Black Bean and Corn Salad with Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette
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This make-ahead black bean and corn salad is a real crowd-pleaser. Bonus: it doubles as a dip!
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Perhaps the best compliment this salad ever received was from one of my readers, who confessed to me, “I’m having an affair with this salad…please don’t tell anyone.” Another reader told me that she made this salad for a party, and later found one of her guests in her study, printing out copies of the recipe to hand out. It’s just one of those crowd-pleasing, make-ahead recipes that everyone loves. Whether I serve it with grilled chicken or as a dip with tortilla chips (highly recommend!), the bowl is always empty and the plates are always full.
This recipe is similar to my popular Black Bean, Corn & Avocado Salad with Lime Vinaigrette. The difference is that this version is dressed in a smoky and sweet chipotle-honey vinaigrette, similar to Chipotle’s honey vinaigrette. I think you will love both variations!
What You’ll Need To Make Black Bean and Corn Salad
In addition to the basics, the recipe calls for canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. These are small peppers (usually red jalapeños) that have been dried and smoked that come in a spicy, smoky tomato sauce. I love their flavor and am always looking for ways to incorporate them into recipes (see these baja fish tacos and these chipotle chicken quesadillas).
You can find them in the Latin section of most supermarkets. Once you open a can, you can transfer any remaining peppers to a plastic container and store in the refrigerator for at least a month. You can also freeze them.
Step-by-step Instructions
Begin by cooking the corn. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn and simmer, covered, for about ten minutes, then cut the kernels off the cob. Next, chop the red onions, soak them in cold water for about ten minutes, then drain; this takes the sharp raw onion taste away. (If you’re a raw onion lover, feel free to skip this step.)
Rinse and drain the black beans.
Then make the dressing. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a mini food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the dressing over top.
Toss and refrigerate for at least one hour or, preferably, overnight. The salad tastes infinitely better cold, especially once the flavors have a chance to marry and the vegetables soak up some of the dressing.
Right before serving, add the avocado and gently toss. Enjoy!
you May Also Like
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
- Grilled Tequila Lime Chicken
- Baja Fish Tacos
- Restaurant-Style Salsa
- Guacamole
- 14 Cinco de Mayo Recipes For a Fiesta To Remember
Black Bean & Corn Salad with Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette
This make-ahead black bean and corn salad is a real crowd-pleaser. Bonus: it doubles as a dip!
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 2 ears fresh corn
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup loosely packed fresh chopped cilantro (plus a bit more for garnish, if desired)
- 1 avocado
For the Dressing
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1-2 limes
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (2 peppers, not 2 cans; use smaller peppers and if they are all large, use only 1½)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn, cover, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the corn from the water and let cool.
- Meanwhile, place the chopped red onions in a small bowl and cover with water. Let sit about ten minutes, then drain completely in a sieve and set aside.
- Place the beans in a sieve; run under cold water to rinse well. Let drain completely and set aside.
- Holding the cooled corn upright in a large bowl, cut the kernels off the cob in strips. Add the beans, red onion, red bell pepper and cilantro.
- Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor; process until smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or, preferably, overnight.
- Right before serving, slice the avocado in half. Remove the pit; using a butter knife, cut a grid in each half. Holding the avocado halves over the salad, use a spoon to scoop out the diced flesh. Toss the salad gently, then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (I usually add a squeeze of fresh lime to freshen it up). Garnish with a bit of fresh chopped cilantro if desired. Serve cold.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: approximately 1 cup
- Calories: 357
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 12 g
- Fiber: 11 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Sodium: 306 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Jen: You are making all of your followers into great home cooks. My family loves everything of yours that I make. So far, this summer, I have made the black bean and corn salad recipe three times. One word describes it “YUMMY.” I cook my corn in the microwave for 8 minutes. When it comes out, let it sit for a few minutes. Then cut off a little from wide end, shake and push from thin end of husk and corn will come out perfectly clean. Found that method on YOUTUBE. Thanks for sharing your delicious and easy recipes!!!
I made this wonderful salad to bring to a party. It got rave reviews from everyone, myself included! Made it exactly as directed as I know from previous recipes/reviews that anything that Jennifer has on her site is 5 stars!!
My family does not care for cilantro. Is there anything you can recommend as a substitute?
Hi Randi, Go ahead and just use flat leaf parsley – will still be delish 🙂
Loved this salad. Grilled the corn and used three ears. Also grilled a poblano and added that. Used olive oil, omitted the plus two TBSP. Might cut back on honey next time since I like spicy and not so sweet.
This salad was tremendous. Thank you for the recipe. The dressing was out of this world. It was totally worth getting fresh corn! Wow!
Great combination of flavors in the vinaigrette: sweet, tangy & smoky with a little heat – delicious! I have another bean salad recipe that I really like but this one is better.
I am trying each of the sensational summer salads – this one is closest to something I’ve made before, but the spin? I tried the adobo peppers for the first time – totally worth hunting down that little can in the grocery aisle!
AND that trick with soaking the red onions was great! Usually I cringe when I see fresh red onions in a salad because they drown out all the other flavors and it’s all that remains on the palate after the meal – no more!!!
This was so delicious! My daughter added quinoa and we can’t stop eating it! Fabulous!
This dish was so delicious and my family absolutely loved it! After running into a few issues, I was worried I had ruined it but all was well and they were fighting over what was left in the bowl! When I pulled out the ingredients for the dressing, something had gone terribly wrong with my red wine vinegar. It looked nasty! I have no idea what happened (I think it’s been lurking in the back of the cupboard for longer than I care to admit) so I threw it out and used rice vinegar instead. Then when I was blending the dressing, all of a sudden it got really thick and seized up on me! What?!? I had used refined coconut oil instead of veggie oil and since I freeze my extra chipotle chilies, the coconut oil solidified from the cold. A quick zap in the microwave solved that problem. Since this was the only dish we were having for dinner, I added some cooked brown rice, a little rotisserie chicken and some sunflower microgreens. Yummy!!
Thank you for another great recipe!!
Great ideas for making this a meal! Tonight, you know what we are having, yes! Thank you for making a great recipe more versatile.
Made this recipe this evening and hubby said at least twice, “boy, this recipe good”! I agree; it is excellent. The salad was a side for a meal of pan saute’d chicken tenderloins and wild rice with mushrooms. I made the recipe with the ingredients as written with the exception of subbing agave nectar for honey (didn’t have any in my cupboard). When I make the recipe again I plan to use a little less sweeter for starters. The fresh sweet corn I purchased was very sweet so the salad didn’t need that much sweetness to balance the vinegar. Loved the subtle chipotle flavor. I used one large chipotle and blended the dressing with my stick blender. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow! Thanks for another wonder recipe.