Extra Cheesy Elotes Street Corn Pizza Recipe

If you're looking for a way to make pizza night at home even more delicious, Mashed recipe developer Kara Barrett has you covered. Her extra cheesy elotes street corn pizza recipe combines two delicious foods into one dish you'll want to make on repeat. Elotes is a popular Mexican street food consisting of grilled corn covered in a creamy mayo sauce and topped with crumbled cotija cheese, chili, lime, and cilantro, which Barrett channels into a pizza format that's an absolute winner. Barrett gives the corn its distinctive street corn-char in an iron skillet before piling on the toppings. Extra cheesy is no overstatement — Barrett uses a blend of Mexican cheese, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and cotija cheese in the topping. 

"This same-day fluffy pizza lands somewhere between a deep pan and a focaccia," she describes. But even thin-crust pizza lovers will want to sink their teeth into this pie that's tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, very cheesy, and full of bright flavors. "The dough is ready with some minimal stretch and folds within a few hours when left at room temperature," she explains, so there's no need for extensive kneading for successful results. Finally, baking it in a cast iron skillet seals the deal by giving it a delicious crunchy crust. 

For the pizza dough, get bread flour, kosher salt, two packets of instant dry yeast, honey, warm water, and olive oil. For the pizza toppings, you'll need shucked corn ears, mayo, lime juice, chipotle powder, olive oil, cornmeal, shredded Mexican blend cheese, shredded fresh buffalo mozzarella, roughly chopped cilantro, and crumbled cotija cheese.

Combine the bread flour, salt, yeast, and honey in a large bowl.

Add the warm water and stir till combined into a shaggy dough. Cover for 30 minutes at room temperature.

In a hot cast iron skillet, sear the corn, turning frequently. It will smoke.

Cut the kernels from the cob and reserve them for later.

After the first 30 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the sides of the dough and a little on your fingertips.

Gently stretch the dough with your fingertips, lifting the dough and folding it over onto itself. Rotate the bowl 45 degrees and repeat until all the sides are done.

Stretch and fold the dough every 30 minutes for 2 hours. This helps build gluten.

After the last stretch, preheat the oven to 500 F.

Mix the mayo, lime juice, and ½ teaspoon of chipotle powder.

Oil a cast iron with 1½ tablespoons of olive oil.

Dust the pan with a little cornmeal.

Add the dough and stretch it with your fingertips to the edges, stippling it with your fingertips.

Spoon the mayo sauce over the dough.

Sprinkle with the Mexican blend cheese.

Evenly distribute the shredded buffalo cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.

Remove from the oven and top with the corn.

Garnish with extra chipotle powder, crumbled cotija, cilantro, lime juice, and a drizzle of olive oil.

This no-knead dough is perfect to make when you have a few hours on your hands. If you want to get a head start on proceedings, though, this pizza dough can be made in advance. You'll just need to bring it back to room temperature before using it for the recipe. Barrett instructs, "After the first 30-minute rise, feel free to cover and refrigerate the dough overnight." Once you're getting ready to make the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and place it straight into the skillet that's been coated with oil and dusted with cornmeal, but hold off on shaping it for a short while. 

Give the dough some time to come to room temperature before stretching it to fit the skillet. "If it resists, give it a little more time to relax," Barrett notes. This will also ensure that it bakes and rises properly. Once it feels more malleable and you're able to start stretching it out, Barrett recommends using olive oil or water on your fingertips since this is a sticky dough to work with. Then, proceed by adding the toppings.

Since this extra cheesy pizza highlights the sweet, smoky, and tangy flavors of elotes street corn front and center, we feel that it's pretty perfect the way it is. That said, you can emphasize the ingredients already present and make a few tweaks to adjust the spicy-tangy balance. For cheese lovers, Barrett suggests, "Add more cheese to make it even more extra cheesy." You could also play around with the type of cheese you add if you're looking for meltier, spicier, or sharper flavors. 

The main seasoning in this pizza recipe is chipotle, which can be adjusted to taste. "Make it spicier by adding more chipotle or less spicy by opting to remove it from the sauce and toppings," Barrett advises. You could also add spices that are frequently found in elotes, like cumin or garlic powder. You could also top the pizza with fresh or pickled jalapeño slices for an extra kick. Similarly, if you can't get enough tanginess, add some sour cream to the mayo mixture and load up on extra lime juice.

She also notes that you can switch up the order of when you add the toppings. Instead of sprinkling the charred corn on as a final garnish, she says, "You could also add the corn while cooking the pizza." It will soften a bit in the oven and give the final result a different texture, but it's a matter of personal preference.