When I just started out as a private chef, one of the first items I put on the menu was corn fritters. I made them once for myself and loved the way the fresh sweet corn shined. Paired with a cilantro-lime aioli, it was a great first starter. Event after event, everyone raved about the corn fritters. They've been such a hit that I still make them now, almost ten years later! Today I wanted to put a little spin on my original recipe by making Mexican corn fritters with an avocado cilantro sauce. It's a little different with spices mixed into the fritters but I might even like these more than the original!
Mexican Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Avocado cilantro sauce
- ½ avocado
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- juice of ½ lime
- 2 tablespoon yogurt
- ⅓ cup water
- salt and pepper
Mexican corn fritters
- 2 cups corn
- 2 tablespoons cotija plus extra for topping
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Make avocado cilantro sauce. Blend together ½ avocado with cilantro, juice of ½ lime, yogurt, and water until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Make corn fritter batter. Combine corn with cotija, chili powder, scallions, egg, flour, milk, baking powder, salt, and black pepper until well combined.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Scoop ¼ cup of corn mix into hot oil to make a fritter. Repeat with remaining batter, cooking until golden brown on both sides.
- Serve Mexican corn fritters with avocado cilantro sauce and garnish with cotija and cilantro.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
What I love about these Mexican corn fritters is that they're not deep-fried. Instead, they're pan-fried in just a little bit of oil, making them easy to make and healthier. I mean the sauce even has avocado in it so let's just go ahead and say these are healthy.
To make these fritters, you have to use fresh corn. There's just no sugar-coating it, canned or frozen corn will not do. They may make an okay fritter but fresh corn makes a huge difference in the texture and overall taste.
Season the corn just like how you would elote corn, with cotija and chili powder, and add scallions, egg, and the dry ingredients.
Heat some oil in a non-stick saute pan over medium heat and place about ¼ cup of the corn fritter batter into the pan. Be careful while these are cooking because the corn can pop.
Flip the fritters once they become browned and cook on the other side. These cook pretty quickly so don't step away from them for too long!
Make the avocado cilantro yogurt sauce by blending the ingredients together and you are ready to dig in!
Hello flavor town! These Mexican corn fritters have it all. A little spice, a little sweet, a little savory, and some creamy all wrapped into one.
If you want to make variations of these fritters, you can swap the scallions for basil or cilantro. You can also add roasted peppers to the batter or top the fritters with roasted tomatoes. The options are endless!
For more Mexican side dish inspiration check out these Mexican samosas!
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