Black Bean and Corn Salad

This Black Bean and Corn Salad is the perfect make-ahead side since it’s served cold and requires NO cooking! It’s vegetarian and vegan friendly, and literally all you do is mix some stuff in a bowl and call it a day.

My in-laws are in town, so it’s been a very fun week of walking around town, enjoying the mild summer in New England (very different from the Texas they are used to) and of course, eating.

Since Zach and I cook so much from home, whenever we visit with his parents we always make them dinner. When we visited last, it was chicken piccata pasta (yummmm). This time, it was easy chicken enchiladas with my new favorite side dish: black bean and corn salad.

This recipe was a happy accident that I think I may make this every week this summer. Why, you ask? I will tell you why.

1. It’s SO easy to make. (it takes 10 minutes and minimal effort)
2. It’s served cold, so you can make it ahead of time and just take it out of the fridge when you are ready to eat. And it’s super refreshing.
3. I can think of a million things to do with it (as a side, as a salsa with tortilla chips, on tacos, on top of grilled fish or veggies…)
4. It’s budget-friendly!

Did I mention it’s delicious? The dressing is my favorite part- extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and zest, salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and a touch of honey to balance out the acidity of the limes. Yum yum yum.

Guests coming into town does not have to be a stressful affair in terms of providing delicious food to eat. It can be very tempting to go out to eat for each and every meal when you have company, simply because it’s easier.

But with a little planning ahead, making a home-cooked, healthy, and impressive meal from scratch really isn’t that hard.

For this meal, I had made chipotle enchilada sauce weeks ago and frozen half of it, so I just pulled that out of the freezer. I marinated the smoky mexican pulled chicken ahead of time, so I only had to cook and shred it, and assemble the enchiladas the night of dinner.

While they were cooking, I made this black bean salad, inspired by the latest issue of Food Network Magazine’s 50 picnic salads article.

The prep work for the entire meal only took about 20 minutes, so I was able to enjoy the company of my family while waiting for the enchiladas to cook.

Note: I updated this post as of April 2017 with new photos and some adjustments to the recipe. The old one had avocado in it, but I chose to take it out simply because they don’t hold up very well in a make-ahead dish. If you want, throw some in there! It will be delicious. I also adjusted the amounts of the ingredients a touch to make a larger amount- I suggest making a half batch is you don’t need too much.

Here’s the printable recipe for Black Bean and Corn Salad. Enjoy!

If you like this Black Bean and Corn Salad, you’ll LOVE this Quick and Easy Black Beans and Rice.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

This Black Bean and Corn Salad is the perfect make-ahead side since it's served cold and requires NO cooking! It's vegetarian and vegan friendly, and literally all you do is mix some stuff in a bowl and call it a day. Serve as a side, on top of greens as a main course salad, or use as a salsa with tortilla chips!

5 from 9 votes

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 276kcal

Author: Elizabeth Lindemann

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Ingredients

For the Dressing:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• zest and juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

For the Salad:

• 45 oz. canned black beans (3 small cans) drained and rinsed
• 16 oz. frozen corn (3 cups) thawed and patted dry
• 2 jalapeño peppers de-seeded and diced
• 1 bell pepper diced (I used 1/2 red and 1/2 orange for color)
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup diced red onion

Instructions

• Whisk together olive oil, honey, lime juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
• Add remaining ingredients to bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
• Mix and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Serve cold.

Notes

• For a vegan version, substitute the honey with agave or sugar.
• The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 763mg | Potassium: 720mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 586IU | Vitamin C: 33mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition Information Disclaimer

The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:

Very Well Fit Nutrition Information Calculator

My Fitness Pal Recipe Nutrition Calculator

Add the recipe to Yummly

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