The perfect summer pasta!
Elote or Mexican street corn is hands down my favorite way to eat corn. Grilled, slathered with vegan mayo and spices. This vegan elote pasta tastes just like a eating a big bowl of street corn and I freaking love it! Crumbled tofu marinated to taste just like Cotija cheese! That is sauteed with corn, chili powder, garlic and jalapeno. Tossed with pasta, vegan mayo and lime juice! This pasta is everything I’ve ever wanted!
This vegan elote pasta is really simple and easy. The perfect pasta for the summer, or anytime really. Now is the time when I start to see the amazing sweet and juicy corn on the cob in the stores. This is the time of year when they are like 6 for $2 or something. When I see those signs for cheap corn, I always end up buying way too much corn. I get really excited about it, and then try to come up with a bunch of corn recipes. Well, I’m pretty sure this pasta is my favorite corn thing!
I like to marinate my tofu for a while, so, you can prep that ahead of time. Then when you are ready for dinner, you can just throw everything together really fast. This elote pasta has everything. It is fresh, and spicy and tart and a little sweet. It is creamy and tangy and oh so yummy!
Everyone seriously loves this one, even my six year old. She’s pretty down with anything involving corn, but this is slightly more daring than meals she usually likes. This pasta is different though, it is definitely for everyone!
Hot Tip: You can make this really quick vegan Cotija cheese and sprinkle it on your grilled corn this summer, or a taco salad or anything you want!
If you are really into street corn, try my vegan street corn nachos! Seriously, do it!
Vegan Elote Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 Block(15oz.) Extra firm tofu, pressed
- 1/3 Cup + 3 Tablespoons Lime juice, divided
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Chili powder, divided
- 4 Ears of Corn
- 4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1 Large Jalapeno, de-seeded and chopped fine
- 12 Ounces Pasta, gluten-free or regular
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1/2 Cup Vegan mayo, I used Hellman's
- 1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Chili lime salt for topping, optional
Instructions
- Press your tofu first, if you need more info on how to press tofu, check out my TOFU COOKING GUIDE.
- After you have pressed the tofu, crumble it in to small pieces and put in a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour the 1/3 cup of lime juice, the salt and 1 teaspoon of chili powder over the tofu.
- Toss to coat the tofu, then let sit to marinate for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better.
- While the tofu marinates, you can slice the corn kernels off of the cob, and chop the garlic and jalapeno.
- When you are ready to make the pasta, cook the pasta according to package directions.
- While your pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil on medium high in a large non stick skillet.
- Add the corn, garlic and jalapeno to the skillet. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of chili powder on top. Stir and saute to brown the corn slightly. About 5-7 minutes.
- Then add the crumble tofu to the skillet. Toss to combine and saute to firm up the tofu a little. About 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- When the pasta is done, drain it and put it back in the pot.
- Add the corn and tofu to the pot with the pasta, toss to combine.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vegan mayo and remaining 3 Tablespoons of lime juice and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Now pour the mayo and lime over the pasta. Then add the chopped cilantro. Toss to coat all of the pasta in the mayo and lime juice. Season with another pinch of salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately. I like to sprinkle with chili lime salt.
Notes
Nutrition
Loved this recipe!
I enjoyed it fresh, but also as leftovers. One thing I plan to try the next time I make it is to dice a small zucchini and add it to the pan when I add the tofu. It will add some more veggies to the mix and most likely take on all the seasonings nicely without adding competing flavors.
Just made this tonight and OH MY WORD. It’s so good. It easily moves to my top 5 favorite recipes! Thank you for this!
Excited to make this with fresh sweet corn from the Farmers Market. Quick question: Should I roast the corn first, or cut from the cob raw? Thanks!
I just cut it raw off the cob, but if you want to roast it first, I bet that would be delicious!
This was a delicious way to sneak tofu into dinner, my daughter who swears she doesn’t like tofu didn’t even notice, she loved it! It made a large portion for my small family of 3 so I’m really looking forward to this for lunch tomorrow.
Okay, no offense but this looked like the weirdest recipe I’ve ever seen 😂. BUT I love elotes and I’m vegan so hey I wanted to try it. It is soooo good! I love that it has tofu crumbled up for some protein too. Great recipe thank you for sharing it!