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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!
This black bean salad recipe was sent to me by one of my readers, Ellen Koh. It’s a huge crowd-pleaser, and it has become one of the most popular recipes on my website. Readers consistently give it rave reviews! 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 muffins for a delicious (and easy!) Southwestern-inspired cookout.
What You’ll Need To Make Black Bean Salad with Corn, Avocado & Lime Vinaigrette
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!
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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
- 1/4 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
- 1/2 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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I made this last night, with a few modifications: first, I halved the recipe, because there were only two of us. I substituted fresh summer garden tomatoes for the red peppers, and about 6 green onions for the shallots, and since the other person here isn’t too fond of spicy food, I cut the cayenne down to just a dash or two, and added ground cumin for flavor (I love cumin on almost everything!) and probably 1/2 t. or so of smoked paprika for the heat. (Sorry, I rarely measure my spices; I just put in a bunch, and then put in more if I think the dish needs more.) I also cut down on the olive oil – about 2 T. total – and since I only had one small lime on hand, supplemented it with about 1 T. of red wine vinegar. And I had no cilantro on hand, so I skipped that. I loved the salad; when you use good, fresh ingredients, you don’t need a ton of spices for the result to taste good! It wasn’t overly spicy, but it was plenty tasty.
Also, I used a trick I often use with tabouli when I know we are going to have leftovers: I put in just as many tomatoes (and in the case of this salad, avocadoes) as I think we’ll eat that night, since they don’t keep well. Then the next night I serve it, I cut and add fresh ones again just before serving. This keeps the tomatoes and avocadoes nice and colorful, and prevents them from getting soggy and wilting into moosh.
Another winner!!! Made this for our block party and it was a hit! Will make again for sure. Jenn, your recipes are just THE best! Can wait for my pre-ordered book to arrive!!!
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