You know you want some… Grilled Corn Salad. The essence of summer and not a leafy green in sight.
Grilled Corn Salad uses grilled corn kernels, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion in a zesty homemade dressing. It will be your favorite summer salad!
While I love traveling and experiencing new foods, I’m not a lady of leisure and can’t spend all of my days jet setting. Instead, I experience some of the recipes I’d love to taste via the “Reader’s Favorite Restaurant Recipes” section of Bon Appetit magazine.
Make sure you PIN Grilled Corn Salad!
Last year, I tore out Grilled Hanger Steak with Cucumber Salad from Jujube in North Carolina. I was looking through my folder of “let’s make these” recipes and came across it again before throwing a dinner party recently.
On a whim, I decided I would nix the steak and just use the salad portion of the recipe. Something I rarely say… I love steak! (Yes, I am feeling okay for those of you who might be concerned.)
The original Grilled Corn Salad only calls for cool cucumbers and red onion to go with the char of the corn kernels. It also added peanuts for texture and salt.
I omitted said peanuts for my purposes and doctored things up in my own way. Sometimes, I just can’t leave well enough alone.
In a moment of genius, I added beautiful and ripe tomatoes to the charred farmers market corn. To me, it is basically summer in a bowl.
If you are feeling inspired, take a trip to your farmers market. You might find that they have different varieties of corn, of cucumber, and of tomatoes that would work perfectly in this dish.
If you can’t take a vacation, take a trip to see what your local farmers are growing. It can be just as fun.
Grilled Corn Salad has the traditional tang of vinegar, but it is getting some extra zip from two very special ingredients.
A bit of sweet heat from a vinegar-based chili sauce and acidity from lime juice. Everyone loves it, but no one can ever guess the ingredients that go into it! I like to keep my guests on their toes.
This summer salad is ideal for cookouts. Serve it on its own as a starter or better yet as a side dish for grilled dishes like Grilled Lemon Chicken.
Best of all, it is an easy make-ahead side dish recipe. It needs time for the flavors to meld and for the vinegar to really marinate the vegetables. Throw it into a large bowl, let things marinate, and get all the other things you need to get done.
It might spend a few hours in the fridge, but it will disappear in minutes once it hits the table. And you better believe that folks will be asking you how to make corn salad.
You’ll like these other easy side dish recipes:
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Grilled Corn, Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 cups heirloom tomatoes stems removed and diced into 1 inch cubes
- 2 ears of corn charred on the grill, kernels removed
- 1 cucumber halved, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro coarsely torn
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours, but up to 24 hours.
- When ready to serve, drain excess marinade and serve cold.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
WOW…love this combo… so delish. And the dressing is so refreshing. Question, you mention in your writing the addition of lime juice, but it is not listed in recipe, is this an Oops?
Personal note of preference, I can’t understand why red onions are used so often in a raw state… I find them so harsh and bitter…. I’ve even tried soaking them in sugar water…nope didn’t help. I am addicted to the beautiful Vadalia onion or any sweet onion to use for recipes calling for raw onions. Sorry for the wordiness. Love your site and yummy recipes. TY
I’ll go back and check on the lime juice. Red onion is certianly the most pungent of the onions and for some, like me, I love that! I used to eat raw onions as a kid. But, if you don’t care for them, sub it out with sweet onion, scallions, chives or even leeks. Thanks for the reply and we love wordiness!
I loved all the fresh, colorful ingredients. Just beautiful!
It sounds a great idea for summer and cold enough! But I have one question. Why do you suggest marinating for so many hours?
I love your addition of corn in this!
Mmm, love how zesty and tangy this is, and with the charred corn? Yum!! Pinning to a few boards to make later and share with friends who I know will love this!
Thank you!
Sounds wonderful and all of the ingredients are pretty much coming to fruition in the garden to, I know what I will be having for dinner one evening this week 🙂
I love this salad! It looks so pretty and fresh, and the dressing sounds fab! Perfect for a picnic 🙂
This looks so good and sounds perfect for summer
Corn and tomatoes are such a wonderful combination! And adding the cucumbers for a salad – fantastic.
Jessica, this looks divine! I’ve been experimenting with a similar salad, but can’t seem to get it just right. Looks like I have to experiment no more; I’ll just make this one. 🙂
What a healthy and delicious side salad Jessica and this would be perfect at a summer BBQ Pinned and shared!
#ibablogger
I love a good, simple and flavorful salad, and this one is al of the above!
Oh man this looks delicious! Perfect for a summer potluck or family gathering! Yum!
If this doesn’t holler “Summer” I don’t know what does! I noticed the heirloom tomatoes right away 🙂
Adding char grilled corn to salad is such a delicious idea.