Black Bean Shrimp Salad with Corn & Pickled Onions
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This flavor-packed black bean shrimp salad is the perfect light weeknight supper, and it also screams summer potluck.
Inspired by the lovely cookbook Salads: Beyond the Bowl by Mindy Fox (Kyle Books, 2012), this main course black bean shrimp salad is the perfect light weeknight dinner or summer potluck dish. The recipe does involve a bit of preparation – first, you quick-pickle the onion, boil the corn, and sauté the shrimp – but, I promise, it all comes together quickly and easily. And it’s worth the effort: each separate element really makes the salad sing. For best results, use only high-quality canned beans, like Bush’s or Goya.
What you’ll need to make black bean shrimp salad
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by pickling the onions. In a medium skillet, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar.
Add the sliced onion.
Reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, gently stirring, until the onions have wilted slightly, 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the onions and pickling liquid to a heatproof bowl and let cool.
Next, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the corn from the water and let cool.
Holding the cooled corn upright in a large mixing bowl, cut the kernels off the cob in strips.
To the bowl of corn, add the beans, scallions, cilantro, 5 tablespoons of the oil, the lime juice and lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the cumin.
Toss well and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the shrimp to the mixing bowl with the corn, scraping all of the garlicky oil from the pan into the bowl.
Toss the salad, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary (be sure to taste the salad with the pickled onions and feta; they balance the flavor).
Transfer to a serving bowl. Crumble the feta over the salad, gently toss, and sprinkle with extra cilantro and fresh ground black pepper, if desired. Remove the pickled onions from their pickling liquid and serve on the side.
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- Southwestern Quinoa Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, Avocado, and Lime
Black Bean Shrimp Salad with Corn & Pickled Onions
This flavor-packed black bean shrimp salad is the perfect light weeknight supper, and it also screams summer potluck.
Ingredients
For the Pickled Onions
- ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
For the Salad
- 2 ears fresh corn
- Two (15-oz) cans black beans, best quality such as Bush's or Goya, rinsed and well-drained
- 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- Freshly ground black pepper, for serving
Instructions
For the Pickled Onions
- In a medium skillet, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Add the onion, reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, gently stirring, until the onions have wilted slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the onions and pickling liquid to a heatproof bowl and let cool.
For the Salad
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn, then cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the corn from the water and let cool. Holding the cooled corn upright in a large mixing bowl, cut the kernels off the cob in strips.
- To the bowl of corn, add the beans, scallions, cilantro, 5 tablespoons of the oil, the lime juice and lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the cumin. Toss well and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the shrimp and season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Transfer the shrimp to the mixing bowl with the corn, scraping all of the garlicky oil from the pan into the bowl. Toss the salad, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary (be sure to taste the salad with the pickled onions and feta; they balance the flavor). Transfer to a serving bowl. Crumble the feta over the salad, gently toss, and sprinkle with extra cilantro and fresh ground black pepper, if desired. Remove the pickled onions from their pickling liquid and serve on the side. The salad may be served room temperature or cold.
- Make-Ahead: The salad is best served on the same day of assembling, but it can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Taste and adjust seasoning again before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 459
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fiber: 11 g
- Protein: 23 g
- Sodium: 805 mg
- Cholesterol: 112 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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If made as a dinner, what sides would go well with this? Excited to try this one!
Hi Lisa, this would be nice with crusty bread or cornbread. Hope you enjoy if you make either!
I’ve made this delicious recipe multiple times. We love it. We love it as a salad without the shrimp, too. Now I’m considering making it tomorrow with chicken breasts or tenders cut into shrimp size pieces. I’d love your thoughts or suggestions for that alternative.
Thank you.
I think that sounds like a nice twist (and glad you like it)!
Hello..
Do you have a suggestion for another kind of bean? Not a fan of black beans.
Sure, any beans you like will work here. Hope you enjoy!
Has anyone tried to make this a couple days early? I was wondering how it holds up. I’d like to take it to an event I’m traveling to.
HOME RUN!!!!! I made this the other night. The next day, when I asked him what he would like for dinner, he said he wanted me to make the same dinner again. This is a direct quote from a man of few words,
“That is the best dish you have cooked in 5 years!” (And…..I do a lot of cooking of international foods which he likes as well.)
Delicious! I found this when searching the site for a shrimp recipe, preferably without pasta, potatoes, or rice. Wow! So so good. The pickled onions are such a great pop of flavor and color. There’s an added bonus, too. If you stop the recipe before adding shrimp, feta, garlic and onions, you have a really good corn/bean side salad. I’ll make both in the future.
I’ve been trying to find more fish/seafood/veg recipes. My husband is Meat & 3. But he loved this. It’s a keeper. I served it on a bed of chopped romaine.
This is amazing!! So easy to make too!
This looks delicious. How many does it serve?
Hi Regina, it serves 4 to 6. Hope you enjoy!
Can I just put the sliced onions in a mason jar then pour in the pickling liquid? I’m not sure how long they will last but easy to store in the refrigerator.
Hi
I really detest feta cheese and goat cheese. Can you suggest an alternative or is it best to omit cheese altogether?
Hi Shelley, You could try queso fresco here. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Delish as always. Next time I would add about 8 more ounces of shrimp. My proportions (although I followed the recipe) didn’t look the same as the photo. I bumped up the cumin and added a touch of chitpotle pepper, because I omitted the cilantro (don’t like cilantro/tarragon). The pickled onions made it. I could be biased, because I LOVE pickled onions, but everything together just worked so well! (*NOTE* If you want to make it more keto friendly, sub out black beans for black soybeans, which are low carb – 1/2 cup has 8 gm carbs with 7 gm of fiber= 1 gm net carbs)
This is a great recipe. The pickled onions are the star, so don’t skip this step. I was lucky and had left over fresh corn from a previous dinner, so i got to skip the step of cooking corn. I was surprised about the addition of feta but it really complimented the flavors. I will definitely make this again.
This is a delicious recipe! I used canned corn, added chopped celery and left out the lime juice due to what I had on hand. We had it for lunch and my husband liked it so much he asked to have it again for dinner. A definite keeper!
Your site is just so jammed up – loading, recipes, ads – how come it is so confusing – loved it before. So clear – now jumping all over the place!
Hi Marion, I am so sorry you’re seeing too many ads! I know how frustrating it is. Couple questions:
-What type of device are you using? If it’s an iPad, the ads can move around depending on how you’re holding it.
-If you’re using a computer, do you have it in full-screen mode? If not, depending upon how narrow the page is displayed, if the ads don’t have room to be alongside the content, they will display on top of it. This will resolve itself with the full-screen view.
I do use an outside company to run the ads, and I have to constantly monitor to make sure that the site doesn’t get too ad-heavy. I wish I didn’t have to have any ads at all…it’s a balance between user experience and the high cost of running a site. Thank you for the feedback.
Thanks for explaining, Jenn. Understandably you deserve all the help you can get! Glad you keep an eye on the ads too.
You may want to take a screen shot. When it gets bouncy, that’s what I do.
This recipe was so worth it! The flavors were so vibrant and the combination of the pickled red onion, feta cheese with lime and shrimp really made for a delicious dish different from the usual ho hum weekday dish.
I prepared the pickled red onion a day before, and used frozen corn because I am lazy, and it was really quite quick to throw together.
I will definitely make this again!
This is our go-to summer dinner. Soooo tasty! My only modification is to mix the pickled onions into the salad right off and I cut the slices in half so they can be mixed throughout.
Tried this salad as planning a bridal shower menu. Jackpot! The flavors are so delish and light and refreshing for a warm summer night. What do you suggest to serve alongside it? Thanks!
Glad you liked it! I think it would pair nicely with one of my gazpacho recipes (Golden Gazpacho, Roasted Garlic Gazpacho, Watermelon Gazpacho). Hope you enjoy if you try any of them!
I just made this for dinner tonight and absolutely loved it!!!! Quick, easy and delish!! The only thing I did differently is the pickled onions. I did another recipe using cider vinegar, that makes a whole jar. Thank you so much for another amazing recipe.
What is the count of medium shrimp? As an aside, I have trouble keeping track of shrimp sizes by name. I wish you would include the numbers along with the name. Thanks.
Hi Susan, the count per pound for medium shrimp is 41/50. I will try to remember to include that in new shrimp recipes — hope you enjoy!
When you talk about chopped cilantro do you include the stems or only the leaves?
Really, really like this recipe but there are multiple steps and prep times seemed much longer what was listed. But the end result was worth it.
Sorry this took you longer than the recipe indicates! When the recipe specifies fresh cilantro, it means just the leaves.
Loved this recipe. I added some leftover quinoa and that worked great. I didn’t have much lime juice so added just a little rice vinegar to give a little tang. Looking forward to serving this to friends.
Absolutely delicious. I made as written and would not change anything. My husband was still talking about it the next day.
Wonderful salad! I left out the cilantro as I don’t like it. I added some orange pepper and cucumber. My husband is not usually a fan of black beans but he went back for seconds! Thanks for the recipe!
This is truly delicious and very satisfying. I had to improvise a little and use frozen corn kernels, thawed, since fresh corn isn’t yet in season and it was still excellent.
Absolutely yummy! I ended up adding the pickled onions, to the finished salad as I would any other ingredient instead of on the side. Ate leftovers for breakfast and it was wonderful – so refreshing!
this salad became our favorite salad for summer and meal for dinner. I made this salad, german potato salad and 4 pounds of chicken tenders, all other food was catered . And all Jenn’s food was gone quickly. People were taking pictures of it 🙂 so delicious.
Amazing, we couldn’t stop eating, next day took with me to work for lunch – still was so good. Planning my baby’s 1st bday. I tried many recipes from book and from here, everything turns out great. this is one of the dishes that will be on the table.very healthy and light.
So glad you enjoyed it, Edith. Happy birthday to your baby!
Thank you. Even my baby loves your scrambled eggs from your book. Every saturday my family is requesting eggs with “grass” (dill) 🙂 so simple and so delicious.
Jenn,
You are an amazing chef and teacher! This salad is delicious. I’m curious about why the pickled onions are served on the side? It’s certainly beautiful this way and I’m not sure how they would hold up or look mixed in, but I’m sure you have an educated reason.
Many thanks!
Hi Laura, I think I did that because they look prettier that way. Totally fine to mix them in, if you prefer. 🙂
Have you ever made this when corn is out of season? I am craving this salad but it is January. Do you think defrosted, frozen corn is the way to go?
Sure, Katie, frozen corn should work here. Just defrost it first. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I never would have thought to put all of these ingredients together, but I am so glad you did! They all work so well together, the taste is fresh and flavorful. I have been taking this to work for lunch and I find myself thinking about that wonderful salad waiting for me in my lunchbox. Thank you for another super recipe!
Can a sweeter white onion (NoonDay/Vidalia) be substituted and taste well?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tried this with a sweet onion, but I suspect it will be fine. Hope you enjoy!
I love this dish. Emailed it to my son who lives alone and likes to cook. It’s good anytime, but extra good as a summer supper.
Jenn! Another amazing dish! I made as written but doubled the shrimp!
Just can’t go wrong with any of your recipes! Thank you so much!
Delicious! Flavors play off each other so well! I didn’t change a thing and meat-and-potatoes hubby (who doesn’t like cilantro) says this is a keeper. Thank you for another wonder recipe!
This is fantastic! So much flavor! I absolutely love your recipes! Thank you!
Looks delish! How long should the pickled onions keep if stored in lets say a Mason jar and refrigerated?
Hi Laura, They’ll keep well for a few weeks — and if you have extra they are good on everything! Enjoy!
Jenn, these turned out great! One question. I’ve seen different recipes on the internet and some call for boiling while others go with a cold technique for the pickling. What’s the difference?
Glad you enjoyed them, Young! I believe the hot versus cold method is intended more for canning and I don’t know much about canning — sorry (but you may find this article helpful). 🙂
So good! I only made a half recipe, and will likely regret that. Already had some pickled onions, so it was quite quick. The sweet crispy corn and onions go so well with the garlicky shrimp, creamy feta and beans. Great combination of flavors. Thanks!
Very good. Prepared as described but added avocado and quartered grape tomatoes. The pickled onions add a pretty and unexpected punch. Light and tasty summer dinner.
Home run. This was absolutely delicious….an orchestra of flavors! Enjoyed by my entire family.
Would love to make this Any substitute for the feta? In general what works in its place as many recipes are using it and my family shys away if there is feta in a dish. Thank you!
Hi Evelyn, You can leave it out – or try queso fresco, which is milder in flavor than feta.
Can I substitute basil for the cilantro?
Hi Karen, If you use basil, you might leave out the cumin. Otherwise, you could try parsley or just omit the herbs entirely — it will still be delicious.
This sounds delicious – but is there a substitute for cilantro. I’ll eat it but not crazy about it. Thanks!
Hi Janice – totally fine to just leave it out. Enjoy!
Could this be served warm with quinoa?
Hi Sharon, I think that’d be delicious.
Is this salad best served room temp or cold ?
Hi Lisa, It’s delicious either way but I prefer room temp.
Rather than feta, wouldn’t cotija or other soft Mexican cheese be more fitting?
Those will work well, too, Susan – sometimes they can be hard to find.
It doesn’t say how many onions to slice to pickle them. Or is that the 3 scallions? The pictures look like red onions? I want to try this.
Hi Bruce, Thanks for catching that — it’s one medium red onion, thinly sliced.
The onion is missing from the recipe. Can parm or another cheese be used vs, feta?
Hi Joyce, Instead of feta, you could try queso fresco.
Served it to 9 women and we all loved it. Tasted just as good the second day with the little leftovers there was.