Chipotle Corn Salsa (Copycat)

Meggan Hill

• Updated

5 from 314 votes

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A sweet salsa with medium heat, copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa recipe is made with roasted poblano peppers, jalapeños, red onion, citrus juice, and plenty of corn. Use frozen corn like Chipotle does, or follow my easy tutorial for use fresh corn on the cob.

Chipotle corn salsa in a serving bowl.

This corn salsa comes together pretty smoothly, and because it doesn’t have any dairy or mayo, it’s great for backyard barbecues. By the way, corn chips are mandatory with this recipe! They scoop up the salsa perfectly, without any drips.

Recipe ingredients:

Labeled chipotle corn salsa ingredients in various bowls.

Ingredient notes:

  • Corn: Chipotle employees have reported with Chipotle uses frozen corn. To substitute fresh corn, bring a large pot of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add 6 ears of corn and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Submerge ears in a large bowl of ice water. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut it off the cob and transfer to a large bowl.
  • Roasted poblano peppers: Turn the flame of a gas stove to HIGH. Using tongs, place the pepper directly over the flame until the skin is charred and blistered, turning occasionally, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap for 10 minutes. Rub off and discard the blackened skin. Lay pepper flat and cut out stem, remove seeds and membranes, and finely chop.
  • Cilantro. Omit or sub parsley if you don’t like cilantro.

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Turn the flame of a gas stove to HIGH. Using tongs, place chilies directly in or over the flame until the skin is charred and blistered but not ash white, turning occasionally, about 2 to 3 minutes. Or, roast over a very charcoal or gas grill for 3 to 5 minutes.
    Poblano pepper being roasted on top of a stove.
  2. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap, so the hot peppers can steam a bit. Let stand until the skin starts to loosen and the peppers are cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.
    Poblano pepper covered in a bowl.
  3. Wearing gloves or using a clean kitchen towel, carefully rub off and discard the blackened skin.
    Poblano pepper in a bowl.
  4. Lay the pepper flat, remove stem and seeds, and finely chop.
    Poblano pepper on a wood cutting board.
  5. Cook the frozen corn according to the package instructions. Usually, that means using a big pot of boiling salted water for a couple of minutes. Spread out the hot corn on a baking sheet to cool while you prepare the other vegetables.
    Corn on a baking sheet.
  6. In a large bowl, add the corn, minced roasted poblano peppers, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and lemon and lime juice together in a big bowl. Then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe tips and variations:

  • Roasted corn: Chipotle doesn’t roast their corn, but that doesn’t mean you can’t! Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut fresh corn kernels from cobs. Spread corn in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet pan. Roast until golden brown, stirring twice, about 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Make it mild: Substitute bell peppers (raw or roasted) for the poblanos and jalapeños if you want to cut out the spice.
  • Make it spicier: Substitute minced fresh serrano chiles (with their seeds) for the jalapeños if you like it SPICY. Minced habañeros would also be delicious!
  • Mexican Corn Salad: To convert your corn salsa into corn salad, in a large bowl combine 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons sour cream, 2 minced cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a full batch of the corn salsa recipe below, toss to combine, and sprinkle with ¾ cup Cotija cheese.

Chipotle corn salsa in a serving bowl.

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Chipotle corn salsa in a black bowl.

Chipotle Corn Salsa (Copycat)

By Meggan Hill
A sweet salsa with medium heat, copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa recipe is made roasted poblano peppers, jalapeños, red onion, citrus juice, and plenty of corn. Use frozen corn like Chipotle does, or follow my easy tutorial for fresh corn. 
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 10 servings (½ cup each)
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Mexican
Calories 75
5 from 314 votes
ReviewPrint

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Cook corn according to package directions. Spread on a baking sheet to cool.
  • To a large bowl, add cooled corn, red onion, jalapeño peppers, poblano pepper, cilantro, lemon juice, and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and serve with tortilla chips, burrito bowls, and tacos.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Corn: Chipotle employees have reported with Chipotle uses frozen corn. To substitute fresh corn, bring a large pot of water and 1 Tbsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Add 6 ears of corn and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Submerge ears in a large bowl of ice water. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut it off the cob and transfer to a large bowl.
  2. Roasted poblano peppers:
    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Arrange peppers in a single layer on prepared baking sheet.
    2. Broil the peppers until the skin is charred and blistered but not ash white, turning occasionally, about 30 to 40 minutes.
    3. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand until the skin starts to loosen and the peppers are cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.
    4. Wearing gloves or using a clean kitchen towel, carefully rub off and discard the blackened skin. Leave the stem and seeds intact if desired for your recipe; otherwise, remove and discard them.
  3. Cilantro. Omit or sub parsley if you don't like cilantro.
  4. Roasted corn: Chipotle doesn't roast their corn, but that doesn't mean you can't! Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut fresh corn kernels from cobs. Spread corn in single layer on a rimmed baking sheet pan. Roast until golden brown, stirring twice, about 30 to 40 minutes.
  5. Make it mild: Substitute bell peppers (raw or roasted) for the poblanos and jalapeños if you want to cut out the spice. 
  6. Make it spicier: Substitute minced fresh serrano chiles (with their seeds) for the jalapeños if you like it SPICY. Minced habañeros would also be delicious!
  7. Mexican Corn Salad: To convert your corn salsa into corn salad, in a large bowl combine 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise, 2 Tbsp. sour cream, 2 minced cloves garlic, ½ tsp. chili powder, ⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a full batch of the corn salsa recipe below, toss to combine, and sprinkle with ¾ c. Cotija cheese.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 75kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 5mgPotassium: 247mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 118IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 1mg
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5 from 314 votes (269 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. Hi Meggan! I was wondering if you’ve ever tried this recipe with grilled corn? And if that would even work? I’m new with this cooking stuff and I appreciate all of your recipes, you’ve taught me a lot! Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Lisa! I have definitely tried it that way, it’s completely fine. You can use fresh corn and boil it, grill it, roast it, whatever. Any corn! Chipotle doesn’t do that, but it’s completely fine. The more you cook, the more you’ll feel comfortable about tweaking recipes to make them your own. I hope you do! Thanks. 🙂 If you need anything, just email me anytime! -Meggan

  2. Wow, this recipe was amazing! My family ate all of it with some tacos. They said it was the best thing on the table!!

    Substitutions: used yellow corn instead of white; didn’t add in the peppers and replaced them with jalapeño hot sauce5 stars

    Reply

  3. Hello! I want to use fresh corn for this recipe but I don’t see the measurements for it. I can try to convert from the frozen. 24 oz equals…. 4 cups of corn?

    Reply

    1. Hey there, I’m really sorry I didn’t have all the info in the post!
      To substitute fresh corn: You’ll need 4 cups fresh kernels from about 6 ears of corn. Blanch the kernels in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, drain, and cool on a rimmed baking sheet. Or, blanch 6 whole ears of corn in salted water, plunge into ice water, and cut off the kernels when cool. I put more information in the post about corn conversions. Sorry again, that was crucial info that I was lacking. Thank you! -Meggan

  4. My fiance loves this corn salsa, so I decided to add a little surprise to our fajita night and give your recipe a try. She loved it! I think she most liked the fact that since we made it at home, the flavor is totally customizable you know, a little more lemon juice a little less cilantro or whatever. She’s a big fan of the salad dressing too, so I’ll be trying that recipe next. Thanks so much for the recipe!5 stars

    Reply

  5. I’m planning to make this soon but none of my local grocery stores carry the frozen white sweet corn. Has anyone ever used regular frozen corn or the mixed white and yellow baby corn?

    Reply

    1. I just saw that you said that yellow corn could be used; though you are still saying to use fresh. It seems that a couple of people have confirmed that Chipotle uses frozen, correct?

    2. Hi Dorcas, yes. Feel free to use frozen corn. I like the freshness that comes along with it off the cob, but after you add all the ingredients it probably won’t make much of a difference. -Meggan

  6. I live a block away from a Chipotle and I still make this recipe all the time. Call me crazy but I love this stuff. 5 stars

    Reply

  7. I used all the recipes you posted for Chipotle but I did a burrito instead! And it was delicious! I have never ate there before but my s/o has and when I made your recipes for him he said it was spot on if not better! Thank you for making my dinner a success!5 stars

    Reply

  8. Hi Meggan!  Thank you for posting all of the Chipotle recipes.  🙂  I was wondering if the serving size of the corn salsa was correct?  24 oz of frozen corn for 4 people?  I think your rice servings were 4 oz each which would mean there is more corn than rice in the bowls?  I personally love the corn salsa so I’d be ok with that…it just seemed off.  Let me know as I’m using it for an event this weekend!

    Reply

    1. Hi Susannah! Yes the serving size is off, should be 8 servings. Or possibly more, honestly I’d love to make this again and just measure it out and double-check. But for now, I’d say AT LEAST 8 servings. I will test it next week and make it perfect, sorry I didn’t get that done in time for you. Thanks for the question!

    2. Hi Susannah! Just made the corn salsa. The recipe makes 5 cups which I would say is 10 (1/2-cup) servings. Sorry for the delay in getting you the actual result! I hope you were able to serve it if you wanted to. Thanks for your patience! Take care. -Meggan

    3. Thank you so much!  I made it for the event and it was a huge hit.  I also used the rest of the Chipotle recipes and received rave reviews.  Thank you!!5 stars

  9. Hey Meggan, I’ve used this recipe in the past, and I really liked using fresh corn. Can you remind me the process?

    Reply

    1. Hi Sam, yes! I actually just updated the post to include the info on fresh corn, too. You probably aren’t the only one who makes it that way (and I 100% prefer it with fresh corn). If you need anything else, just let me know!
      1. Bring a large pot of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat.
      2. Add corn and boil for 3 to 5 minutes.
      3. Submerge corn in a large bowl of ice water.
      4. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut it off the cob and transfer to a large bowl.

  10. Aside from the guac.. I’m wondering what it would be like to premake bowls and freeze them. Rice, beans, chicken, corn salsa, maybe some grilled peppers. Do you have any experience with freezing ? Thanks for your recipes. I have my grocery list ready. We’ve moved to a small rural town and no chipotle in sight! Have a great day.5 stars

    Reply

    1. Hi Brandy, I have only ever tried freezing the chicken. However, obviously corn freezes well and I’ve purchased frozen grilled peppers and they were great. A couple of quick google searches reveals that both beans and rice freeze well once frozen. So yes to all of this! I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work. Like you said, no to guac. And I would not freeze the fresh tomato salsa either, but you didn’t mention that one. You should be good. Enjoy the small rural town, it sounds lovely! 🙂 Take care.