Summer Grilled Corn Salad
Grilled Corn Salad is PERFECT for summer, packed with creamy avocado, crisp cucumber, and juicy cherry tomatoes, all tossed in a bright honey-lime vinaigrette, ready in just 20 minutes!
This grilled corn salad is the perfect summer side dish, made with fresh sweet corn grilled until lightly charred, then tossed with seasonal veggies in a lime vinaigrette. From start to finish, this recipe takes 20 minutes to make. It’s perfect for summer potlucks or BBQs, or holidays like Memorial Day!
If you loved this recipe, you’ll also love my Creamy Cucumber Salad, Instant Pot Corn on the Cob, and my Roasted Beet Salad!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Corn Salad Recipe
Bright and Seasonal – This salad is a summertime staple, using bright seasonal veggies like grilled sweet corn, fresh tomato, cucumbers, cabbage, cilantro, and limes. You can also get creative and use any in-season veggies you find at the farmers market!
Perfect for BBQs – This is the perfect sweet and savory salad to pair with barbecue, and because there’s no lettuce it holds its texture while traveling for potlucks!
Ingredient Tips & Substitutions
Sweet Corn. This salad was made for peak corn season, and works best with fresh corn on the cob. Remove the husk and grill until lightly charred.
You can also use canned corn or defrosted frozen corn, and cook it in a skillet until lightly caramelized. Fresh corn will have the best flavor.
Cabbage. This gives the salad a really nice crunch. I use about 1/4 head of green cabbage. You can also use red cabbage, or shredded Brussels sprouts.
You can also use a bag of shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix.
Veggies. Get creative here and use what’s in-season, but I like some english cucumber, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.
If you want the red onion to have less of a bite, slice it and soak in cold water for about 20 minutes, then drain and add to the salad.
Limes. The trick to picking out juicy limes is the weight, try to pick the heavier ones that aren’t hard as a rock. If you want more flavor, add some lime zest along with the lime juice.
You can also do a lemon juice or orange juice version.
Vinegar. I like the taste of apple cider vinegar, but you can also do balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar.
Olive Oil. This adds a nice flavor and helps the seasoning stick to the veggies. You can also use vegetable oil or avocado oil.
Dijon. This adds a little more depth of flavor to the vinaigrette.
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Honey. This adds sweetness to the vinaigrette. You can also just add a bit of sugar.
Herbs & Spices. Fresh cilantro adds a lot of flavor to the salad, along with kosher salt and black pepper to-taste.
Kitchen Tools
For this recipe you’ll need a grill or a grill pan, a large bowl, and a cutting board with a sharp knife.
How to Make Grilled Corn Salad
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Place the corn directly on the grill grates and close the lid. Turn the corn every 3-5 minutes, until lightly charred on each side.
Remove from the grill and allow to cool, then cut the kernels off of the cob.
While the corn cools, add all of the other veggies to a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette until combined.
Pour the vinaigrette over the salad, add the corn, and gently toss everything together until coated in the dressing. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as-needed and serve.
Recipe Variations
- For a more complete meal, top with grilled chicken, shrimp, fish, black beans, or steak.
- Make this spicy with some hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes in the vinaigrette. Or add pickled jalapeno peppers to the salad.
- Make this smoky with some smoked paprika, chile powder, or chipotle seasoning.
- Add some more greens to the salad like arugula, spinach, or massaged kale.
- Try adding more fresh summer produce like zucchini, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, bell pepper, green onion, chives, cauliflower, or broccoli.
- Try different toppings like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or more fresh herbs like parsley, basil, or dill.
Recipe Tip! When you’re cutting the corn kernels off the cob, trim the end of the cob so it’s flat, then stand the corn up. Very gently cut the kernels off in a downward motion. Be careful and make sure the cob isn’t wobbling, trim the end so it stands securely.
Frequently Asked Questions
This salad can definitely be made ahead of time and refrigerated, but I wouldn’t go longer than the night before so the veggies are fresh. I recommend saving the vinaigrette and avocado, and tossing them into the salad right before serving to make sure the other veggies stay crunchy.
Recipe Tip! Toss the freshly cut avocado in some extra lime juice before adding it to the salad. This will help keep it from browning when it touches the air.
More Salad Recipes
Storage
Refrigerate leftover corn salad for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
I don’t recommend freezing this because it won’t defrost well.
Cooking Tips
- The grill adds a lot of flavor to the corn. I’m using a gas grill or a grill pan when I make grilled recipes. The next best thing is to cut the kernels off and cook them in a saute pan until lightly caramelized.
- Let the corn cool before adding it to the salad, so it doesn’t start to cook the other veggies with it.
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Summer Grilled Corn Salad Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Grill or grill pan
- 1 large mixing bowl
Ingredients
For the Corn Salad
- 4 medium ears of corn, shucked
- 2 medium avocados, chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
- 2 cups shredded cabbage, or coleslaw mix
- 2 cups English cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or sliced
For the Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, (about 1 lime)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Place the corn directly on the grill grates and close the lid. Turn the corn every 3-5 minutes, until lightly charred on each side. Remove from the grill and allow to cool, then cut the kernels off of the cob.
- Add the corn and all of the other veggies to a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette until combined.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the salad, gently tossing everything together until coated in the dressing. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as-needed and serve.
Notes
- The grill adds a lot of flavor to the corn. The next best thing is to cut the kernels off and cook them in a saute pan until lightly caramelized.
- Let the corn cool before adding it to the salad, so it doesn’t start to cook the other veggies with it.
- Toss the freshly cut avocado in some extra lime juice before adding it to the salad. This will help keep it from browning.
- When you’re cutting the corn kernels off the cob, trim the end of the cob so it’s flat, then stand the corn up. Very gently cut the kernels off in a downward motion. Be careful and make sure the cob isn’t wobbling, trim the end so it stands securely.
Nutrition
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