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An authentic homemade version of Chipotle’s famous roasted chili corn salsa! This copycat recipe stars a smoky, rich, roasted poblano pepper, sweet corn kernels, tangy citrus juices, sharp red onion, and earthy cilantro. Perfect for burritos, tacos, salads, or as a dip with your favorite tortilla chips!

A bowl of roasted chili corn salsa surrounded by tortilla chips.

🌽 What Makes This Recipe So Good

Roasted chili corn salsa is one of my favorite salsas. It’s an absolute must with every Chipotle order. The flavors are so fresh and delish – a balance of tangy, smoky, sweet, and spicy. PLUS I just love how veggie-packed and nutrient-dense it is. Of course, that meant I had to really do it justice. A “close enough”, “inspired by”, “close your eyes and it’s pretty similar” version of my beloved corn salsa just wouldn’t do. No, no. I set out to make an authentic homemade copycat of the OG from Chipotle, and that’s exactly what this recipe is! Not only did I verify with an insider (👀) but I also went bite-for-bite with a bowl from Chipotle to ensure my version tasted exactly the same.
This corn salsa is super easy to make, even factoring in the extra step of roasting the poblano pepper. In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have a ready-to-eat topping for nachos, tacos, salads, or bowls; a vegan and vegetarian filling for quesadillas and burritos; or a dip you can pair with your favorite tortilla chips.
If you’re in charge of the next tailgate, taco night, or block party, or if you just need a low effort crowd-pleaser for the company potluck, roasted chili corn salsa is the way to go. It’s SO easy to scale up for a crowd, and you can absolutely make it ahead of your event. Just refrigerate it in an airtight container and it’ll keep up to 5 days. That also makes it great for just snacking on through the week, so don’t be ashamed to keep a batch on hand!

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

The broiler works really quickly, so set a timer and keep a close eye on the poblano pepper. It is possible to char it too much. You want the skin to be blistered and blackened, but don’t broil it so long that it turns ashy white or burns entirely.
Steaming the pepper after you take it out of the oven is an absolute must, so don’t skip it, even if you’re in a hurry. I like to just cover the pepper with an upside-down bowl to trap in the steam, but you can transfer the pepper to a bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap if you’d rather. If you skip the steam, you’ll have a much harder time removing the papery skin of the pepper. Steaming it makes it easy to peel right off.
If you’ve got time to prepare your roasted chili corn salsa in advance, I highly recommend it! The flavors deepen the longer the salsa sits, since the ingredients have more time to mingle. One hour in the fridge will give you a noticeable difference over freshly-prepared salsa, and overnight will amplify things even more. Just make sure your container is airtight!
I don’t find this salsa to be very spicy at all. Since there’s only one jalapeño pepper, and we remove the seeds entirely, you really just get that jalapeño flavor with a vague hint of spice. You can omit the jalapeño entirely if that’s not for you, though. If you like things hot, you can use the seeds from the pepper in your salsa, or even double the jalapeños.

🌽 “Corn” You Believe These Recipes?

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

Roasted Chili Corn Salsa (Chipotle Copycat)

Prep 15

Cook 10

Total 25

Slightly sweet, delightfully tangy, and ridiculous easy to make. Skip the line and whip up this Chipotle copycat right at home!

6 servings

Equipment

Broiler
baking sheet
Aluminum Foil or parchment paper
Tongs
Medium bowl
clean kitchen towel or paper towels
Cutting board
Sharp chef's knife
large mixing bowl
Silicone spatula or large spoon

Ingredients

For the Roasted Chili

▢ 1 medium poblano pepper approximately 4 ounces

For the Corn Salsa

▢ 24 ounces frozen corn kernels defrosted overnight
▢ 1 medium jalapeño pepper deseeded, finely chopped; approximately 3-4 tablespoons
▢ ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
▢ ¼ cup chopped red onion
▢ 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
▢ 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
▢ 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste

Instructions

For the Roasted Chili

Preheat broiler on high and position oven rack approximately 10 inches below heating element. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place 1 medium poblano pepper on prepared baking sheet.
When broiler is preheated, place baking sheet on oven rack. Broil pepper approximately 3 to 5 minutes, until skin is blistered and charred, blackened but not ashy white.
When skin is charred, carefully flip pepper over. Broil other side of pepper 3 to 5 minutes, until blistered and charred, but not ashy white.
Once both sides are blackened, carefully remove baking sheet from oven and set aside. Immediately invert medium bowl and cover poblano pepper completely. Let pepper rest on baking sheet, covered by bowl, 5 to 10 minutes, then remove bowl and let pepper rest until cool enough to handle.
When pepper has cooled, use kitchen towel to gently wipe off charred pepper skin. Remove stem and seeds from pepper and discard along with removed skin, then chop pepper into very small pieces.

For the Roasted Chili Corn Salsa

Transfer chopped poblano pepper to large mixing bowl. Add 24 ounces frozen corn kernels, 1 medium jalapeño pepper, ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro, ¼ cup chopped red onion, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Gently stir all ingredients together until well blended. Taste salsa and adjust lemon juice, lime juice, and salt as desired.
When satisfied with flavor, serve salsa with preferred dipping vessels. Alternately, cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour, then serve as desired.

Corn: This recipe calls for frozen corn because that’s what Chipotle uses! If you’d rather use fresh corn, you’re of course welcome to. I recommend boiling the fresh corn first or cooking it in the air fryer for more of that roasted flavor. (Chipotle doesn’t roast their corn, though.)
Heat: Using just one jalapeño with the seeds removed makes this salsa fairly tame. For a hotter salsa, use 2 jalapeño peppers and the seeds from each. If you don’t like heat at all, omit the jalapeño entirely.
Leftovers: Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 121calProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gSodium: 395mgPotassium: 401mgTotal Carbs: 29gFiber: 4gSugar: 1gNet Carbs: 25gVitamin A: 201IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg