This is most delicious corn and black bean salad that is mixed with crisp veggies, rice, black beans, and sweet corn, all tossed in a zesty cilantro lime dressing! Perfect as a side dish or salad for any meal. It's flavorful, simple, and packed with colorful and fresh ingredients in every bite!
Jump to:
Better Than The Rest - Here's Why
✅ If you like Chipotle's black beans, rice, and corn salsa on your tacos, burrito, and/or burrito bowl, then you are going to absolutely fall in LOVE with this version!
✅ Super fresh flavors in every bite, this salad is so simple to make and affordable. It's a great pantry recipe!
✅ You can eat this corn and black bean salad either warm or chilled, and honestly, it’s amazing both ways!
Corn and Black Bean Salad: What To Know & Recipe Highlights
- Prep Tip: Cook the rice ahead or use leftover rice to save time.
- Best Corn To Use: Fresh corn off the cob adds sweetness and texture, but frozen works good too. You can use canned corn...it's just not as good. You can also grill corn on the cob...that adds a really nice charred flavor.
- Flavor Boosters: Fresh lime juice, chopped fresh cilantro, and a pinch of cumin take this from good to restaurant-quality.
- Customizable: You can add diced avocado, grilled chicken, shrimp, or jalapeños for extra flavor and protein.
- Serve It Your Way: Serve as a side for BBQs, a light lunch, or a hearty dip with chips — it’s versatile!
- Make-Ahead: This actually tastes even better after it sits in the fridge for a bit. It's the perfect recipe for making ahead for parties or meal prep.
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
- Black Beans: drained and rinsed. Canned or cooked from dry both work.
- Corn: fresh corn from the cob tastes amazing (cooked or raw) and is my favorite, but if you use canned just drain and rinse the corn. Frozen is good too, but make sure it's thawed.
- Long Grain Rice: white or brown is good to use. Make sure it's cooked and completely cooled before adding the other ingredients.
- Bell Peppers: yellow and orange are milder; red or green add a stronger flavor. Dice them up finely for this corn salad recipe.
- Cilantro: use fresh chopped. I love it in this recipe because it provides a Tex-Mex flavor.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: used to make the dressing.
- Green Onions: fresh sliced is best.
- Garlic Cloves: skip the jarred version and use fresh cloves. Make sure you mince the garlic.
- Olive Oil: used to make the dressing.
- Lime Juice: freshly squeezed for best flavor.
- Dijon Mustard: a key ingredient to the dressing. The flavor is outstanding! It also helps the oil and lime juice blend together.
- Cumin: flavor wise, cumin pairs extremely well with cilantro, black beans, and lime juice. It adds warm, earthy flavor.
- Salt: adds flavor.
- Pepper: adds flavor.
👩🏼🍳 Make sure you see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email to receive this recipe, along with weekly food inspiration!
🥣 Here's How To Make It
Step 1: Boil 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Once water comes to a boil, add 1 cup of uncooked rice and stir. Bring to a boil, cover, and then lower the heat to low. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the rice can be fluffed with a fork.
Step 2: While the rice is cooking, dice the bell peppers and finely chop the cilantro. Slice the green onions and mince the garlic. Set aside.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, mix the cooked rice, black beans, corn, chopped orange and yellow peppers, green onions, and cilantro. Set aside.
Step 4: In a small bowl, add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced cloves of garlic, Dijon mustard, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine.
Step 5: Pour the dressing ingredients over the rice and bean mixture and toss to coat.
Step 6: Serve immediately.
🙋🏼♀️ Top Questions I Get Asked About This Recipe
Yes! Jasmine and Basmati rice also work extremely well in this recipe! To make this even more healthy, use brown rice!
Yes! You can make this up to a day before serving, just don't add the cilantro lime dressing until you are ready to serve.
Expert Tips
- To add even more flavor, try using chicken broth instead of water when boiling the rice.
- If you prefer pinto beans over black beans, then switch them out. These Instant Pot Pinto Beans work really well in this recipe!
- Fresh avocado and freshly shredded cheese are great adds! Mild cheddar or Colby Jack cheese taste amazing! To add a bit of heat, use Pepper Jack cheese.
- This is an excellent recipe to serve at a picnic.
- Store any leftovers in a container with an air tight lid and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- The easiest way to reheat this is either in the microwave or on the stovetop. Heat until slightly warm.
More Flavor-Packed Favorites Like This One
If you tried this corn and black bean salad or any other recipes on my website, let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love hearing from you! And please leave a 🌟 rating while you're there!
📧 Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter, so that you don’t miss out on any of my delicious recipes!
Corn and Black Bean Salad
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- knife
- cutting board
- large mixing bowl
- small mixing bowl
Ingredients
For The Corn and Black Bean Salad
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 15 ounce can black beans, drained
- 15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ½ orange bell pepper, diced
- ½ yellow bell pepper, diced
- 5 green onions, sliced
For The Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- juice from a ½ lime
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Boil 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Once water comes to a boil, add 1 cup of uncooked rice and stir. Bring to a boil, cover, and then lower the heat to low. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the rice can be fluffed with a fork.
- While the rice is cooking, dice the bell peppers and finely chop the cilantro. Set aside.
- Slice the green onions and mince the garlic. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the cooked rice, black beans, corn, chopped orange and yellow peppers, green onions, and cilantro. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, add ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ apple cider vinegar, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Whisk to combine.
- Pour the dressing ingredients over the rice and bean mixture and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
-
- To add even more flavor, try using chicken broth instead of water when boiling the rice.
- For the black beans, if you have cooked black beans you made from a bag, those work perfect in this recipe.
- For the corn, you can also use fresh corn from a cob or frozen corn, as long as it's thawed.
- To make this a meal, add chicken or steak for even more protein!
- Fresh avocado is a great add and tastes amazing!
- Freshly shredded cheese is also a great add! Mild cheddar or Colby Jack cheese taste amazing! To add a bit of heat, use Pepper Jack cheese.
- Store any leftovers in a container with an air tight lid and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- The easiest way to reheat this is either in the microwave or on the stovetop. Heat until slightly warm.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email to receive this recipe, along with weekly food inspiration!
Leave a Reply