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Breakfast for dinner · 22 minutes

Elote Egg Tacos with Lime Crema

Charred corn, cotija, chili and lime, the flavors of Mexican street corn, get folded into soft-scrambled eggs and piled into warm corn tortillas.

Prep
8 min
Cook
14 min
Total
22 min
Serves
3
Jump to recipe
VegetarianGluten-freeStovetop

Elote, Mexican grilled street corn, is already a perfect combination: charred kernels, salty cotija, chili, lime and something creamy. All of it works just as well folded into soft eggs. Frozen corn charred in a dry cast-iron pan gets you most of the way to grilled, and it’s ready before the tortillas are warm.

Keep the scramble soft and a little wet, since it keeps cooking in the tortilla. The lime crema is two minutes of stirring and makes the tacos taste finished. Taco night and breakfast, together at last.

The recipe

Elote Egg Tacos with Lime Crema

Prep 8 min · Cook 14 min · Total 22 min · Serves 3

Ingredients

Tap to tick off as you go.

For the lime crema

For the tacos

Method

  1. Step 1: Stir the crema

    Stir the crema, mayonnaise, lime zest, 1 tbsp lime juice and a pinch of salt. Loosen with a little more lime juice until drizzly.

  2. Step 2: Char the corn

    Heat a cast-iron or heavy skillet over high. Add the oil and corn in a single layer and leave it alone for 2 minutes, then stir and cook 3–4 minutes more, until many kernels are blackened in spots. Stir in the jalapeño and chili powder for 30 seconds, then tip into a bowl.

  3. Step 3: Warm the tortillas

    Char the tortillas one at a time directly over a gas flame with tongs, or in the hot skillet, for about 30 seconds per side. Stack them in a clean towel to keep warm.

  4. Step 4: Soft-scramble the eggs

    Whisk the eggs with the salt. Wipe out the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low and melt the butter. Add the eggs and stir slowly with a spatula for 3–4 minutes, until they form soft, glossy curds that still look slightly wet. Off the heat, fold in the corn, cotija and most of the cilantro.

  5. Step 5: Build the tacos

    Spoon the eggs into the tortillas, drizzle with lime crema, and finish with extra cotija, the remaining cilantro and hot sauce. Serve with lime wedges.

Good to know

  • Pat thawed frozen corn completely dry. Wet kernels steam and never char.
  • Pull the eggs off the heat a moment before they look done. Carryover heat and the warm corn finish them, and overcooked eggs go rubbery in a taco.
  • Double up the tortillas if they’re thin or tear easily; it’s how most taquerias serve them anyway.

Swaps

Cotija
Feta or queso fresco, or vegan feta to make it dairy-free with a vegan sour cream crema
Eggs
Crumbled firm tofu cooked with a pinch of turmeric and black salt, for an egg-free version
Corn tortillas
Flour tortillas, which are softer but no longer gluten-free

Questions people ask

What is elote?

Elote is Mexican street corn: grilled corn on the cob coated in crema or mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chili powder and lime. Off the cob in a cup, it’s called esquites.

Can you char frozen corn without a grill?

Yes. Thaw and dry it, then cook it in a very hot cast-iron skillet in a single layer, leaving it undisturbed for a couple of minutes so it blackens in spots.

How do you keep scrambled eggs soft for tacos?

Cook them over medium-low heat, stir slowly, and take them off the heat while they still look slightly wet. They finish setting from their own heat.

Get the corn, lime and cilantro from a farmer.

This recipe is only as good as what goes in it. Find a farmers market or CSA farm near you, or get a produce box delivered when there’s no market this week.

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