This unique twist on Mexican elote is these corn ribs from the air fryer. When cooked, the corn that has been cut in this way curls up into the shape of ribs. In addition to making the corn more easier to handle and consume, this also makes it significantly less dirty.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 25 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
| Yield: | 8 ribs |
Ingredients
- 2 ears fresh corn, husked
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Mexican-style hot sauce (such as Valentina)
- 2 tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Place an ear of corn on a cutting board and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half in half lengthwise. Repeat with remaining ear of corn. You should have 8 “ribs” total.
- Whisk together olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, and black pepper in a small bowl until well combined. Brush onto both sides of each rib and place in the air fryer basket.
- Cook in the preheated air fryer for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through the cook time.
- Meanwhile, whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, and hot sauce in a second small bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer corn ribs to a serving plate. Drizzle sauce over ribs; top with cotija cheese and cilantro.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 515 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 20 g |
| Cholesterol | 25 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 406 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 48 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I was excited to try this recipe, but I could not get the corn to cut without fear of taking my fingers with it. I got nice new knifes for Christmas so know blunt knifes are not the issue. I ended up squashing the corn kernels down one side of one of my cobs attempting to make this, then ended up ditching the idea and just doing corn cobs my usual way.
For anyone worried about losing a finger. Roll up a kitchen towel from both ends. Rolls on the bottom, place the corn cob in the middle like a sling. Line up a sharp knife, and then whack it repeatedly with a rubber mallet. Fun, and somehow just a little bit therapeutic.
Awesome!!! Everyone loved this dish!
Unless you have a butcher quality sharp knife, I would not attempt the cutting…..which – sure, is kinda part of the point BUT! I don’t have one and after getting through one unscathed 😉 did not want to lose a finger over a “cute” cob of corn. I also had to push so hard I smashed some of the kernels!? Instead, did a total of 4 ears – one cut (shown in photo) the other three whole. Whole worked out GREAT! Timing in my air fryer was still 12 min. The sauce portion of this recipe could easily coat 5-6 ears. Use the extra sauce on my zucchini burritos tonight. Ultimately; great recipe and for me? I will stick to cooking the ribs as whole ears. Would make again! Thanks Nicole!
All you young cooks out there you are having trouble cutting the corn, just lay on its side on cutting board cut in half the best you can length wise. Take the two half’s lay flat side down and cut again centered has best as you can. All done
Nice
Like others, LOVED the taste, but couldn’t figure out how to cut the corn in half, let alone again in quarters. Air Fryer is new to us, so we just put the whole cobs in the basket and just turned every 3-4 minutes. Absolutely delicious! I read the review where they said to cut by holding the cob upright on the board…will try this the next time.
This is my very first review for Allrecipes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried many recipes that I’ve found on this website (some with great success, others not so much), this simple recipe is a huge hit in our house! The only part I found confusing in this recipe, is how to split the corn in half lengthwise (minus a star). I had to do some research to find out how to accomplish this feat as the recipe did not explain. For those who are wondering as well: hold the corn (husk and silks removed) upright on a cutting board. With a very sharp knife, press the blade into the corn cob and tap the top of the blade down into the corn gently thus splitting the cob. Sounds tricky and it can be; however, with a fresh corn cob and a sharp knife, splitting isn’t so bad. Also, we’re not a fan of mayo here, so I swapped that out for Greek yogurt. The sauce turned out awesome! Empty plates! Thank you for a great recipe.
Easy and delicious! Easy to eat and tasty. Will make for next BBQ. Came out just like the picture.
I can’t accurately rate this since I didn’t fully do the recipe. For starters I was unable to cut the corn further than halving it. I have a feeling there’s going to be some “cut hands”. Is there a secret to doing this? Anyway, I ended up putting the corn on the cob in the air fryer after only cutting it in half. I did add oil and some seasoning. I thought it was extremely dry. So for now I’ll give it 3 stars…
This was amazing I did use ranch instead of mayonnaise ” lack of mayo”. Only issue was the difficulty in cutting the corn ears. But never eating corn any other way.
Don’t know why, but quartering the corn was really difficult. It took a full 30 minutes. After the first ear, I just halved the others into niblets. I used the recipe though and it was great! I really like the sauce
Yum! I made them with my nieces – we had fun making them