Omg can you say sunny salad? This one practically glows. And it’s so simple ~ just sweet corn sheared off the cob with juicy cherry tomatoes and slivers of red onion, tossed together the your new favorite basil lime dressing!

The time to make this sweet corn and tomato salad with its basil dressing is now, when all three main ingredients are growing riot. Summer produce comes in so fast and furious toward the end of the season that it’s hard to keep up. When I look back on the 15 years of late summers on my site there is always a mad flurry of recipes featuring corn, tomatoes, squash, herbs, etc. It’s a little chaotic because, just like you, I’m scrambling to use the amazing bounty. And in some parts of the country corn and tomatoes don’t even get really good until late August ~ what’s a girl to do??
Take a breath and lose the FOMO ~ my corn and tomato salad will make us feel like summer harvest heroes.
related: 7 Sweet Corn Salads
what you need for corn and tomato salad
Honestly you don’t need much, nature does all the heavy lifting in this recipe…
- sweet corn on the cob
- you’ll slice off the kernels, but start with the cobs for the freshest corn.
- ripe cherry tomatoes
- do you have colorful heirloom cherries where you live? If you do, use them!
- red onion
- basil
- lime juice
- olive oil
- honey
- prepared mustard
- coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper
It’s not that complicated…
Don’t overthink this corn and tomato salad. The only thing you need to do, besides tossing it all together, is to microwave the corn kernels for a couple of minutes. This tenderizes them, brings out their bright yellow color, and their corny flavor. You’re not cooking the corn, just steaming it to perfection. The rest is raw and ready! If you want to add green beans, zucchini, peppers, or cukes, do it, the summer harvest won’t last forever!
the all important basil lime dressing
I love to get creative with vinaigrette, I can mix and match flavors so easily to give tons of different personalities to salads. In this case the corn and tomato salad is a little bit Mediterranean (tomato and basil) and a little bit Mexican (corn and lime.) The combination is pure summer. You could use cilantro in place of basil and spice it up with a little ground chili powder.
Lime juice and olive oil make the basic dressing, and I add mustard and honey to balance out the flavors. That mustard and honey do double duty too ~ they help to emulsify the dressing into a creamy bright green that won’t separate. You’ll want to file this one away for lots of other summer salads.
- Cucumber Melon Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Chickpea Salad
- Marinated Tomato Salad
- Summer Vegetable Salad
more easy ways to use the late summer harvest
- Roasted Corn Dip
- Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake
- Fried Green Tomato BLTโs
- Molly Bazโ Blistered Cheesy Peppers
- Green Goddess Pesto
- Cucumber Melon Salad
- Pesto Pasta with Ricotta and Tomatoes
- Caesar Kale Slaw
Corn and Tomato Salad
Equipment
- small food processor or immersion blender for the dressing optional
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh corn kernels, shaved from about 3-4 ears.
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, I like to use colorful heirloom tomatoes
- 1/2 small red onion, sliced into thin slivers
- coarsely ground black pepper
basil lime dressing
- 12 leaves fresh basil, about a handful or a loosely packed 1/2 cup
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- pinch coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Put the corn kernels in a large microwave safe bowl (do not add water) and microwave, on high, for 2 minutes. I like to stir the corn at the 1 minute mark. You're looking to very lightly steam the corn, just to take the raw edge off, but not cook it.
- Transfer the corn to a fresh bowl and let it cool a bit while you make the dressing. Put all the dressing ingredients into a small food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get everything incorporated. Taste to adjust any of the ingredients.
- Toss the corn with some of the dressing. Slice the tomatoes in half and add them along with the onions to the bowl. Add more dressing to lightly coat. Serve immediately with a fresh grinding of coarse black pepper, or cover with plastic and chill in the refrigerator. Note: if you plan to make the salad ahead I recommend adding the tomatoes just before serving, as they get mushy in the refrigerator.
This recipe is fantastic. I had 4 ears of corn that I cooked for 3 min. in the microwave. The dressing was perfect and after eating it as written I added some bacon crumble, sunflower seeds, and a little cheddar shred. Delicious. I think you could add whatever veggie you wanted. A winner.
Love your tweaks, you can’t go wrong with crumbled bacon ๐