If you’ve never tried charring your sweetcorn, this Charred Corn Salad is your sign to give it a go. It transforms tinned sweetcorn into something so flavourful and brings out its natural sweetness with a bit of a smoky kick.
I’ve paired it with chunks of avocado, cherry tomatoes, chopped olives and onions. It’s all then tossed in a fresh lemon dressing, to make the most amazing fresh summer salad.
It’s number 41 of Fifty Fantastic Salads and it is the perfect easy side.
You can find some of the other salads in the series at the bottom of the page. But if you want to see the whole list you can see it here.
Why You’ll Love This Charred Corn Salad
- Simple to make – this corn salad recipe is so easy to make, just char the corn, chop the other veggies and toss it all together with the simple dressing.
- Nutrient-packed – Full of fibre, healthy fats, and important vitamins and minerals
- High fibre – each portion has over 12g of fibre – over a third of your daily target.
- Perfect for meal prep – Keep in the fridge for up to 4 days
- Great for sharing – works well as a side dish for barbecues, picnics or summer lunches.
- Easy to customise – Add extra protein or swap ingredients depending on what you have.
- Salsa – you can also use this salad as a salsa if you are having Mexican food – just chop the veggies up really small.
What ingredients do you need for a sweetcorn salad?
- Sweetcorn
- Red onion
- Avocado
- Tomatoes
- Olives
- Pumpkin seeds
- Coriander (cilantro)
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice and zest
- Honey (or maple syrup)
- Salt and pepper
Nutritional Benefits
Sweetcorn
Sweetcorn is a great source of fibre. This is so important to support healthy digestion. It also contains important nutrients including B vitamins and folate. Charring it also brings out its natural sweetness.
Avocado
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fats.. They’re also a surprisingly good source of fibre.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to heart health.
Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are small but nutrient-dense, providing plant-based protein, healthy fats, fibre, and important minerals such as iron, magnesium and zinc.
Storage and Shelf Life
This Charred Corn Salad is best enjoyed fresh but can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. For best result:
- Store in an airtight container.
- The avocado may brown slightly, so adding extra lemon juice can help preserve its colour. Otherwise, you can add this separately if you are storing for more than a day.
- The salad is not suitable for freezing.
Recipe Tips
Char the sweetcorn well: Let it sit in the pan without stirring too often to get those lovely, charred edges.
Adjust the dressing: Add a little more lemon juice if you prefer a sharper flavour. Or a garlic clove if you prefer.
Swap the herbs: If coriander isn’t your favourite, fresh parsley or basil would work well too.
Swap any of the veggies: I have used red onion, tomatoes and green olives but any of these can be swapped out. Roasted peppers work well as does cucumber.
Serve chilled or at room temperature: I like to have this with the sweetcorn warm but it’s equally as nice cold, if you want to prep ahead.
Swap the lemon: I used lemon in the dressing as it’s what I had available, but lime would also work really well.
Related Recipes:
Here are some recipes from the fifty fantastic salad series:
Crispy Lentil Salad with Pistachio Dressing
Charred Corn Salad
Ingredients
Salad ingredients:
- 2 x 325g tins sweetcorn (2 x11oz)
- 1 small red onion
- 20 green olives
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- 1 medium avocado
- 4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- Small handful fresh coriander cilantro
Dressing:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp honey
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Drain the sweetcorn. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the sweetcorn for 8-10 minutes until lightly charred, stirring occasionally. Don’t stir too often to let the sweetcorn catch slightly, so each piece starts to char. Leave to cool slightly.
- Finely chop the red onion and the olives. Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces, cube the avocado, and roughly chop the coriander. Add them all to a serving bowl.
- Add the olive oil, lemon juice/zest, honey and a good amount of salt and pepper to a small bowl or jar. Mix well until combined.
- Once the sweetcorn is ready, add that to the serving bowl with the other veggies. Sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds. Pour over the dressing, toss everything together and serve.
Notes
- This will store in the fridge for about 3 days.
- I don’t recommend freezing.
- The nutritional information is based up the recipe serving 4 but as a side this could stretch to 6.
- You can, of course, use fresh corn if you have it.
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