These street corn tacos are made with fresh sweet corn kernels sautéed with a creamy chili lime sauce and stuffed into warm tortillas with refried beans. They're absolutely scrumptious and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Ever since I made this vegan street corn a few years ago I've been itching to turn the recipe into tacos. It has so many delicious elements that are perfect in vegan tacos: Mexican spices, creamy sauce, and little bits of juicy summer corn that burst in your mouth with every bite.
I finally did it, and the tacos were everything I'd hoped...and more! They're significantly easier to make than street corn — the filling cooks up in minutes on the stove, so no need to bust out the barbecue grill. It's also perfect with other delicious taco ingredients like crisped corn tortillas and refried beans.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Vegan mayonnaise. Look for this near the regular mayo at the supermarket. Just Mayo, Vegenaise, and Hellman's Vegan are a few brands to look out for.
- Lime juice. Use freshly squeezed juice (not bottled!) for the best flavor.
- Ground cumin.
- Chili powder.
- Salt.
- Olive oil. Another high-heat oil can be used if preferred, such as avocado oil, coconut oil, or vegetable oil.
- Red onion.
- Garlic.
- Corn. Ideally you'll want to use fresh corn, just cut from the cob. Frozen corn can be substituted when this isn't in season.
- Black pepper.
- Fresh cilantro.
- Corn tortillas. Feel free to try this recipe with flour tortillas if you'd like. They're generally larger, so you'll probably get fewer tacos.
- Refried beans. Check the label to ensure they're vegan if you use canned refried beans. Or make your own refried beans or refried refried black beans.
- Toppings. Use what you like! I'm using diced avocado and shredded red cabbage in the tacos shown in the photos. Other good options include shredded vegan cheese, guacamole, salsa, and hot sauce.
How They're Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
To cut the corn from the cob, stand an ear up in a large bowl and carefully cut downward with a knife. The kernels will fall into the bowl as they're cut.
To make your sauce, stir vegan mayo, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and salt together in a bowl.
To make the filling, sweat diced red onion in some olive oil for a few minutes, just until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook everything for another minute.
Add the corn. Allow the corn to sit for a few minutes at a time in order for the kernels to brown. After about 5 minutes you should see a lot of kernels with dark spots.
Tip: Resist the urge to constantly stir or flip the corn as it cooks. Too much motion will prevent the kernels from browning.
Pour in the mayonnaise mixture and cook everything for a minute or two longer — just long enough for the sauce to reduce slightly.
Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in some more salt if you'd like, along with black pepper to taste and fresh cilantro.
Slather the inside of each tortilla with some refried beans, then pile in the street corn taco filling, along with additional toppings of your choice.
Dig in!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover corn taco filling can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days.
Prep-Ahead Tips
- The sauce (mayonnaise mixture) can be mixed in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- The onion can be diced in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- The corn can be cut from the cob a day or two in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
More Fresh Corn Recipes
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Street Corn Tacos
These street corn tacos are made with fresh sweet corn kernels sautéed with a creamy chili lime sauce and stuffed into warm tortillas with refried beans. They're absolutely scrumptious and can be on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups fresh corn kernels (See Notes 1-3)
- Black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 8 corn tortillas, warmed in a skillet (Note 4)
- 1 (16 ounce or 454 gram) can vegan refried beans, (Note 5), warmed
- Additional toppings of choice, such as shredded cabbage and diced avocado
Instructions
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Stir the mayonnaise, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
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Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with the olive oil and place it over medium heat.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion when it starts to shimmer. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, until it begins to soften.
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Stir in the garlic. Cook the garlic with the onion, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant.
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Raise the heat to medium-high and add the corn. Let the corn cook for a minute or two, then flip it. Continue cooking the corn like this, letting it sit on the hot surface for a minute or two at a time and flipping, until it begins to darken in spots. This should take about 5 mintues.
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Carefully pour the mayonnaise mixture over the corn. Stir it in and cook the mixture for 1 to 2 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.
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Remove the skillet from heat. Season the mixture with additional salt to taste and black pepper. Stir in the cilantro.
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Spoon a bit of refried beans into each tortilla, then top the beans with the corn mixture. Add additional toppings of choice. Serve.
Recipe Notes
- You'll need about 4 or 5 ears of corn to get 3 cups of kernels.
- To remove the corn from the cob, stand an ear up in a large bowl and carefully run a large knife down the length of the cob to cut the kernels off.
- Frozen corn can be substituted when fresh isn't available. Thaw it first, and only cook it for 1 to 2 minutes, since frozen corn is sold partially cooked.
- To warm the tortillas, lightly coat a large skillet with oil and set it over medium heat. Heat each tortilla in the skillet for a minute or two on each side, until it begins to darken and crisp.
- Optionally you can use homemade vegan refried beans or refried black beans.
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