Basil Pepita Salsa Verde Tostadas with Blistered Corn & Snap Peas
Category
Quick and Easy
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
8 minutes
Style
Mexican
Technique
Blending
Diet Friendly
Vegetarian
Daily Recipe: June 15, 2026
This snack leans into early-summer produce with a fresh Mexican-inspired twist: blistered snap peas and sweet corn piled over crisp tostadas, finished with a punchy basil-pumpkin seed salsa verde. Basil isn’t traditional here, but it plays beautifully with cilantro, lime, jalapeño, and pepitas, making the whole dish taste bright, herbaceous, and a little unexpected.
Ingredients (for 2)
- Fresh basil leaves - 1 packed cup - washed and dried
- Fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems - 1/4 cup
- Pepitas - 2 tbsp - lightly toasted
- Medium ear corn - 1 - kernels cut off
- Sugar snap peas - 1 cup - strings removed and halved lengthwise
- Small corn tostadas - 2
- Small avocado - 1 - sliced
- Radishes - 2 - very thinly sliced
- Small jalapeño - 1 - seeded and roughly chopped
- Small garlic clove - 1 - roughly chopped
- Cotija cheese - 2 tbsp - crumbled
- Lime - 1 - 1/2 juiced and 1/2 cut into wedges
- Plain greek yogurt or mexican crema - 1 tbsp
- Ground cumin - 1/4 tsp
- Olive oil - 2 tbsp, plus more for brushing
- Flaky salt - 1/4 tsp, plus more to taste
- Black pepper - 1/8 tsp
Preparation
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Step 1 - 🌿🌶️🥄In a small food processor, blend the fresh basil leaves, cilantro, toasted pepitas, jalapeño, garlic, juice from 1/2 lime, Greek yogurt or Mexican crema, ground cumin, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp flaky salt, and black pepper until mostly smooth but still a little textured. Taste and add more salt or lime juice if needed.
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Step 2 - 🌽🫛🔥Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with a light drizzle of olive oil. Add the corn kernels and sugar snap peas, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the corn is lightly charred and the snap peas are bright green and blistered in spots. Season with a small pinch of salt.
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Step 3 - 🫓🖌️✨For extra-crisp tostadas, lightly brush the corn tostadas with a little olive oil and warm them in the skillet or in a 375°F oven for 2 to 3 minutes.
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Step 4 - 🥣🔪🫓Spread a generous layer of the basil pepita salsa verde over each tostada.
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Step 5 - 🥑🌽🌸Top each tostada with the blistered corn and snap peas, then arrange the sliced avocado and very thinly sliced radishes on top.
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Step 6 - 🧀🌿🍋Sprinkle with crumbled cotija cheese, add a few extra small basil leaves if you have them, and squeeze over the remaining lime. Serve with the lime wedges.
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Step 7 - 🍽️⏰😋Serve right away while the tostadas are still crisp and the vegetables are warm.
Additional
For a vegan version, skip the cotija and use a vegan yogurt in the salsa. If you want more protein, add a swipe of refried black beans under the salsa. This is also a great recipe for kids to help assemble—the colorful topping layout makes it especially fun and photo-ready.