Frito Corn Salad is the perfect potluck dish, a delicious snack on the deck, or a great summer meal!
This easy salad combines lots of fresh summer corn off the cob, crisp bell peppers, jalapenos, and of course crunchy Fritos all in a quick creamy dressing.
This is the perfect side dish or appetizer dip loaded with veggies and corn!
We Can’t Get Enough of This Crunchy Corn Salad
If you’ve never had Frito Corn Salad before, you’ve been missing out my friends. It’s pretty much the BEST ever way to enjoy Fritos (like they weren’t amazing enough already)!
- It’s great to make ahead (add the Frito corn chips before serving).
- Tons of flavor, lots of textures and colors and it tastes SO darn good!
- This is a multipurpose dish! Serve as a side dish with tacos or fajitas, as an appetizer with chips for dipping, or as a main dish (with grilled shrimp if you’d like).
- Perfect for BBQs, potlucks, or summer lunches.
Ingredients in Frito Salad
This Frito Corn Salad is most definitely the perfect side dish
Corn – Fresh off the cob, canned or frozen corn kernels work (fresh is best if you can). It’s also a great way to use up leftover boiled or grilled corn on the cob.
Bell peppers – Green and red bell peppers add flavor, crunch and color.
Jalapeno (or not!) – I add canned jalapenos for a little kick. If you’d like to tame this recipe down a little, skip the jalapenos and add in some mild green chiles for flavor without the heat.
Fritos – Fritos are our favorite but any corn chips can be used.
Optional Additions
Use this recipe as a base and change it up with your own favorites:
- Swap out plain Fritos for Chili Cheese Fritos (and skip the chili powder in the recipe).
- Trade cheddar for a Mexican cheese blend, pepper jack, or Monterey jack.
- Add in other veggies, black beans, or leftover shredded chicken.
Try Different Dressings
- Try this Frito corn salad recipe with ranch dressing and skip the mayo.
- For a zestier option, try Catalina dressing (which is what I add to my famous Dorito Taco Salad). Sounds odd but it’s good!
- Add a tablespoon or so of taco seasoning and a spoonful of sour cream to the dressing.
Make Ahead and Leftovers
To make this recipe ahead of time, stir everything together except the Fritos. At serving time, give the Fritos bag a quick squish, sprinkle them on top, and stir for a great crunch.
To serve, use either the Frito scoop chips or tortilla chips (or celery) to scoop this up if you’re serving it as a dip or just serve it with a fork as a side dish!
More Prized Potluck Salads
Frito Corn Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh corn off the cob or two 12-14 ounce cans of corn, drained
- ½ red bell pepper diced ¼-inch
- ½ green bell pepper diced ¼-inch
- ½ red onion diced ¼-inch
- 4 ounces canned jalapenos drained and chopped, or 4 oz mild green chiles drained
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 5 ounces Fritos chips
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except Fritos in a large bowl and mix well.
- Just before serving, stir in Fritos.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can a green loaded salad be the base for this Frito Corn Salad or do you have another salad that you would recommend, instead?
You can serve this over any salad you prefer!
Hi Holly, I’m making the Frito Corn Salad for dinner tonight. I’m using frozen corn. Do I need to cook it first or can I just thaw under cool water, drain and use? Thanks and I love your site. Have made many of your recipes and all have been delish!
I recommend cooking the corn Jackie. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out! I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes!
I saw ranch as a suggested substitute, any other dressing substitutes you could think of? We have a non-mayo and non-ranch eater in the group. Thanks!!
A cilantro lime vinaigrette would be delicious Ashley!
If you use canned corn for this recipe, do you cook the corn first?
There is no need to cook the corn, it can be drained and used directly from the can.
my sons girlfriend made this one day. i usually don’t like stuff touching, but i tried it to be polite. it was awesome. now i make it all the time
Glad you enjoyed it Mary! It is such a yummy salad :)
How do you think this would taste with shredded chicken added into it?
What a tasty idea Tracy!
Every time I serve this I get rave reviews and requests for the recipe !! It’s wonderful almost addictive.I use the Chili Cheese Fritos instead of the chili powder
Ooo! Good idea Kathleen, that would be delicious!
Love your site!
Thank you Laurinda!
please sign me up for your mailing list
Thanks
Hi Shelley,
You can get added to this list by going to the bottom of this page, adding your email and checking the little box below! I hope this helps!
I think of a lot of your recipes are one’s I’ve made for my Coffee time at our Church. Love them. They taste so great. Thank you for doing what you seem to be doing best. Keep up the awesome work.
Aww, thank you so much Carla, you made my day! So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes.
Do I cook the corn if using fresh?
I’d suggest that you cook fresh corn Michele. Enjoy!
Thank you! Its chilling in the fridge and tastes delicious!
Yay!
This is my mother-in-law’s go to salad for all occasions. Everyone loves it. The only difference is she uses the green chilies instead of the jalapeño and also uses chili cheese Fritos instead of putting chili pepper in it! Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!!
Very healthy and delicious salad. I will make this at home and let you know! Thanks, Holly!
I would seriously eat the whole batch! I LOVE everything about this! And I love Fritos :)
It was pretty hard not to eat the whole thing myself for sure! LOL.