Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette
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This make-ahead and festive black bean salad is a huge crowd-pleaser. Perfect for a summer cookout!
This black bean salad recipe was sent to me by one of my readers (thank you, Ellen!). It’s a huge crowd-pleaser and one of the most popular recipes on my website. The salad is ideal for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time — in fact, you should because it gets better and better the longer it sits. Try pairing it with my grilled tequila lime chicken or blackened chicken and cornbread for a delicious (and easy!) cookout. Or, for an appetizer spread, serve it tortilla chips for scooping and chicken quesadillas.
Table of Contents
“I have made this about 4 times in the last couple of weeks. My family loves it! The flavors and textures come together perfectly!”
What You’ll Need To Make Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette
- Black Beans: Form the hearty base of the salad, providing protein and texture.
- Corn: Adds sweetness and crunch and contributes to the salad’s vibrant color.
- Red Peppers: Offer a pop of color and juicy sweetness to the salad.
- Garlic and Shallots: Infuse the salad with aromatic depth of flavor.
- Salt and Cayenne Pepper: Season the salad, balancing flavors and adding a hint of heat.
- Sugar: Balances the acidity of the lime juice and enhances the overall flavor profile of the salad.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Creates a luscious and smooth vinaigrette, binding the ingredients together.
- Lime Zest and Lime Juice: Provide brightness and tanginess, elevating the salad’s flavors.
- Fresh Cilantro: Adds a burst of freshness and herbal aroma to the salad.
- Avocados: Contribute creaminess and richness, complementing the other ingredients perfectly. If you’re unsure of the most efficient way to prepare an avocado, see my step-by-step guide on how to cut an avocado.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by cooking the corn in boiling salted water.
A few minutes is all it takes — you want it super crisp. Refresh the corn under cold water to stop the cooking process.
Place the corn on a clean dish towel set over a cutting board, then use a serrated knife to cut the kernels of the cobs. (The dish towel both dries the corn and prevents it from bouncing all over the place.)
Next, rinse and drain the black beans.
Combine the corn and black beans with the remaining ingredients, except for the avocado.
Toss and chill until ready to serve.
Before serving, dice the avocado and add to the salad. It’s important to add the avocado at the last minute to keep it from turning brown.
Toss well, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. You may find that it needs a bit more salt or a squirt of lime juice, as the flavors tend to mellow in the fridge.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure, I recommend chilling it for a few hours or overnight. If necessary, you can make it up to 1 day ahead. Just hold off on adding the avocado until you’re ready to serve to keep it fresh and vibrant.
This is best with fresh corn but when it’s not in season, you can use canned or frozen corn. Just drain and rinse canned corn before adding and if using frozen, ensure it’s thawed beforehand. You’ll need a total of about 2-1/4 cups of corn kernels for the salad.
To add a kick of heat, you can double the cayenne pepper or add a diced jalapeño. For the jalapeño, adjust the amount based on your preference for spiciness, keeping in mind that the heat of the peppers lies in the seeds and veins.
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Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette
This make-ahead and festive black bean salad is a huge crowd-pleaser. Perfect for a summer cookout!
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 ears fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob
- 2 red bell peppers, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots, from one medium shallot
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best quality such as Colavita
- 1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest limes before juicing them)
- 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
- 2 Hass avocados, chopped
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a more chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 3/4 - 1 cup
- Calories: 464
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 52 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 15 g
- Protein: 13 g
- Sodium: 591 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.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Has anyone made this and added fresh cooked shrimp? I made the dressing and love it! Tastes to me like it would compliment the shrimp. Also, I have grape tomatoes on hand that I need to use, so thinking of using those instead of red bell peppers. Planning to serve tomorrow night, so I thought I would add the tomatoes and avocados just before serving. I’ll add the shrimp tomorrow morning so that they can soak up some of the dressing!
It is wonderful with shrimp. I like to add grilled chipotle shrimp and mango.
This salad is amazing, I’ve made it several times. Just a tip: if you use pretty firm (but still ripe) avocados, they don’t go brown and the salad will hold in the fridge really well for a few days!
The Black Bean Salad has always been a favorite of my son. It gets better every day, though it doesn’t last long. The fresh corn is an extra step but so tasty. I used infused lime olive oil (5 Tblsp) and infused chili olive oil for a bit of heat (2 Tblsp) and then extra oil as needed. I love the lime zest and lime juice. I did add infused vinegar, also,(espresso is my favorite, but I was all out, so grapefruit fit well with a touch of fig.) Because the infused oils are sweeter, I left out the sugar. The proportions are excellent, though. I don’t mean to change the recipe because this recipe is perfect as it is- I just use what I have on hand, and this recipe has all the right spices and ingredients for a perfect Black Bean salad. This recipe is a keeper.
Made this for a party. Guests raved about it, it was absolutely delicious!
Just made this! Excellent flavor, bite and texture! My granddaughter helped and will have a great recipe in the future. I had to swap out the cilantro for parsley as my daughter says cilantro tastes like soap.(I used to taste that before moving to San Diego) worked perfectly. Healthy summer salad.
This was good. I added a whole jalapeño, 1/2 t. cumin (may increase to 1 t.) and only 1 T of sugar.
I plan to serve this with your Peruvian chicken and Mexican rice recipes (with a fish) for 10-13 people. Should I double this and the rice recipe (I haven’t made these before and plan to practice with my family as we’ve only had the restaurant version before). Thank you!
Hi Phyllis, You could probably get away with making 1.5 times both of the recipes. Hope everyone enjoys the meal!
Wow, thank you so much for your quick reply, I really appreciate it! And Happy Mother’s Day!
🙂
Hope you had a great Mother’s Day!
Would this work on top of lettuce for a hearty salad? Wondering if this dressing would be good if I made a little extra as well if the lettuce needs it? Possibly adding the tequila chicken as well.
Thanks!
Sure, Jill, all of that should work. Just use a hearty lettuce so that it doesn’t get too soggy under the weight of the black bean salad. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Could I use frozen corn?
Sure – enjoy!
Wow, 2 *tablespoons* of sugar? Seriously? I’ve travelled all over Mexico and cooked MEexican for years and I’ve never had (or seen) any salad with sugar in it. I have no idea why you think it needs it, the corn and red pepper should be sweet enough. Adding sugar is also sad as you’re pretty much spoiling the otherwise very good nutritional value in this salad.
I guess it’s an American thing – everything has to have sugar in it or melted cheese on top of in the good ‘ol USA, home to some of the highest rates of obesity and diabeties in the world.
You might enjoy her Black Bean & Corn Salad with Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette from her 1st cookbook, but also available online. It is sweetened naturally with honey and it is out of this world like all of her recipes I have personally tried.
I made a smaller batch of this, halved everything, turned out great! My gluten free guests were happy to eat this with fresh corn tortilla chips. I like the idea of adding a jalapeño to this, too! Jenn’s recipes are always my go-to – I have her books and have gifted them to fellow cooks. They really are tried and true!
…. This is comment is a misleading review and nonsense. It’s an amazing salad and just leave the sugar out and replace with another sweetener.
Agreed. Can’t believe anyone would take the time to make snarky comments about obesity – ok…so he’s expressing his opinion – great…but not helpful. So omit the sugar!
Wow.
Felt the same way, just to be honest. Have done quite a few different avocado/black bean salads of our own and am going to try elements of this one as well, but have never cared for incorporating sugar at all. Definitely can just leave that out, though. Easy enough to do! And, in our own case, a necessary step. Not a fan of sweetness profiling in salads, personally.
Sidenote: That amount of oil, though… LoL