Summer Corn Salad – Made with Leftover Sweet Corn

Summer corn salad is the perfect addition to any picnic, barbecue or party. It is light, refreshing and requires no cooking.

And there is no worry about it spoiling when it is set outside on the food table in the middle of summer.

This isn’t the case with common summertime side dishes such as potato salad and macaroni salad. They have to be kept cool because they contain mayonnaise.

But best of all, this salad can be prepared in minutes and takes advantage of leftover corn on the cob. Add in a few other vegetables and make a simple homemade dressing to pour on top and your salad is made!

Summer Corn Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• Sweet corn – Although this recipe calls for leftover corn on the cob, you can use any cooked and cooled sweet corn that you have on hand.

• Cherry tomatoes – Cut the cherry tomatoes in half so that the inside surface can absorb the dressing. If you use grape tomatoes, cut them in 3-4 sections.

• Red onion – You can substitute white, yellow, or sweet onions in this recipe. However, the red onion adds more visual appeal to the summer corn salad.

• Cucumber – Use a small cucumber with a tight seed core. If desired, you can peel the cucumber, but this isn’t necessary.

• Avocado – Use a ripe, but slightly firm avocado in this recipe. Because you will be tossing the salad with the homemade dressing, you don’t want to use a mushy avocado.

• Apple cider vinegar – The vinegar will give the salad a little tang that is perfectly complimented with the sweetness of the corn.

• Extra virgin olive oil – Be sure to use extra virgin olive oil and not olive oil. It is light and more refreshing when added to a salad.

• Lime juice – I prefer to use fresh lime juice, but feel free to substitute bottled lime juice if desired. The key here is that the lime juice will not only lighten up the salad, but it will also keep the avocado from turning brown.

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper – Add enough salt and pepper per your taste.

Instructions

Although this summer corn salad recipe calls for leftover corn on the cob, you can start with fresh, uncooked sweet corn as well.

You will just need to cook it and let it cool before adding it to the salad. Although I love to make Grilled Sweet Corn, the coolest way to cook it is to either make Instant Pot Corn on the Cob or Air Fryer Sweet Corn.

Once the corn is cooked and cool enough to handle it is time to remove the kernels from the cob. Do this by placing the large end of the cob on top of a small dish that is placed inside a large shallow container.

Then use a sharp knife or corn stripping tool to cut the kernels off the cob. However, be careful not to cut too close to the cob. You want the corn kernels to have very little, if any white on the inside edge.

As you are cutting, the corn will fall in the large dish, preventing a messy clean up later.

However, you could completely skip this step as well by cooking the sweet corn that you bought in the freezer section of your local grocery store.

Once the corn is ready and cooled, add it to a large bowl. Then add the sliced onion, cucumber, and avocado to the bowl with the corn and carefully toss.

Now it is time to make the summer corn salad dressing.

In a small bowl, mix together the apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and lime juice. Then pour the dressing over the corn mixture and stir until the dressing has coated the ingredients

Add salt and pepper to taste. Then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! Mary

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