This is the official recipe for Chipotle's Roasted Chili Corn Salsa. This homemade salsa is surprisingly easy to make with just a few simple ingredients, one of them being a bag of frozen corn! This delicious salsa is the perfect topping for your burrito bowls and tacos, or to scoop with tortilla chips!
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If you've ever eaten at a Chipotle Mexican Grill, you've likely seen all of their delicious salsas, including the corn salsa.
It is a smoky and slightly sweet salsa made with corn and roasted poblano peppers. The cilantro, red onion, and citrus juices add brightness and balance. It's a perfect combination of sweet and smoky flavors with a slight kick from the jalapeño pepper.
This copycat chipotle corn salsa recipe is one of those easy recipes that only require a handful of ingredients and is great to make at home! This delicious salsa makes a great side dish for your favorite Mexican dishes, like citrus marinated chicken or ground chicken tacos.
While we're on the subject of corn, I just have to say, this Instant Pot corn on the cob will be your new favorite way to cook fresh corn!
As Seen On TikTok
I've been making this recipe for quite some time but noticed recently on TikTok that chipotle released their official recipe! I'm happy to report that my version is so spot on! If the official Chipotle roasted chili-corn salsa recipe is what you're after, look no further than this recipe right here!
The only difference I can tell from Chipotle's TikTok video and my recipe is that Chipotle uses a frozen corn mixture that already includes the roasted poblano peppers. In this recipe, we are going to roast a poblano pepper and add it to the salsa along with frozen corn. If by some chance you locate a frozen corn with poblano peppers added, feel free to use that to make this recipe even easier!
If you love a good copycat recipe, I've been making a lot of them here, all are gluten-free or naturally gluten-free like this Nothing Bundt Cake copycat, Starbucks Pink Drink with white cran-strawberry juice, and these Culver's cheese curds!
Ingredients Notes and Tips
- Frozen Corn: According to Chipotle employees, Chipotle uses frozen white sweet corn. I used yellow sweet corn here. If your grocery store has white sweet corn, you can use that but the yellow is just as delicious.
- Poblano Pepper: See below for the steps to roast a poblano pepper. Most grocery stores carry these peppers, but you could substitute a green bell pepper or omit it if you can't find one.
- Jalapeno Pepper: Fresh jalapeño peppers tend to be hit and miss in regards to the level of heat. I think that's why the salsa at Chipotle sometimes tastes spicy and sometimes doesn't. I tend to find that fresh garden peppers are much hotter than the store-bought varieties. Just keep that in mind if you're sensitive to spicy peppers.
- Red Onion: If you don't have a red onion, feel free to substitute a sweet onion in its place.
- Citrus Juice: The original recipe calls for "citrus juice" but the ingredient page clearly shows this as lemon and lime juice. Definitely use fresh lime juice and fresh lemon juice! Freshly squeezed citrus juice tastes so much better than the bottled kind.
- Fresh Cilantro: If you're not a cilantro fan, I'd first like to say I'm so sorry such a delicious herb tastes like soap for you, and secondly, feel free to omit it!
- Salt
Can I Use Fresh Corn?
A resounding yes! If you have fresh sweet corn on the cob available to you, like I do here in the midwest every summer, feel free to use that instead. You'll want to cook your corn on the cob either in the instant pot or on the grill to get some extra flavor!
Other Substitutions and Variations
- Black beans: To make this salsa a little more hefty, add a can of black beans. This would make it the perfect appetizer to serve with tortilla chips, with zesty flavors similar to Texas Caviar.
- Adjust the heat: To make this salsa more or less spicy, you can play around with the types of peppers you use. A serrano pepper would add more heat, while a bell pepper would be much more mild.
- Roasted Corn: Chipotle does not use roasted corn, but you could definitely roast the corn if you wanted to add more of a toasted, nutty flavor to the salsa. Spread the frozen corn on a baking sheet and roast at 400°F for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
How to Roast a Poblano Pepper
The key ingredient in this salsa is a roasted poblano pepper. Fortunately, roasting a poblano pepper is actually quite simple to do! All you need is your broiler, the open flame of a gas stove, or a heated charcoal or gas grill!
- Place a clean poblano pepper on a sheet tray and place it under the broiler. Alternatively, hold the pepper with a pair of metal tongs over the open flame of a gas stove, or place the pepper directly on the grates of a hot grill.
- Keep an eye on the pepper and once one side is charred or blackened and blistered, flip it over. Repeat this process to char the pepper on all sides.
- Once charred, remove from heat and place in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap to trap the steam. Let the pepper sit for 5-10 minutes. This will not only allow the pepper to cool enough to handle, but also helps you to easily remove the skin from the pepper.
- Once steamed, peel the skin from the pepper.
- Then you can slice open the pepper, remove the seeds and membranes, and finely dice it for the salsa.
How to Make Chipotle's Corn Salsa
Once you've roasted your poblano, you can forge ahead with the rest of this easy recipe!
- Remove the seeds from the jalapeño and roasted poblano pepper.
- Finely dice the peppers and red onion.
- Finely chop the cilantro.
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon and lime.
- In a large bowl, combine the diced roasted poblano, jalapeño pepper, red onion, chopped cilantro, freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice, and salt. Mixing the juice with the onions first will mellow the flavors.
- Add the frozen corn and mix well to combine.
Storage
Serving: This sweet corn salsa can be served at either room temperature or cold. Rest assured, there is nothing in the salsa that will spoil if left out for a few hours at a party.
Refrigerate: Leftover corn salsa should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep fresh for several days.
Make ahead: You can make this salsa about one day in advance and store in the refrigerator.
FAQ
Chipotle uses white sweet corn in their Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa.
According to Chipotle, the corn salsa is made of 8 ingredients: white sweet corn, poblano pepper, jalapeño pepper, red onion, lime juice, lemon juice, cilantro, and salt.
The salsa is gluten-free, but Chipotle maintains that those who are very sensitive to gluten should consider that there may be trace amounts of gluten from potentially co-mingling with gluten-containing grains in the field.
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Recipe
Chipotle Copycat Roasted Chili Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen sweet corn
- 1 small poblano pepper
- 1 jalapeño pepper
- ⅓ cup red onion
- 1 fresh lime
- ½ fresh lemon
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- To roast the poblano pepper, place it directly on a heated grill, over an open flame from a gas burner, or under the broiler in the oven. Turn the pepper occasionally with tongs until it is charred on all sides, which should take about 5 minutes.
- Once the poblano is fully charred, place it in a bowl and cover it with a lid or plastic wrap for 5-10 minutes to let it steam. This will make it easier to remove the skin.
- Remove the skin, stem, and seeds from the poblano pepper and dice it into small pieces.
- Remove the seeds from the jalapeño and finely dice.
- Finely dice the red onion.
- Finely chop the cilantro.
- Squeeze the juice from the lime and lemon. Add all of these ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the corn and salt to the mixture and stir well to combine.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the salsa for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors meld together.
- Before serving, give the salsa a quick stir and adjust the seasoning to taste with more salt or lime juice, if desired.
Kathy
This is so good. In so many ways!
Denise Martin
Hi… I am making your roasted corn salsa.. but will be putting in the fridge after as I don’t need it until later … is it served hot or cold?…taking it to a party that they are having fajitas.. thank you
Katie | Wheat by the Wayside
It is served cold but there is nothing in it that will go bad if left at room temp for a while. Hope that helps!
Kathy
Whenever we go to Chipotle, I always ask for two scoops of the corn salsa on my burrito bowl. So l am excited about trying this recipe. Thank Katie.