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Vegan Elote (Mexican Street Corn)

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vegan elote on a baking sheet with fresh lime wedges

This vegan elote is fresh, tangy, and delicious! Make this recipe for your next summertime party or barbecue – it’s crazy easy and even non-vegans love it!

vegan elote on a baking sheet with fresh lime wedges

This vegan elote is literally my summer dream come true. Elote, also known as Mexican street corn, is one of those things where if it’s on a menu, there’s a 1,000% chance I’m ordering eat. As soon as the weather warmed up, the corn cravings hit HARD. And I couldn’t wait to make it to a local Mexican restaurant to enjoy some elote. So I made it myself! I was also set on developing a recipe that both I (the dairy-free one) and my sister (the vegan one) could enjoy.

With literally just a few simple swaps, I took this classic summertime favorite and turned it into a classic vegan summertime favorite. And trust me, I’ve fed this vegan elote recipe to plentyyyyy of non-vegans and none of them (not a single one!!!) could tell the difference. Practically bursting with flavor, be sure to add this easy recipe to your 4th of July lineup. You won’t be disappointed.

What You Need To Make Vegan Elote

Corn – Ahh corn season, let us rejoice! Sweet corn peaks between July and September, making right now the best time to buy it and eat it. While we’ve literally just kicked off corn season, I’m already sad about it soon being over. Though short, corn season is oh-so sweet (see what I did there hehe). Anyway, back to the recipe – pick up four sweet corns on the cob with preferably the husk on. The husk on will make for a more fresh and flavor-packed vegan elote, though husk off will make for less cleanup. If the husk is on, easily remove it by peeling away at the green leaves (aka the husk) and be sure to remove as much of those stringy fibers as possible. Once clean, snap off the end where the husk attaches to the corn and start on this recipe.

Vegan Mayonnaise – Feel free to use whatever brand of vegan mayonnaise you’d like in this vegan elote recipe! I used the Follow Your Heart Vegenaise and had great results. Vegan mayo is quite a bit thinner than regular mayo, which is why I keep the lime juice to a minimum in this recipe. Though don’t worry, that lime flavor still manages to shine through! If you’re not vegan, you can use an equal amount of regular mayonnaise in its place.

Adjust This Recipe To Fit Your Diet

  • Add Cheese: If not vegan or dairy-free, sprinkle your finished elote with a little bit of queso fresco!
  • Make it Less Spicy: While I definitely wouldn’t classify this recipe as spicy, the chili powder add just the tiniest bit of heat. If you’re concerned about this, feel free to use just 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder instead. Or you can replace the chili powder with smoked paprika if you’d like.
  • Use Regular Mayonnaise: Regular mayo can be used as a 1:1 swap for the vegan mayo in this recipe!
Vegan Elote (Mexican Street Corn)
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Vegan Elote (Mexican Street Corn)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: SidesCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes
Total time

45

minutes

This vegan elote is fresh, tangy, and delicious! Make this recipe for your next summertime party or barbecue – it’s crazy easy and even non-vegans love it!

Ingredients

  • 4 corn on the cob

  • 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise

  • 1/2 tablespoon lime juice

  • 2 teaspoons lime zest

  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
  • Wrap each corn on the cob in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through.
  • Mix together the vegan mayonnaise, lime juice, lime zest, chili powder, and salt in a bowl.
  • Once corn is done cooking, brush with mayo and top with cilantro.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Elote OFF the Cob: Feel free to remove the corn from the cob after cooking and then mixing the kernels in with the sauce for an easier to eat vegan elote off the cob!

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Drinks

Cherry Cordial (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

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cherry cordial being poured into a glass of ice and sparkling water

This cherry cordial is perfectly sweet and slightly sour! Drip this easy and delicious fruit syrup over ice cream or add some to a glass of sparkling water for a refreshing summer treat.

cherry cordial in a glass with sparkling water, ice, and a fresh cherry

Never heard of cherry cordial? Well you’re not alone, because neither had I! I’m a BIG fan of cherry season, and I was set on developing a recipe to honor this special time of year. Though I felt like the cherry cobblers, cherry pies, and cherry crumbles have all been sooOooOoOo overdone. So I did a little research for undiscovered cherry recipes and came across the cherry cordial. Now for those of you who don’t know, cherry cordial is a syrup that is most commonly added to sparkling water and served as a refreshing drink. It’s SUPER easy to make, and one of the only cherry recipes that doesn’t require you to painstakingly remove the stems and pits from each and every cherry.

As I learned more about cherry cordials, I noticed that most are loaded with sugar. And to me, that seemed unnecessary. So I set out to create a recipe that is low in sugar and allows as much of that delicious cherry flavor to shine through as possible! This cherry cordial is perfectly *chef’s kiss* sweet, insanely refreshing, and super easy to make.

What You Need To Make Cherry Cordial

Fresh Cherries – Pick up a big bag of whole sweet cherries the next time you’re at the grocery store! Cherry season spans from May through August, giving you plenty of time to enjoy this delicious fruit. I highly advise against using frozen cherries in this recipe as they release too much water when cooked. If you’d like to enjoy this cherry cordial in the winter time, I recommend making the recipe now and freezing it in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it.

Sugar – Any sugar will work, though I use coconut sugar to make this a tiny bit more nutritious! Coconut sugar is less processed and therefore contains more vitamins and mineral than white sugar. However, white sugar and cane sugar would both taste great in this cherry cordial recipe.

Fresh Ginger – You’ll just have to trust me on this one! Fresh ginger adds a slightly spicy bite that contrasts with the sweet cherries and takes this cordial to the next level. Feel free to add even more fresh ginger if you’d like!

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

  • Make it Paleo: Use coconut sugar to make this a paleo cherry cordial!
  • Lemon Substitution: Feel free to use fresh orange juice and zest in place of the lemon juice and zest in this recipe.
Cherry Cordial
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Cherry Cordial

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: Uncategorized
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

This cherry cordial is perfectly sweet and slightly sour! Drip this easy and delicious fruit syrup over ice cream or add some to a glass of sparkling water for a refreshing summer treat.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh sweet cherries, see Notes

  • 1 cup sugar, I used coconut sugar

  • 1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

  • Add all ingredients to a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 20-25 minutes.
  • Strain cherry syrup through a fine mesh strainer, let cool at room temperature before storing in the fridge to cool completely.
  • Pour a few tablespoons into the bottom of a glass then fill with ice and top with sparkling water.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Cherries: No need to remove the pits or stems from your cherries before using them in this recipe! Simply gives them a good rinse them add them to your saucepan.

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Dairy-Free

Vegan Graham Crackers (gluten-free)

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overhead image of vegan graham crackers on a table

These vegan graham crackers are also gluten and refined sugar-free! This easy recipe bakes up deliciously soft cookies and crumbly cookies. Enjoy these vegan graham crackers with a thick slather of peanut butter, some toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate, or simply on their own as a healthy snack or dessert!

vegan graham crackers witha glass of almond milk and rolled oats

I’d like to start off by thanking the person that first invented s’mores. Graham crackers are great, but let’s be honest they’d be nothing without the s’more. S’mores put graham crackers on the map. And it wasn’t until I had leftover boxes of this crispy cookie lying around from s’more-making that I realized how perfect they truly are. They’re soft, light, crumbly, and not to sweet. Graham crackers deserve a moment of their own and I am here to give them that. Think about this for a second – why don’t we place this sweet cracker in the same lineup as say a chocolate chip cookie? They are more than worthy of standing alone in my opinion. Not convinced yet? OK OK just make this vegan graham cracker recipe yourself and you’ll understand.

What You Need To Make Vegan Graham Crackers

Oat Flour – I love baking up my gluten-free treats with oat flour! Not only is it inexpensive, but it’s super easy to acquire. I highly advise against purchasing pre-made oat flour, it’s simply not necessary. Instead, purchase a big bag of oats then grind them in a food processor or blender to make your own cheap and easy oat flour. Oat flour gives these vegan graham crackers their irresistibly soft texture. It also make them healthier and more nutritious!

Maple Syrup – Just a touch of maple syrup gives these gluten-free cookies a bit of caramel color and flavor. You’ll notice that I keep the amount of sweetener in this recipe low because these vegan graham crackers really don’t need much! Maple syrup is a delicious natural sweetener and much healthier than any refined sugar.

Vegan Butter – I use and love the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks in my vegan/dairy-free baked goods. Though any vegan butter will work here, just be sure to melt it completely before adding it to this recipe. You could also sub the vegan butter for melted coconut oil or regular butter if you’d like!

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

Add Dairy: Feel free to use regular milk and butter in place of the almond milk and vegan butter in this recipe.

Make it Nut-Free: Use soy, hemp, or coconut milk instead of almond milk to make this vegan recipe nut-free.

Add Gluten: I haven’t tested this myself, but you can try using 2 cups of all purpose flour instead of oat flour. If you give this a try, start with just the 2 cups then add a bit more flour until a dough forms. And of course, let me know how it goes!

Vegan Graham Crackers (gluten-free)
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Vegan Graham Crackers (gluten-free)

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

16

cookies
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Chilling time

1

hour

These vegan graham crackers are also gluten and refined sugar-free! This easy recipe bakes up deliciously soft cookies and crumbly cookies. Enjoy these vegan graham crackers with a thick slather of peanut butter, some toasted marshmallows and melted chocolate, or simply on their own!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups oat flour, see Notes

  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar, see Notes

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter or coconut oil, melted

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • 1/4 cup almond milk

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • Mix together the oat flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  • Add in the melted vegan butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until a dough forms.
  • Cover and transfer dough to the fridge for 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Remove dough from fridge and roll out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thick.
  • Cut dough into 2-inch squares, transfer to a baking sheet, poke the top of each graham cracker with a fork, then bake for 10-12 mintues.
  • Remove from oven, then let cool slightly on a baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Oat Flour: Make oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a blender or food processor until a fine flour forms and no large oat pieces remain.
  • Coconut Sugar: Feel free to use cane sugar or white sugar in place of the coconut sugar in this recipe!

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Desserts

Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream (refined sugar-free)

By
three cones of vegan chocolate ice cream lying on a table

No ice cream machine necessary for this easy three ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream! This non-dairy frozen dessert is perfectly chocolatey and sweet. With minimal time and effort, you’ll have an irresistible vegan summertime (or anytime!) treat.

three cones of vegan chocolate ice cream lying on a table

The Story Behind This Recipe

What most people don’t know about me is that my first job ever was actually at an ice cream shop. I worked there almost all through high school (before my dairy-free days) and ate ice cream literally every. single. day. Ohhhh what I wouldn’t do to have my high school metabolism again! So as you can imagine, once I went dairy-free in college I deeply, and I mean DEEPLY, missed ice cream. Back then, vegan/dairy-free ice cream wasn’t much of a thing. My options were typically limited to sorbet, which is already made without dairy. And while sorbet definitely helped cool me down and curb my sweet tooth, I longed for a big ole’ cone of classic chocolate ice cream.

These days, vegan ice cream isn’t nearly as hard to find, but what is hard to find is one that checks off all my boxes. I don’t want any funky ingredients such as fake sweeteners, gums, etc. Those cause just as much of a digestive nightmare for me as eating regular ole’ ice cream does. And most importantly, I don’t want to have to sell a kidney to afford it! The better the ingredient list, the more expensive it almost always is. Therefore, I came up with this vegan chocolate ice cream to both suit my needs and save me some money (because it’s either my bi-weekly manicure or $10 pints of ice cream, and I’d choose the former any day!).

The no-churn part of this recipe simply derived from the fact that I don’t own an ice cream maker. I’m looking into purchasing one now, but until I find one that doesn’t take up half of my freezer I will continue to make this no-ice-cream-machine-necessary recipe!

What You Need to Make Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream

Full Fat Coconut Milk – None of that low-fat or lite coconut milk here! We need all that luscious healthy fat to achieve a thick and smooth texture. You could even use two cans of coconut cream if you’d like, only adding to the creaminess of this vegan chocolate ice cream.

Coconut Sugar – Coconut sugar keeps this three ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream completely refined sugar-free. This natural sweetener is more nutritious than regular sugar and contains 25% less sucrose than white sugar. Though if you don’t have coconut sugar, you can easily swap this out for cane sugar or white sugar if you’d like!

Cocoa Powder – This ingredient seems pretty self-explanatory. However, I will say that if you’d like you can substitute cacao powder for the cocoa powder in this recipe. Cacao has more nutrients and antioxidants than cocoa powder and would make this three ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream that much healthier.

Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream (refined sugar-free)
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Vegan No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream (refined sugar-free)

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy
Servings

8

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Freezing time

8

hours

No ice cream machine necessary for this easy three ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream! This non-dairy frozen dessert is perfectly chocolatey and sweet. With minimal time and effort, you’ll have an irresistible vegan summertime (or anytime!) treat.

Ingredients

  • 2 (14 ounce) cans full fat coconut milk or coconut cream, see Notes

  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar

  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Directions

  • Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
  • Transfer to a parchment-lined container and freeze for 8 hours or until firm.
  • Remove ice cream from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Coconut Milk: I used Let’s Do Organic heavy coconut cream for this recipe, but any full-fat coconut milk or cream will work!

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30 Minutes or Less

Sous Vide Asparagus

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fresh lemon being squeezed over sous vide asparagus

This sous vide asparagus is incredibly tender and delicious! This method yields perfectly cooked asparagus with minimal effort every time.

fresh lemon being squeezed over sous vide asparagus

If you own a sous vide throw ya hands in the aiiiiiir! I’m still pretty new on the sous-vide-scene, having only owned mine for a few months now. Though I gotta say, I already can’t stop using it! The sous vide is the new crockpot in my opinion. It gives you the magical ability to throw something in there, then return to a perfect meal or side dish without worry every time. This sous vide asparagus is no exception to that. Except, thanks to asparagus’ quick-cooking abilities, you’ll only need to leave it to cook for about 10 minutes. Once done, you’ll have the tastiest, most tender fool-proof asparagus of all time!

What You Need To Make Sous Vide Asparagus

Asparagus – This easy vegetable pairs well with most meals, making it a year-round favorite. Though when cooking asparagus, there is always one thing to cook in mind – it cooks quickly. Despite setting the sous vide to a pretty low temperature, you will still only need to set the time to 10 minutes. Your cook time may vary slightly, depending on the thickness or thinness of your asparagus. Though my recommendation is to start slowly, give your asparagus a quick check, then continue to cook if needed. I used pretty medium-sized asparagus and found that just 10 minutes left my asparagus tender with a slightly crunchy bite – yum!

Butter – The butter is used for flavor in this recipe, and just a tablespoon gives delicate asparagus that delicious savory taste. I used vegan butter since we like to keep things dairy-free around here, though any kind of butter will do! You can even leave the butter out altogether if you’d like.

Lemon Juice and Zest – A touch of lemon right before serving brings some freshness back into the sous vide asparagus. Lemon juice and zest is totally optional in this recipe, but highly recommended!

Why Sous Vide?

  • The sous vide does an incredible job at keeping the temperature consistent, giving you amazing results every time.
  • Cooks slower in seasoning, giving the flavors time to permeate and develop throughout the food.
  • The sous vide does all the work for you – just set it, then walk away and return to a perfectly cooked meal or side dish!
Sous Vide Asparagus
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Sous Vide Asparagus

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: SidesDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Total time

15

minutes

This sous vide asparagus is incredibly tender and delicious! This method yields perfectly cooked asparagus with minimal effort every time.

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch asparagus

  • 1 tablespoon butter (I used dairy-free)

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • Fresh lemon juice and zest, optional

Directions

  • Toss all ingredients to a zip-top bag, toss asparagus in bag to coat in spices then remove air from bag.sous vide asparagus process photo 1
  • Drop in sous vide bath set to 180° Fahrenheit (or 82° Celsius) for 10 minutes. If the bag floats to the top, add a few metal utensils to help weigh it down.sous vide asparagus process photo 1
  • Remove bag from bath, then remove asparagus from bag and finish off with fresh lemon juice and zest.sous vide asparagus process photo 3

Notes

  • If you’re not vegan or dairy-free, finish this asparagus off with some shredded parmesan cheese for even more flavor!

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