Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowl (Mexican Elote Style, 30 Min)

I had this in a little Mexican place in LA once and couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks. It’s basically elote — Mexican street corn with that creamy lime-cotija topping — but turned into a full bowl with chili-lime chicken and rice. Comes together fast, around 30 minutes, and tastes like takeout.

What you need

For the chicken — a pound and a half of boneless chicken breast cubed, two tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of chili powder, two teaspoons of cumin, a teaspoon each of smoked paprika and garlic powder, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of black pepper, the zest of one lime.

For the corn — three cups of corn kernels (fresh, frozen, doesn’t matter), a tablespoon of olive oil, a quarter teaspoon of salt.

For the street-corn crema — half a cup of mayo, a quarter cup of sour cream, half a cup of crumbled cotija (or feta if you can’t find cotija), two tablespoons of lime juice, a clove of garlic minced, two tablespoons of cilantro, a teaspoon of chili powder, half a teaspoon of salt.

For the rice — two cups of long-grain white rice, cooked.

To finish — half a red onion diced, a quarter cup of cilantro, two limes cut into wedges, more cotija, Tajin to sprinkle on top.

How I make it

Cook the rice however you usually cook rice. Keep it warm.

Toss the chicken cubes with the olive oil and all the spices and lime zest. Get a skillet hot over medium-high. Cook the chicken about four to five minutes per side until it’s golden and cooked through. Set it aside.

In the same skillet (don’t wash it — those crispy bits are flavor), add the corn and the olive oil. Don’t stir for three minutes. You want char marks. Then stir, cook another three minutes until it’s golden and a little blackened in spots. Salt it.

For the crema, just whisk everything in a bowl until it’s creamy.

Build the bowls: rice on the bottom, chicken and corn on top. Drizzle the crema generously over everything. Scatter the red onion, cilantro, extra cotija, a sprinkle of Tajin. Lime wedges on the side.

A few notes

Don’t skip the lime. It’s the whole thing.

If you want to go full elote, mix the corn into the crema before topping the bowls — it gets really saucy that way.

For meal prep, keep the crema separate or it makes everything soggy. The chicken and corn reheat fine.

Add diced jalapeño or a chipotle in adobo to the crema if you want it spicier. Cotija has a sharp, salty bite that feta doesn’t quite match — worth tracking down at a Mexican grocery if you can.