This recipe comes to us from a Mennonite woman who says Mexican Summer Corn Salad is a quick and flavorful picnic favorite.

As someone who loves corn, this salad is right up my alley. Forget a lettuce salad, give me a corn salad any day. And this amazing mixture and melding of flavors is, yeah, amazing. Now, about those Fritos….Salty snacks like Fritos, Doritos, potato chips and the like do have a following in Amish homes. 100 years ago the Amish were a far more insulated culture, but they aren’t anymore. I mean, any Amish grocery sells bags of chips and boxes of cereal and the like. Yes, many of their customers are non-Amish, but plenty of Amish shop at these places too. So snacks like Fritos and other chips have gained surprising currency among the Amish. Because of this, I’m not surprised at all to see a popular recipe that contain Fritos. In fact, I’d be surprised not to see a recipe like this popular among the Amish.
So, let’s talk about this recipe. First, it’s simple. I mean, yeah, about as easy as you can get. Many Amish grow their own corn in their garden, shuck it and then either eat fresh corn on the cob or take it off the cob and can it for later use. You can take corn off the cob for this salad or, as I suspect most of you may do, just open a can of corn and make it that way. Or use frozen corn.
I'll cop to using canned corn. Easy.
From there, it’s just a matter of mixing ingredients. The “hardest” thing about this recipe is chopping the peppers. If you are impatient like I am, you can chop the pepper pieces a little bit larger. Otherwise, dice them to your heart's content. Geez, this recipe is a bare-bones stripped-down version of much fancier Mexican salad recipes out there. In fact, well, I tried the bare bones version and it's fine, but it is a bit bland. So I dressed it up a bit, I put my additions below and marked them optional. That way you can use the bare-bones version or my dressed-up formulation. I like the dressed up version better, but totally up to you. The Tajin seasoning I used is a blend of mild chili and lime powder. Good stuff.
I bought some peppers from a nearby produce stand, definitely found in abundance this time of year!
I like this Aldi brand of mayonnaise, nice and zippy, but you can use whatever kind you want. Dukes, I know, has a cult following.
Chopped peppers add some nice flavor, you can dice them fine or be lazy like me and chop them into larger chunks.
Delicious Fritos add kick to the salad!
Delicious and easy!
So, I had this for lunch and, yeah, this gets a thumbs up from me! It occurred to me that if you are not a Frito fan, you could leave them out and it would still be good. Or just toss in some croutons instead to add crunch, but a Frito-free crunch.
🌽 Easy Mexican Summer Corn Salad
- 4 cups corn, drained and cooled
- 1 /2 cup red pepper, chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 /2 cup green pepper, chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Tajin seasoning (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Paprika (optional)
- 2 cups crushed chili-cheese Fritos
📋 Instructions
- Chop peppers.
- Mix all ingredients except Fritos.
- Chill for a couple of hours.
- When ready to serve, mix in the Fritos.
🌽 More Amish Recipes With Corn
Amish Baked Corn - Delicious
Hamburger Corn Casserole - Wonderful
Perfect Picnic Corn Chip Salad - Delicious!
Summer Scalloped Corn - Perfect and easy to make, makes for a nice supper addition.
🖨️ Full Recipe
Easy Mexican Summer Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups corn, drained and cooled
- 1 /2 cup red pepper chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 /2 cup green pepper chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Tajin seasoning (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Paprika (optional)
- 2 cups crushed chili-cheese Fritos
Instructions
- Chop peppers.
- Mix all ingredients except Fritos.
- Chill for a couple of hours.
- When ready to serve, mix in the Fritos.
Claudine
Kevin,
This salad is so good, very easy to make and makes great pot luck dish. You can even make it ahead and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve, just don't add the Fritos and cheese until ready to serve. To answer your question, YES they still sell cream-style corn, I buy it all the time. I usually combine a can of drained whole kernel corn with the cream-style corn plus a smidge of sugar and a little butter and salt and pepper for taste. The Hubbs LOVES it this way. Cream-style corn is also an item I use to make my baked corn casserole for the holidays. Sorry for being so long winded. LOL!
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
Kevin Williams
Hmmmm, thanks, Claudine, I think I'm going to have to try fixing the combined corn that way. Sounds like something my girls would like also! And, yes, good point about not adding the Fritos until the end on the salad. I still have a bowl of it in the fridge, I just grab a handful of the Fritos each time I fix a serving and crumble them in!
Jessica A
I might make this for my family reunion next week. It sounds delightful!
Kevin Williams
It is good, I ended up eating more of it than I should have!
Alice Ginder
I made this salad for my husband's retirement party and everyone loved it. Many asked for the recipe. I used corn right from the can. Will make again.
Kevin Williams
Thanks, Alice, for telling me...I, too, loved that salad, I'll definitely make it again!
Joyce Dingman
I love easy! And nothing could be easier than this salad, and oh, so good! I made it for a camping weekend with our church. Not a bit of it left at the end of the mean, and I doubled the recipe. So many people complimented me on the salad. We are having another pot luck this Sunday and I intend on making it again.
Kevin Williams
It is really good, I am glad you reminded me of how good it is, I'll have to make it again!