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 and cornbread for a delicious (and easy!) Southwestern-themed 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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Just want to thank you for the amazing recipe. We have really enjoyed it.
You are welcome, Tracy! Glad you enjoyed!
My mom has made this a few times now and we LOVE this. I’m forwarding this recipe to myself, my sister and my cousin! I can’t wait to make this for a potluck for work.
My mom and I just made this and it was delicious!!!!
we had plain quinoa so we added that and it was excellent!
Thanks for posting this, def going to make it again
Jordy
Our daughter in law made this and added fresh tomato and green pepper…delicious !
I make this with raw corn cut off the cob. Its so crunchy, and takes less time!
I made this salad over the weekendand did not like the olive oil and lime vinaigrette, so I rinsed it off and usedTrader Joe balsamic vinaigrette .
It was delicious .
Looks great and the only change I made was grilling the corn on the cob first. The added grilled flavor really put it over the top.
I have made this 3 times, I love love love it…I cut the olive oil in half bc I thought it was too much, and used can corn bc Im well…a busy mom like many others! It was a hit by all ages at the table, 13 months to 60! Thx for the recipe!
Hi there, do you know about how many calories each serving would be?
Hi Kerrie, I’m sorry, I don’t have nutritional info for my recipes but I know there are sites online where you can plug in ingredients and they calculate nutritional content for you.
Please add a printer friendly way version of this. Otherwise I have to write it out because I don’t want to have print out all these comments.
Hi Lora, There is a little red “printable recipe” button under the recipe title at the bottom of the post.
I made this for a BBQ yesterday — a recommendation by a co-worker; and it was a hit. Everyone asked for the recipe. My husband thought it would be better with more cilantro and more pepper (he loves spicy food). And I did use half brown sugar and half regular sugar. Simply delicious! Oh, I served it with scoop corn chips!! h
made this for a family function today, but added tomatoes and onions. everyone, even the picky eaters, loved it!
LOVED this dish!! I added jalapenos to it simply because I love them and it went with the rest of my meal. Definitely a new favorite!!
This is so good! It’s vegan and easy and requires almost no heat to make. Thank you!
Made this today, it was delicious. Highly recommend. Used red and yellow pepper and did not use corn.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this recipe!!!
I made it last night and couldn’t stop eating it; it is so amazing!
I added a wee bit more cayenne, as I love spice;
and wow! I will definatly be making this salad for
Every BBQ I go to!!! Also at home for myself all the time:)
I just found and made this, exactly as written. It is one of the most amazing salads I’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing!
on my list to make. but i dont like peppers. i think im gonna try this with garbanzo beans. do you think that would work??
Yes!
I loved making this dish. Using packaged corn saves time. It really makes a difference when you wait an extra day to eat this. To make this healthy, I also made my own chips. I bought corn tortillas at the store, cut them in the pieces, and baked them at 375 until toasted. These are great with the recipe above!
Made this last night. Put it in shrimp fajitas and as a side with chips. So good!!!!! Bet it will be even better today! Definitely a keeper!
This is an absolutely delicious summer salad. It’s worth all the chopping … I HIGHLY recommend it (I served it with the Margarita chicken, double YUM!)
Made this last for impromtu deck party for neighbors and friends.Everyone LOVED IT and they are picky eaters. I recently became a vegetarian and thought I would be the only one who will eat this but I was pleasantly surprise to hear it was the star of the party it paired really well with my husbands famous jerk chicken. Thank you this will be a staple at every party!
Made this dish for the first time for my friend who is a recently converted vegan. She, myself and everyone in her family loved it! I made it without the avocado(the ones I had were rotten) and I only and lemons in the fridge so I used it instead if limes. I made a bunch and took it to a camping trip 2 days later, and got great reviews about it. The adult campers topped it on their hog dogs vs using the other condiments. It even tasted better since the flavors had more time marinate together. Looking forward to making it again… This time with the avocado.
I have been making this for my “gourmet taco nights”. So flavorful and healthy this is going to be served very frequently during these warm summer months, with ground turkey and a margarita on the side 🙂
Another change is that I don’t always have fresh corn and have used frozen sweet corn the flavor is still great!
This is a family favorite…my son eats it on everything grilled chicken, over salad, and with tacos. The only change I’ve made is the color of peppers. If I don’t have red then I use orange or yellow.
Very good recipe, colorful and healthy. I would make this one again.
I made this dish for company and they loved it! I grilled the corn in its husks rather than boil it and it added additional flavor. I also omitted the avacado because I’m not a fan and it was still amazing! The longer it sat in the fridge the better it tasted. Its a keeper!
Just made this and was SUPER easy and SUPER tasty! Perfect for summer!
Recently made this for a company picnic, and it was very well received and completely gone. This is fantastic!
Nutrition content?
I wondered about putting the avocado in it and refridgerating it. Will the avocado turn brown or mushy?
Tried it upon completion and the flavor is amazing! Can’t wait to try it after it’s been chilling for a day. Just concerned about how/if the avocado will change in consistency or color. Thank you!!
Hi Jennifer, It’s best to add the avocado closer to serving time, but in my experience the lime juice in the vinaigrette keeps it pretty fresh.
This looks and sounds wonderful…my only issue is we don’t like/eat cilantro…can you think of anything to substitue?
Hi Marge, You can simply leave it out or substitute flat leaf parsley. Enjoy!
This is AMAZING! My hubby and I have been grazing on it the past two days for lunch and dinner. So flavorful. Thank you!
This was fabulous — i used half the olive oil, added onion, and a gn. pepper and it was beyond good. My husband and I grazed on it for 3 days. Yummy! I also bought parsley instead of cilantro on accident(I was soo ticked) so next time I make it I will add the cilantro because its normally one of my favorite things. Thanks again for an amazing recipe.
Made this yesterday and it tastes even better the second day! This will be a mainstay in my summer dinner/lunch rotation!
This was my first official “Pinterest” recipe that I created; and it was fantastic. I resisted the temptation to add any sort of meat. The only change I made was that I omitted the avocado. I threw mine in a tortilla and ate it as a wrap. So good.
This was a fabulous salad! I had to add chopped chicken to please the man in the house ; ) I will definately be making more of this!
Jenn, This is the best black bean salad I have ever made in my life. I love this just the way it is, it doesn’t need one more thing. Thank you so much for this it’s awesome!
I don’t particularly like avacodo, so although this recipe sounds really good, there must be something you could suggest to replace it with.
Thank you, Sondra
Hi Sondra, You can just leave it out, or add a bit more corn or red peppers.
Mango also is very delicious in place of the avocado.
Oh! I also added 2 cans of chick peas and 2 cans of rotel, drained. Must try. It’s awesome.
I have made this twice now. The second time I doubled it and left half at home and took half to a BBQ. It’s so good and the whole family loves it! Great with chicken, or just rolled up in a tortilla with cheese. To cut out a lot of fat and calories I only used 1 Tbsp of olive oil and I used stevia instead of sugar. It’s still delicious!
This is soooooooooooooooo good! Love it!
love it
I am making this on Monday and wanted to add grill chicken, jalapenos and tomatoes and put it in corn tortillas. Any thoughts?
I think that sounds great, Alisa. Depending on how much you add in, you may need to increase the dressing.
I don’t care for bell peppers at all, so I substituted tomatoes. Too early for fresh corn (at least at the local store), so I used diced white onions. SO GOOD! My husband, a devout carnivore, said he could have eaten a big bowl of his salad for dinner alone. Thanks!
Also… the 2nd time I made it with canned corn b/c I was short on time, and I will say the fresh corn is so much better and crunchier.
Love this recipe. Have made it twice now for get togethers and it’s been a hit both times. Thank you for sharing.
Looks awesome and similar to another recipe I have used…. Also, Vinaigrette is in the title- is there a red wine vinegar or rice vinegar missing from the ingredient list?
Hi Lauren, I use the word loosely — lime juice is the only acid in the recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Sounds delicious, and so easy! One caveat: after reading about Monsanto’s GM corn, would recommend using organic corn from your favorite store or Farmer’s Market !