Corn And Black Bean Salad

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Mexican Black Beans and Corn Salad provide a proud display of vibrant Mexican-inspired salad ingredients including corn, black beans, avocado, red opinion, and peppers…all blended together in a fusion of aromatics, spices, fresh lemon juice, honey, and olive oil. 

This Mexican salad is ideal as a side salad while also versatile enough to be used as a filling in tacos or enjoyed as a salsa alongside a bowl of tortilla chips!

Mexican Corn And Black Bean Salad is a bright, vibrant, and colorful salad that can be served as an Appetizer with Homemade Tortilla Chips, or as a Side Dish served next to Tex-Mex Enchiladas, Baked BBQ Chicken, or Fish Tacos.

Made with Corn, Black Beans, Avocados, cilantro, and more, covered in a honey-lime vinaigrette, it can be served as salsa or a dip with tortilla or corn chips, or as a healthy side dish salad.

Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• Why This Recipe Works
• What Do I Need To Make This Corn and Black Bean Salad
• Ingredients
• How To Make Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Recipe Tips
• Variations
• What To Serve With Mexican Black Bean and Corn Salad
• FAQs
• More Mexican Recipes
• Recipe
• Reviews

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Lots of Uses. It's a great side dish to accompany any Tex-Mex main course. It can also be used as a filler for tacos, added as a topping for nachos…the list just goes on!
• Versatile. It's easy to make and super versatile – simply adapt the filling ingredients to suit your preferences. You could easily bulk it up with the addition of meat and pasta.
• Make-Ahead. This Mexican corn and beans salad can easily be made in advance, saving you some time and effort down the line.  
• Budget-Friendly. This salad is a budget-friendly side dish option that's wholesome, loaded with mouth-watering flavors, and textures. 
• Vegetarian. It's the perfect Mexican-inspired salad for anyone following a vegetarian diet and can easily be made vegan-friendly by omitting the honey for another sweetener. 

Why This Recipe Works

• Easy Instructions. This Mexican Corn and Beans Salad recipe include step-by-step instructions with photos for making the salad from scratch. There's no way that you'll get lost along the way. 
• Pantry Ingredients. Most of the ingredients used in this recipe are likely to already be in your pantry (especially if you love Mexican cuisine), and if not, are readily accessible in your local grocery store.
• Quick Preparation. Apart from the chilling time, you only need to spare 15 active minutes of your time to make this salad and there's no cooking involved! 
• Tips and Tricks. You don't need to scroll too far before coming across helpful recipe tips and tricks to make your salad assembly stress-free and enjoyable. 
• Tried and True. I've been making this Mexican Corn and Beans Salad for the family for years which means that you can trust that I'm guiding you from tried and true techniques and processes. 
• Variations Included. Recipe variations have been included in case you want to mix things up or try something new to keep things interesting for yourself and the family. 
• Serving Suggestions. With this recipe, serving suggestions are also included, which takes any guesswork out of what to serve with it at mealtime.

What Do I Need To Make This Corn and Black Bean Salad

Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don't have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

Ingredients

• Black beans. Be sure that the beans are drained and rinsed. Beans provide an excellent source of protein in this recipe. If you're not fond of black beans, you could use kidney beans, Garbanzo chickpeas or Cannellini beans would also work well.
• Can whole kernel corn. Canned, frozen or fresh corn will also work in this salad.
• Red onion. I used minced red onions in the recipe. 
• Red and green bell pepper. I recommend that the peppers be diced very small. You can opt to use only one color bell pepper or an assortment of red and green bell peppers.  
• Jalapeño. Make sure to de-seed the jalapeño pepper and mince it into small pieces. While this ingredient is optional, it certainly adds a kick of heat to the salad which I just love.  
• Cilantro leaves – lightly chopped. 
• Olive oil – I always use high-quality olive oil in my recipes. 
• Fresh lime juice – always opt for fresh lime juice over the bottled variety for the best taste. 
• Honey – this provides a subtle sweetness to the salad without it being overpowering. You could omit it and use an appropriate sweetener substitute like maple syrup if you want this salad to be vegan. 
• Garlic – you can either mince your garlic yourself or buy it pre-minced.  
• Salt – just enough to taste. I prefer using sea salt over table salt as it contains less iodine. 
• Smoked paprika – This spice is responsible for adding bursts of flavor to the salad. If you want something with an extra kick of heat then opt for plain paprika instead of smoked paprika. 
• Black pepper – just enough to taste. 
• Avocado – diced. If you are making this salad the night before, leave the dicing of the avocado until just prior to serving the salad otherwise you'll end up with browned avocado slices. 

How To Make Black Bean and Corn Salad

1. Combine the black beans, corn, onion, peppers, jalapeno, and cilantro in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, lime juice, honey, garlic, salt, paprika, and black pepper.
3. Pour the vinaigrette over the bean mixture and toss to combine.
4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.
5. Before serving, dice the avocado and add to the salad.

Recipe Tips

• Last Minute. Make sure to only cut the avocado right before serving this salad as cut avocado exposed to air can turn brown very quickly which will look rather unappetizing in this salad. 
• Make-Ahead. You can prepare elements of this salad to store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator overnight, saving you time cleaning up when assembling the salad/salsa to serve the following day. 
• Chill. This salad needs about 30 minutes of chill time so that all of the flavors from the ingredients blend together. Make sure that you factor this time in for the best taste. Even though you could serve it immediately after assembling, it will always taste better after the allocated chill time. 
• Change It Up. You can enjoy this Mexican Corn and Black Beans Salad as a side dish to grilled meats, as a topping or filling for tacos and nachos, or you could even serve it in clear plastic cups as a hand-held party appetizer! 

Variations

• Add Meat. Turn this Mexican corn and bean salad into a main meal by adding in some shredded meat like chicken, turkey, or pork, or by adding in some pasta with dressing. 
• Change The Beans. The black beans called for in this recipe can easily be replaced by beans that you enjoy the most. 
• Make Less Spicy. You can omit the jalapeno as an optional extra in this recipe if you don't enjoy any heat in your food or you could increase the heat by leaving some of the seeds in the jalapeno or doubling the quantity called for.
• Double. If you're serving a crowd, consider doubling the ingredients – it's so easy!
• Small Servings. While this salad looks great in a clear glass bowl, you could turn it into a more interactive dish by serving the salad in clear plastic cups or fancy glasses as a hand-held party appetizer! 

What To Serve With Mexican Black Bean and Corn Salad

Mexican corn and beans salad is the perfect side dish to any Tex-Mex main meal. Of course, you could also use this salad as a filling or a topping in dishes such as tacos, empanadas, enchiladas, or serve it as a snack alongside some tortilla chips!

Some recipes that go well with this recipe are:

• Mexican Cauliflower Rice
• Mexican Cabbage Slaw
• Fajita Stuffed Avocados
• Mexican Beef and Rice Casserole

FAQs

HOW SHOULD I STORE LEFTOVER MEXICAN CORN AND BEANS SALAD?

This Mexican-inspired salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Make sure that you remove any leftover sliced avocado from the salad before storing it as the avocado will turn brown and mushy. 

IS THIS A MAKE-AHEAD SALAD RECIPE?

Since you do need to chill the assembled salad for 30 minutes in the refrigerator prior to serving, you could say that this is a make-ahead recipe. 

With that said, you could save yourself even more time by preparing some of the salad components and storing them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator the night before. That way, all you need to do is add the salad ingredients together the next day and allow the fully assembled salad to chill for 30 minutes. 

WHY DOES THIS SALAD NEED TO BE CHILLED BEFORE SERVING?

Chilling this Mexican corn and beans salad for 30 minutes in the fridge before serving allows the different flavors of the ingredients to blend together. Trust me, there's a big taste difference between serving the salad immediately and allowing it to sit first. Don't skip this step!

More Mexican Recipes

• Corn And Zucchini Salsa
• Mexican Street Corn Salad
• Taco Salad With Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Ramen Noodle Salad with Mandarin Oranges

If you like this recipe or make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment, rate the recipe, and follow us on:

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | BlogLovin | Instagram

Recipe