Mexican street corn rice bowls
Everything you love about elote, the charred sweet corn, lime crema and salty cotija, piled over rice with roasted poblanos and black beans.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.17 a serving
- 670 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 4 cups frozen corn, thawed
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 limes
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- ½ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 1¼ tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
Each serving has about 670 calories, 20 g protein, 111 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $2.17 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 450°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Put the rice, water and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Leave it covered off the heat until the corn is ready.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Pat the thawed corn dry with a towel. On a large , the corn, poblanos and onion with the oil, chili powder, paprika and the rest of the salt.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Dry corn browns. Wet corn just steams, so don’t skip the towel.Spread it in one layer and 20 minutes, stirring once, until lots of kernels are and .
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Timer: 20 min
Scatter the beans over the pan and 5 minutes more to .
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Heat through. Heating through means warming food that’s already cooked until it’s hot all the way to the center. You’re not cooking it more, just making sure no part is still cold.
How you’ll know: It’s steaming, and a piece from the middle is hot, not lukewarm.
Timer: 5 min
Stir the sour cream, the juice of 1 lime and the garlic together to make the crema.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Fluff the rice with a fork. Fill bowls with rice and the corn mix, with the crema, and top with cotija, cilantro and wedges of the second lime.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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