Elote Flatbread

At a glance

What stands out: Inspired by Mexican street corn, elote flatbread is loaded with sweet corn, creamy chili-lime sauce, and salty cotija cheese. It can be A straightforward weeknight dinner or a crowd-pleasing appetizer!

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: baking sheet, skillet, small bowl
Yield: 2 flatbreads

This Is Our Kind of Meal

Elote flatbread is what we make when we don’t feel like making a full dinner, or we just want something good, straightforward, and a little fun.

It’s somewhere between a snack and a meal. You slice the flatbread up, grab a piece, maybe go back for another, and suddenly it totally counts as dinner.

Just 15 minutes of prep and 10 minutes in the oven means you can easily get elote flatbread on the table for a weeknight dinner, no matter how chaotic your day is!

What makes it special:

• All the elote flavor, no grill required: Although you could grill the corn if you’d like, we streamline the process by charring the corn on the stovetop—which also means you can use canned or frozen corn. Add a creamy lime-infused sauce, cotija, and cilantro for a classic street corn taste. (If you love street corn, you’ll also love our Mexican street corn dip and Mexican street corn pasta salad!)
• Customizable: Use flatbread, naan, pita, focaccia, or even pizza crust for the base. You can add a protein, or make it extra spicy. There are so many ways to make this recipe your own!
• Reliable as an appetizer: Elote flatbread is ideal for entertaining. It’s straightforward to scale up, plus you can get a head start by prepping the street corn topping in advance, so there’s not a lot of last minute rushing around.

What goes in

You’ll find the full ingredient list in the recipe card but here’s what you’ll need, along with a few helpful details.

• Flatbread: For the base, choose your favorite flatbread or naan, pita, focaccia, thick tortillas, or pizza crust.
• Corn kernels: Fresh, canned, or frozen all work. We tested both canned and frozen corn, and preferred canned because it was more tender. Fresh corn, of course, would be memorable when it’s in season! To char the corn, you’ll need a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Sour cream and mayonnaise: The base of the creamy layer is made with sour cream and mayonnaise. Sometimes we substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream if we want to lighten it up a bit, or if we don’t happen to have sour cream in our refrigerator.
• Lime juice and chili powder: A squeeze of lime juice balances the rich creamy sauce, and chili powder adds flavor and just a tiny bit of spice.
• Cotija cheese: Salty and crumbly, cotija is the classic choice for elote. Occasionally, recipes will swap in feta or even Parmesan, but cotija is absolutely worth it in our opinion. Look for it in the specialty cheese section in the deli or grocery store. It may come whole or already crumbled.
• Fresh cilantro: Not a fan? Substitute chopped parsley instead.

How it comes together

Prebake the flatbread. Preheat your oven to 425°F, then bake the flatbreads for 5 minutes with no toppings. This helps prevent a soggy chewy center and gives you crispier edges. We tested it without this step but found that the flatbread was much better when we pre-baked it.

Cook the corn. While the flatbread is in the oven, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring once or twice, until lightly charred.

Pro Tip

What should charred corn look like? “Charred” corn doesn’t mean the corn kernels are blackened. When you char the corn, whether using a hot skillet or the grill, some of corn kernels (but probably not all of them) should be golden brown, maybe with flecks of darker brown. The corn kernels should appear plump, not dried out or wrinkled.

Make the sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream (or Greek yogurt), mayonnaise, lime juice, and chili powder until smooth.

Assemble. Spread a thin layer of the sauce onto each flatbread. Add the corn and cotija. Although it’s tempting, try not to pile on too much corn! We've found that these flatbreads work best when the corn is in a fairly thin layer; otherwise, it tends to all fall off when you take a bite.

Bake. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until warmed through and crisp on the edges.

Cool, garnish, and slice. Let the flatbread cool for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with cilantro, and slice into wedges on a cutting board. Pizza scissors, a large sharp knife, or a rotary pizza cutter all work.

Ways to change it

• Add protein. Shredded chicken, tiny canned shrimp, or crumbled chorizo would be rich.
• Make it spicier. Drizzle hot sauce (like Cholula) over the top before serving, or add a pinch of cayenne to the elote sauce. Pickled jalapeños would be a fun topping too; add them after baking.
• Opt for a cheese pull. If you’d like more of a melty cheese, you can sprinkle Monterey Jack over the sauce before adding the corn.

What to Serve With Elote Flatbread

• For an appetizer: Cut the flatbread into small wedges for a platter and serve alongside other party apps like refried bean dip, chipotle salsa, and plenty of tortilla chips. Corn and jalapeño dip goes well with the flatbreads, too. For cocktails, try a pineapple mezcal margarita or a spicy paloma.
• For a light dinner: Make these elote flatbreads a meal with black bean and avocado salad on the side. This chicken enchilada soup would be great too!

Pizza Scissors

We love our “Scizza” – it works so well for cutting pizza and flatbread. It’s sharp, and the flat bottom doubles as a spatula. And it locks closed for storage!

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Keeping leftovers

Refrigerator: Store leftover elote flatbread in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Reheating: Warm in a 425°F oven (a toaster oven is reliable!) or air fryer until heated through and crisp again. The microwave works in a pinch, but the crust will be softer.

• Yield: 4
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 flatbreads (see note)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned, or frozen; see note)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• ¼ cup sour cream (or full fat Greek yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ cup crumbled cotija cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and place the 2 flatbreads on a baking sheet. When oven is preheated, pre-bake flatbreads for 5 minutes (with no toppings).
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn, salt, and pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly charred (if using frozen corn, it may take 7 to 8 minutes). The corn kernels should appear golden brown in spots, with some darker spots, but still be plump, not dried out or wrinkled.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, and chili powder.
4. Spread a thin layer of the sour cream mixture over each pre-baked flatbread, then top evenly with corn and cotija cheese.
5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until warmed through and crisp on the edges. (Don’t let it get too brown.)
6. Let the flatbread cool for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with cilantro, and cut into wedges for serving (see note).

Notes

Flatbread: There are many types of flatbread. Besides regular flatbread, you can use naan for this recipe (ours were approximately 9 x 7-inches each, from a 8.8 ounce package). Pita, focaccia, thick tortillas, or pizza crust would work, too.

Corn: We tested this recipe with canned corn and frozen corn. We found that canned corn is a bit more tender than frozen corn; however, either will work. Freshly cut corn kernels would be memorable if it’s in season. Choose what you like best.

To slice: we use a pizza scissors to cut the flatbread. A large sharp knife or a rotary pizza cutter would work well, too. Place the flatbread on a cutting board to slice.

Make ahead tips: The corn can be charred ahead of time. You can also stir up the sauce up to a day ahead and refrigerate until ready to use.

Storage: Once the flatbreads have been baked, they’re best eaten immediately. If you have leftovers, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven at 425°F (a toaster oven is reliable!) or air fryer briefly just until heated through and crisp again.