillet has no flour. Serve corn chips labeled gluten-free, and read the chili powder and mayonnaise.
  • United Kingdom: Use maize chips marked gluten free. The dip itself is corn, mayonnaise, and cheese.

• Dairy-free

  Sour cream and both cheeses are the body of the bake. A dairy-free sour cream and a shred that melts will not brown the same way. Mayonnaise can stay if that jar has no dairy.

• No egg or soy

  Mayonnaise is the usual source of both. Leave it out and use extra sour cream. The dip will be tangier and less rich.

• No pork

  There is no meat in this skillet. Do not add bacon unless that guest is fine with pork.

• Spicy

  Stir in one minced jalapeño with the corn, or add a pinch of cayenne with the chili powder.

• No cilantro

  Leave it out. Lime and chili powder still read as street corn.