Name: Black Bean Corn Avocado Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 19 oz black beans (1 can, drained and rinsed); 10 oz corn kernels (1 can, drained); 2 cups tomatoes (chopped); 1 avocado (chopped); 1 jalapeno (minced); 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped); 4 green onions (chopped); zest from one lime; 4 tbsp lime juice; 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste); 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)

This Black Bean Corn Avocado Salad is a crowd pleaser, colorful and full of nutrition. This salad is great served as an entree, side or even a delicious salsa.

a bowl of black bean corn and avocado salad surrounded with tortilla

The beauty of this salad is that it can be served as a meal on its own, a side dish or even as a salsa, though if you serve it as a salsa I’d chop the tomatoes a bit smaller. I actually made this salad today because we bought a smoker, and we smoked a whole lot of meat, salmon, pork, chicken, you name it, so I needed a salad to go with all that meat. It’s so perfectly yummy!

My favorite thing about this salad is that it has no oil, can you believe it? I almost always add olive oil to my salads, but this right here doesn’t require it. The dressing is simply lime juice and I seasoned it a bit with salt and pepper. Trust me it’s full of flavor from all the wonderful ingredients here.

This salad though is full of nutrition. I actually posted this salad 8 years ago, believe it or not, and thought it was time to give you guys some better pictures. I originally found the recipe in a book I’ve had for a long time called Make It In Minutes, and when I first tried it, I was pleasantly surprised because I had another great salad to add to my repertoire.

a bowl of black bean corn and avocado salad before mixing everything together

Ingredients

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Beans – 1 entire can of black beans, rinsed and drained.
Corn – I used canned corn today, drained, but feel free to use frozen or fresh if you’d prefer!
Veggies – Avocado, tomatoes, and jalapeños.
Limes – We’re using both lime zest and fresh lime juice for our super fresh salad today.
Herbs – Fresh cilantro and green onion chopped up.
Seasoning – Salt and pepper.

Want To Add Some Protein?

Feel free! Chicken or shrimp would be absolutely delectable in this dish. If you’re unsure about how exactly to introduce seafood to this dish, just refer to my delicious Avocado Shrimp Salsa recipe here.

How To Make Black Bean Corn Avocado Salad

Combine the salad: To a large bowl add the black beans, corn kernels, chopped tomatoes, avocado, jalapeno pepper, cilantro and green onions.
Create your simple dressing: Zest one lime and add the zest to the bowl, then squeeze the lime juice from 2 limes, should be about 4 tbsp or so, then season with salt and pepper. Toss everything well together.
Finish: Serve with tortilla chips.

Chop Your Ingredients Properly

There are 2 different ways to chop up your ingredients in this salad and they depend on what function your ingredient is serving. Is it adding bulk and texture like the tomato and avocado? Then chop into bigger bite sized pieces.

Is the ingredient adding flavor like cilantro or green onion? Then chop more finely so that each bite is infused with all that herby goodness. This rule applies to most dishes, so apply to your future recipes!

Salad Or Dip?

The beauty of this dish is that that decision is up to you! As you can see in the photos above I decided to pair this delicious salad with some tortilla chips, turning it into a super fresh and incredibly flavorful healthy little dip. Yum!

a white bowl of black bean corn and avocado salad

Storing Leftovers

You can refrigerate this salad in an airtight container for up to a day. Unfortunately this salad doesn’t store super well so make it fresh! Believe me, you’ll thank me later.

Black Bean Corn Avocado Salad