22 Quick and Easy Recipes in 30 Minutes (or less) + 5 Chef Secrets To Make You A Better Cook!

Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette

Tested & Perfected Recipes

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

This make-ahead and festive black bean salad is a huge crowd-pleaser. Perfect for a summer cookout!

Spoon in a bowl of black bean salad with corn, avocado, and lime vinaigrette.

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 and cornbread for a delicious (and easy!) Southwestern-themed cookout. Or, for an appetizer spread, serve it tortilla chips for scooping and chicken quesadillas.

What You’ll Need To Make Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette

ingredients for making black bean salad

The avocado should be added right before serving to prevent the flesh from browning when exposed to air. 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.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin by cooking the corn in boiling salted water.
boiling the corn

A few minutes is all it takes — you want it super crisp. Refresh the corn under cold water to stop the cooking process.

refreshing the corn under cold water

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.)

Corn cut from a cob next to a knife.

Next, rinse and drain the black beans. rinsing black beans for black bean saladCombine the corn and black beans with the remaining ingredients, except for the avocado.

black bean salad components ready to toss

Toss and chill until ready to serve.

black bean salad tossed with vinaigrette

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.

adding diced avocado to black bean salad

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.

tossed black bean salad ready to serve

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

Spoon in a bowl of black bean salad with corn, avocado, and lime vinaigrette.

You May Also Like

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!

Servings: 6-8
Total Time: 30 Minutes

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

  1. 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

Powered by Edamam

  • 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.

See more recipes:

Comments

  • Do you have a cookbook of your salad recipes? Thanks

    • — Francine on February 5, 2024
    • Reply
    • I don’t Francine – I’m sorry! I appreciate you inquiring though. 😊

      • — Jenn on February 5, 2024
      • Reply
  • Made this recipe 3 days ago and it was great. all the ingredients came together and was just the new recipe I needed for something a little different. Used a combination of olive oil/ italian dressing. lime and 1 large tbsp of brown sugar. Made again today and added chick peas. salt & pepper and some basil. This recipe has such great flavor. absolutely loved it.

    • — ray gardner on December 12, 2023
    • Reply
  • We used this as a topping for the tequila lime chicken recipe and put on tortillas and also ate it on its own and it was a delicious. My guests asked for the recipe. I can always count on recipes from this site to turn out great!

    • — Michelle on October 8, 2023
    • Reply
  • I have made this about 4 times in the last couple of weeks. My family loves it! The flavors and textures come together perfectly! My 7 year old has been taking it in his school lunch because he enjoys it so much! I’ve put it over lettuce to make more of a salad, as well as served it alongside your Thai peanut salad for a vegetarian dinner. Thank you for this delicious recipe!

    • — Marie Collins on September 14, 2023
    • Reply
  • Significantly thrilled to be among the over 800 comments on this keeper of a recipe. I served this as the sole accompaniment to very large smoked chicken legs last night. We were entertaining, and it’s pretty rare when I experiment without having tried something first in our little family of 2. I was not super clear if the salt was to be table or Kosher, and ended up using 3/4 tsp. of table salt. I did one other tweak. After tossing all of the components with the Lime Vinaigrette, I did gently fold in the Avocado. I was hoping/thinking that the citrus might keep the Avocado in pristine condition. I got lucky I guess, as it was fine. Just took a peek at the leftovers, and it’s still the same. Thank you Jenn, and “Ellen” for this one.

    • — Jeff Winett on August 31, 2023
    • Reply

Add a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.