High Protein Street Corn Chicken Salad

Cottage cheese, a lot like Derek Zoolander, is so hot right now in the high protein diet community. Especially in its smooth and creamy blended form. This street corn chicken salad combines blended low fat cottage cheese with cooked chicken, frozen corn, peppers, lime, herbs, and a bit of seasoning to make an amazing high protein snack.

It’s a great summer recipe since it requires zero cooking and can be assembled in 15-20 minutes. I’ll walk you through all the ingredients and modifications in the post below. If you’re in a hurry, you can jump straight to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients and Substitutes

If you’re a Trader Joe’s enthusiast, you’ll be happy to see the ingredients photo below since you can pick everything you need up in one place. No TJ’s near you? Have no fear. There are plenty of alternatives.

Cooked Chicken

I used the same hardwood smoked pulled chicken that I used to make my chili crunch chicken salad, but any cooked chicken works. Pulled rotisserie chicken would be a great substitute, or you could always make your own. Check out my smoked Mexican chicken or Crockpot Mexican chicken for two options that would work well for this chicken salad.

If you have a grill but not a smoker, my Mexican grilled chicken breast might be my first choice for a homemade substitution.

Everything But the Elote Seasoning

Most copycat recipes I’ve seen leave out the corn flour or cheese ingredients listed on the original label. This recipe seems to be the closest if you’d like to try making your own seasoning blend. According to the label, it looks like a blend of sugar, salt, corn flour, chile powder, parmesan, chipotle powder, dried cilantro, and cumin.

If you don’t have corn flour on hand, I think you’ll be fine seasoning with what you have on hand. My recipe calls for cotija cheese, which is a great substitute for parmesan cheese. Just add a bit more of that, some chile powder, cumin, and maybe ground coriander. Close enough!

Low Fat Cottage Cheese

I get it if you’re skeptical. I certainly was a long time cottage cheese detractor. But blending the curds and mixing with other ingredients makes the cottage cheese fade into the background. Need proof? I’ve even made queso with it!

If you still don’t believe me, you might try a combination of light mayo and nonfat Greek yogurt instead of cottage cheese. I’ve also used reduced fat cream cheese for similar recipes in the past. Cottage cheese is much higher in protein than any of these alternatives, so keep that in mind with your final nutrition profile.

Roasted Corn, Peppers, and Herbs

There’s no wrong move here. Feel free to use freshly grilled corn or even a can (drained) of roasted corn with peppers.

Want a bit more heat? Leave some of the jalapeño seeds in the chicken salad or even add an extra pepper or two. On the flip side, poblano or green bell peppers are a bit more mellow than jalapeño peppers for those with a spice sensitivity.

The recipe calls for cilantro and green onions, but you’re welcome to omit either or swap for another herb of your choice. That said, the herbs aren’t a complete afterthought. They obviously add flavor and help brighten the cheesy sauce and other ingredients. The lime zest also works as a bit of a failsafe in this department.

What to Serve With Street Corn Chicken Salad?

That’s the question I found myself asking. Unlike typical chicken salad that can be served on toast, in a sandwich or lettuce wraps, or with salad greens, I think this chicken salad is really more of a dip. It’s best with crunchy tortilla chips or on tostadas, which aren’t the lowest calorie pairings around.

Luckily, there are options like baked tostadas and baked tortilla chips available these days. You can even make homemade chips with extra thin corn tortillas. I also really like Epic baked pork rinds as a chip swap.

Low Calorie Chip Alternatives

As far as non-chip pairings go, jicama chips come to mind. I prefer freshly sliced jicama chips over baked or store bought versions. A lot of stores around Texas sell them pre-sliced (H-E-B has one with Tajín and lime), but this video teaches you how to cut jicama.

You can do the same things with mini sweet peppers and even cucumbers—just slice them up and use as chips.

Final Notes

With 26 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat, and 16 grams of carbs per serving, you can get away with some not-so-low-calorie accoutrement. The elote corn dippers from Trader Joe’s are one of the best chips on the planet, in my not so humble opinion. And this street corn chicken dip is begging to be paired with them.

Regardless of how you serve this chicken salad, chicken dip, or whatever you want to call it, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know in a recipe review. And you’re welcome to ask any recipe or ingredient questions in the comments at the bottom of this post. Bone apple tea!