This post may contain affiliate links. Read more at our disclosure policy.
This Black Bean Salad is an easy and fresh BBQ side dish with flavors from fresh tomatoes, heat from jalapeños and finished with a citrus vinaigrette. It’s also one of the easiest salad recipes on our website.
This black bean salad recipe makes a great side to recipes like Smoked Brisket, Smoked Baby Back Ribs, or even a relish for these Smoked Mexican Burgers. Heck, you can even eat it with chips!
Table of Contents
Key Black Bean Salad Ingredients
- Black Beans – We use canned and rinsed black beans.
- Sweet Corn – Canned corn is easy to use. Alternatively you can make Grilled Corn on the Cob for a richer flavor.
- Cherry Tomatoes – Use any tomato, just cut them to a similar size as the corn and black beans.
- Onion – We prefer red onion for the more distinct flavor but you can sub with any onion you like like the sweet onion for a softer flavor.
- Bell Peppers – We like the color of orange and red bell peppers. We suggest avoiding the more vegetal and bitter flavor of green bell pepper.
- Avocado – The creamy flavor of avocado adds a nice balance to the crisper fresh vegetables.
- Dressing – See the steps below for more details. The dressing is tangy and delicious with the acid from the vinegar.
- For spice add jalapeños and for an herbal flavor we finish with fresh cilantro. If you don’t like cilantro you can leave it out.
How to Make a Black Bean Salad
It cannot be any easier. Simply rinse the beans, prep your fresh ingredients, and then add them together in a large bowl. Add the dressing and stir.
Season as needed and serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this to you AND teach you how to smoke the perfect turkey.
Black Bean Dressing Recipe
When making a black bean salad dressing, or even cowboy caviar, we use three flavor profiles to build our dressing. We start with acid, add olive oil, and finish with our herbs or spices. It’s so easy to modify to your palate.
- Acid – Red Wine Vinegar is great, alternatively you can use rice wine vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, or even white wine vinegar. We also add lime, which in addition to acid, gives a fresh bright flavor to the dressing.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – The oil is great for binding together the acid and other ingredients. You can use a flavored version like garlic or jalapeno, or use a high-quality olive oil. Arbuequna-style olive oil is fruity and amazing with this dish.
- Herbs or Spices – We love keeping it simple with a good quality kosher salt and pepper. But you can add cumin, cayenne, thyme, or any host of flavors that you like. Start small and add more after you taste it in the salad.
We really want the freshness of the black bean salad to be the star. So we add a little bit of a dressing to give some acidity and a binding agent. But we don’t go overboard and we only make a little bit.
Add the dressing just before serving, because the black beans will absorb the dressing if made in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It’s easier to use canned low sodium black beans, rinse them in a strainer and then add them to the salad. The texture is soft, the flavor is still very good and there is no need to spend time soaking and cooking the black beans.
The salad will last up to three days once dressed. After that the vegetables will oxidize and the dressing will make the texture mushy. If you are preparing this recipe ahead, make everything, including the dressing.
Keep the dressing in a separate mason jar and then mix no more than 24 hours in advance of serving.
Variations
- Add cumin for some earthy flavor
- Double the dressing portion for a relish
- Use a flavored vinegar or olive oil
- Add other beans for more flavor and color, like white beans
Other Great BBQ Sides
This is also one of our favorite spring recipes and BBQ Side Dishes.
- Grilled Shishito Peppers are great when in season.
- Mac and Cheese is always a go-to.
- Cold Lentil Salad with smoked sausage is another great option.
Black Bean Salad Recipe With Lime and Pepper Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 15 ounce cans low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can sweet corn, drained
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ¼ cup diced orange bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced avocado
- ¼ cup diced jalapeños, ribs and seeds removed
- ¼ cup cilantro
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lime fresh squeezed
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarse black pepper
Instructions
Dressing
- In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk to incorporate.
Black Bean Salad
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix using your hands (it's easier).
- Add the dressing and then using a large spoon mix.
- Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is delicious but your nutrition facts are way off!!
Thank you. We use an automated system but for portion sizes revalidating the information seems consistent with what we published.
I make a similar recipe and add a can of chopped mandarin oranges! Reserve the juice and use for the acid portion of the dressing. Very good and you can even eat it like salsa. This is such a fantastic versatile recipe.
Love the addition of the citrus, especially as an added dressing. We agree that there are so many ways to modify this to your own preference for sure.
We made this last night and it was delicious!! Do you have the nutrition facts for this recipe?
Thank you Sandi! We just updated the recipe card to include the nutrition information.