Black Bean and Corn Salad

Best part is that you can use your favorite method of cooking corn, boiling corn or grilled corn in this salad. I made sure to include both options for you!

This salad also doubles as a salsa, if you’re looking for a fun corn dip for your next fiesta that’s not just queso or guacamole. Simply serve it with tortilla chips and watch it disappear!

Whether it’s Cinco de Mayo, a summertime celebration, or just a night at home with the family, you’re going to love this extremely flavorful black bean and corn salad! It’s really got something in there for everybody.

Another good thing about making this salad is how versatile it is to your specific tastes, too! You can omit or add ingredients as you like, and it will still hold up. For example, if you want it to be spicier, add more jalapeños and a tablespoon of cayenne powder.

Ingredient Tips Before You Shop

Most of these ingredients are pretty self-explanatory and widely available, but I do want to give some notes to consider:

• Corn – the best corn to use for this corn salad is corn on the cob! It’s got the best fresh flavor and texture. Although, if fresh corn on the cob is not available, you can use frozen corn or canned corn. You can even use fire-roasted option. If you plan to use frozen corn, make sure to thaw it first and drain off excess liquids. If you want to use canned corn, make sure to drain off all the liquid.
• Black Beans – use canned black beans but make sure to give them a quick rinse with cold water and strain well.
• Red Bell Pepper – while I like to use red bell pepper because it gives the salad a pop of color, you should feel free to use different color peppers if you’d like.
• Jalapeño Peppers – Use fresh jalapeños and you can adjust the spice level just by choose older or younger jalapenos. Young jalapenos are less spicy and they have smooth, deep green skin. Older jalapenos get spicier as they age and they will have brown veins running along the skin. The more veins, the spicier the jalapeno. You can also discard jalapeno seeds if you want less spice of leave them in for more spice.
• Avocado – to check if the avocado is ripe, give it a gentle squeeze. It should be soft enough to give a little bit, but firm enough to not feel mushy.

Make Ahead and Storing Suggestions

Make Ahead: this is a good BBQ side dish to make ahead of time. Just remember, DON’T add the avocado until ready to serve! Also, I don’t recommend that you make it more than a day before, because the vegetables will start to wilt and release too many juices. Store prepped salad in the refrigerator in an airtight container for approximately 1-3 days (without avocado and tomato).

Storing Leftovers: Leftover black bean and corn salad will only last 1-2 days. Since this salad contains avocado and tomatoes, those ingredients are the reason for a shorter shelf life. Make sure to store leftover corn salad in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator.

Some Additions and Variations to Consider

There are a lot of flavors you can play around with adjusting spice level to even adding some sweetness:

• Chili Peppers – if you are feeling spicy, try substituting jalapenos with a spicier chili pepper. Jalapenos are one to the mildest chili peppers so if you want heat, try using habanero, serrano, or whichever spicy pepper you enjoy. Just note to adjust the amount to your tolerance.
• Other Veggies – feel free to add other vegetables like cucumbers, jicama, or peas.
• Try Fruit – creating a sweet, savory and spicy could be fun so try adding finely chopped mangoes or pineapple to this salsa.
• Grilling corn: smoky flavors of grilled corn on a cob is an amazing addition to this corn salad!
• Want to try it creamy? You can check out my creamy corn salad and substitute the creamy dressing instead of lime and oil here.

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Black Bean Corn Salad Recipe

Black bean and corn salad is an amazing summer salad with a burst of flavor from the mix of black beans, sweet corn, bell peppers, red onion, jalapeño peppers, avocado, and tomatoes. All perfectly dressed with oil, lime juice, cilantro, agave nectar, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 corn on the cob
• ▢ 15 oz can black beans rinsed and strained well
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper
• ▢ 1/2 small red onion
• ▢ 2 jalapeno peppers
• ▢ 1 ripe avocado
• ▢ 1 medium tomato on a vine
• ▢ 3 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
• ▢ 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar
• ▢ 1 tsp garlic powder
• ▢ 1 tsp cumin
• ▢ 1/2-1 tsp chili powder more or less to personal preference
• ▢ 1/2-1 tsp coarse sea salt

Instructions

To Boil Corn:

• Heat up a large pot of water over medium-high heat and season it generously with salt. Make sure to take off the husk and all the silk threads from the ears of corn before cooking.
• Once water starts to boil, lower the heat to medium-low and add corn. Cover the pot and let corn cook for about 10 minutes, until tender.
• Take all the corn out onto a cutting board and let it cool enough to be handled. 

To Grill Corn:

• Prepare your grill to have 2 temperature zones and make sure the grate is clean. Snip the silk whiskers sticking out of the top of the corn husk, but leave the rest of the corn in a husk.
• Lay them on the grill and cook for 13-15 minutes, turning it every 3-4 minutes. Then, take corn off of the grill and carefully, using tongs or heat-proof gloves, take off the husk and the silks.
• Brush corn with a little oil and place back on the grill. Close the grill and cook for a few minutes, turning a quarter of the way every couple of minutes.

To Make Corn Salad:

• To cut corn kernels off the cob, stand corn up in a large mixing bowl or in a rimmed baking dish cut side down. Slice the kernels off with a sharp knife from top to bottom, close to the part where kernels attach to the cob. Turn the ear of corn and repeat slicing the kernels off all the way around. 
• Dice bell pepper, red onion, tomatoes, and avocado and add to the bowl. Put on gloves and dice jalapeno. (Gloves help protect your hands from spicy jalapeno juices. Discard gloves as soon as you finish dicing the peppers and add them to the bowl.)
• Add lime juice, oil, cilantro, agave nectar, and seasonings to the bowl. Mix everything very well and serve.
• You can serve this chilled or at room temperature. It you prefer the salad chilled, cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Video

Notes

• Storing – Leftover black bean and corn salad will only last 1-2 days since this salad contains avocado and tomatoes. Make sure to store leftover corn salad in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator.
• Make ahead – You can make the salad ahead of time just don’t add the tomato and avocado until ready to serve the salad! Also, I don’t recommend that you make it more than a day before, because the vegetables will start to wilt and release too many juices. Store prepped salad in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 484mg | Potassium: 683mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1107IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

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