Corn Chip Salad

There’s something strange about “salads” in the South.

I’m not talking about leafy green salads. I’m talking about the sides that people take to cookouts and parties. If you open a church cookbook, or a cookbook handed down to you from family, you’ll find a rather large salad section that can sometimes be entirely void of any vegetables.

Jello, fruit and sugar cover the “salad” pages of most of the cookbooks I own. If it’s not a fruit-and-jello salad, it’s something packed to the brim with mayonnaise. Sometimes it’s a mixture of fruit, sugar and mayonnaise.

I’ve seen hundreds of broccoli salad recipes with cheese and mayo. Dozens of cornbread salads soaked in a sweet mayonnaise dressing. Pasta, potato, and green bean salads all made the same way.

Salads are not neccessarily a pillar of health when it comes to Southern cooking. I don’t even know why they call them salads, to be honest.

This is one of those classic Southern salads. Mayonnaise? Check. Shredded cheese? Check. Nothing healthy about this at all? Check check check.

The one thing this salad does accomplish is incredible taste. Corn is such a refreshing summer favorite, and this “salad” really makes it the star of the show. I love the crisp little kernels of corn along with the crunchy onion, bell pepper, and corn chips.

Yes, this salad includes corn chips.

That’s what really makes it over the top. Corn chips + corn are heaven on earth. This combination really works for a classic Southern salad.

Enjoy!

Corn Chip Salad

• Servings: 8-10
• Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A refreshing summer salad with corn, corn chips, fresh bell peppers and cheese.

Ingredients

• 2 (15 oz.) cans corn, drained
• 1 (10 oz.) can Mexicorn
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup corn chips, crushed, for serving

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine corn, Mexicorn, bell peppers, onion, cheese and mayo. Stir well until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. When ready to serve, stir in crushed corn chips.