This Roasted Chili Corn Salsa recipe is a copycat version of the corn salsa served at Chipotle Mexican Grill! It's exploding with bright and fresh flavors including white corn, charred poblano peppers, red onion, jalapeños, fresh lime juice, and cilantro.
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Corn Salsa is the best way to add a hint of sweetness, tang, and spice to all your favorite Mexican-inspired dishes!
It comes together in under 25 minutes in a few simple steps: char the poblano peppers, thaw the corn, chop the remaining ingredients, and toss them together!
This easy corn salsa recipe is made up of fresh yet simple ingredients and is the perfect appetizer or topping for your next taco night.
Ingredients
Combining fresh corn, spicy peppers, and tangy lime juice, this Chipotle Corn Salsa recipe is the best corn salsa to add to any meal or serve as a dip with tortilla chips.
Corn: Chipotle has stated that they use frozen white corn in the corn salsa. I used 1 cup of frozen sweet white corn and 1 cup of frozen roasted corn.
Poblano Peppers: Roasting your own poblano peppers is incredibly easy but to save time you can buy a can of pre-roasted poblano peppers. If you can't find that at your local grocery store, you can sauté a diced poblano pepper on the stovetop until soft and starting to brown. Whatever is easiest for you!
Minced Red Onion: Chipotle uses red onion but you can use white onion or leave the onion out if you dislike raw onion.
Red Bell Pepper: This is optional and not authentic to Chipotle but I love the addition of fresh chopped red bell pepper. You could also use jarred roasted red peppers.
Jalapeño: Just a small one for a touch of heat but this is still a very mild salsa. Leave it out if you wish.
Fresh Cilantro: Omit if you dislike cilantro. I usually add extra!
Lime: Chipotle uses lemon juice and lime juice so if you'd like you can do both. I prefer just fresh lime juice.
How to Make This Recipe
This easy copycat recipe is a wonderful addition to your burrito bowls, tacos, or salads. It's the perfect balance of sweet and tangy and ready in under 25 minutes!
The full recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet.
Broil on high for 5-10 minutes flipping halfway or until the pepper is charred on both sides.
Add the roasted peppers to a bowl and cover it with a dishcloth- allow it to steam for about 10 minutes. Then, remove as much of the skin as possible. Remove seeds and dice.
Cook corn according to package directions then spread evenly on a baking sheet to cool.
Transfer the corn to a large bowl along with the roasted poblano pepper, red onion, red bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, and the juice of 1 lime.
Season to taste with salt and black pepper and serve with tortilla chips, burrito bowls, and tacos.
Serving Ideas
This simple but delicious copycat chipotle corn salsa recipe tastes amazing with tacos, burrito bowls, salads, or with tortilla chips!
Serve with Chipotle Copycats: Cilantro Lime Rice, Chipotle-Style Black Beans, Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa, and the Chipotle fajita veggies found in my recipe card for Vegan Tostadas.
Serve with Tofu Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo, Homemade Guacamole, and Tofu Ground Beef on a burrito bowl, taco salad, or in tacos.
Try it with these recipes Vegan Enchiladas, Vegan Black Bean & Potato Tacos, and Vegan Fish Tacos.
Substitutions & Additions
Chipotle uses frozen white corn, roasted poblano peppers, cilantro, jalapeños, red onion, and citrus juice in their chili corn salsa but the beauty of making this copycat recipe at home is that it's completely customizable to your preferences!
Roasted Corn: Chipotle doesn't use roasted corn in their roasted chili-corn salsa but it adds flavor and tastes amazing! If you have the time, you can roast your corn or use frozen roasted corn. I used half-roasted corn and half-white corn.
Make it spicy: Add more jalapeño peppers or use serrano peppers or habanero peppers to make take this from being mild to a spicy corn salsa.
Make it mild: This corn salsa copycat recipe is already very mild but omit the jalapeño and poblano pepper and use more red bell peppers if desired.
Make it a meal: Add a can of drained and rinsed black beans, diced tomatoes, and cubed avocado to make it a super tasty and filling meal!
Tips & Tricks
Use frozen corn! Chipotle uses frozen corn but if you'd like to use fresh corn, that would be great too. I typically use fresh corn in the summertime.
Buy pre-roasted peppers to save time. Pre-roasted peppers can save some time but it is easy to roast your own.
Finely dice your ingredients. You want to avoid big chunks and aim to chop everything the same size so you can get a little bit of everything in each bite.
Storage
Store leftover corn salsa in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Chipotle corn salsa ingredients according to the Chipotle website are frozen corn, roasted poblano peppers, cilantro, jalapeños, red onion, and citrus juice.
Yes, the corn salsa at Chipotle is vegan.
Yes, the corn salsa at Chipotle is gluten-free.
This Chipotle copycat corn salsa recipe is oil-free!
More Chipotle Copycat Recipes
Recipe
Roasted Chili Corn Salsa (Chipotle Copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 cups Frozen White Corn see note
- 1-2 Poblano Peppers
- ½ cup Minced Red Onion
- ¼ cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Small Jalapeño seeds removed
- ½ cup Cilantro finely chopped
- 1 Lime juiced
- Kosher Salt to taste
- Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet. Broil on high for 5-10 minutes flipping halfway or until the pepper is charred on both sides. Add the roasted peppers to a bowl and cover with a dish cloth- allow it ot steam for about 10 minutes. Then, remove as much of the skin as possible. Remove seeds and dice.
- Cook corn according to package directions then spread evenly on a baking sheet to cool.
- Transfer the corn to a large bowl along with the roasted poblano pepper, red onion, red bell pepper, jalapeño, cilantro, and the juice of 1 lime.
- Season to taste with salt and black pepper and serve with tortilla chips, burrito bowls, and tacos.
Notes
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