Black Bean and Corn Salad

Easy Black Bean and Corn Salad is colorful, nutritious, and 100% delicious!

It’s loaded with corn, black beans, avocado, red bell peppers, and red onion and topped with a zesty lemon vinaigrette dressing!

This zesty combo is also called Cowboy Caviar or Texas Caviar, which is a scrumptious dip made by simply chopping the pieces a little smaller and serving it with tortilla chips

Ready to try this super flavorful 15-minute recipe that works as both a side dish and a salad? You’re going to love it! No real cooking is required – always a win-win!

This salad is dairy-free which makes it perfect for BBQs, picnics, and beach days. Add a protein, like shredded chicken, and you’ve got a full meal.

Ready to get started? Just click on our “Jump to Recipe” button below to go straight to the recipe card. For tips, processes, and substitutions keep reading. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our affiliate disclosure for details. We only recommend products we love and use.

Ingredients needed:

This salad has 2 parts: The salad ingredients and the simple lemon dressing ingredients

The Salad:

• Corn Kernels – we prefer frozen (so easy!) or fresh corn. But you can use canned.
• Black Beans – canned beans make it simple but you could also make your own homemade beans
• Red Bell Pepper – or try yellow, orange, or green peppers (or a little of each!)
• Red Onion – or use sliced scallions
• Avocado – adds a creamy touch that is a great contrast with the pepper and onion
• Cilantro – use flat leaf parsley if you’re not a cilantro fan

The Lemon Dressing:

• Lemon Juice – use freshly squeezed (you just need one lemon)
• Olive Oil – we recommend extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor
• Garlic – optional but highly recommended (substitute garlic powder/salt in a pinch)
• Salt and Pepper – both help balance the flavors of the dressing
• Cayenne – just a pinch really gives this salad dressing a kick

How to make Black Bean and Corn Salad (or cowboy caviar)

• Cook frozen corn by steaming it in the microwave or on the stovetop for about 3 minutes, drain, and let it cool. Fresh corn, just off the cob, will likely take closer to 5 minutes. If using canned corn simply drain, rinse, and set aside.
• Drain black beans and rinse them with cool water in a colander. Let them drain completely.
• Chop the red pepper, red onion, and avocado into medium dice for the salad or small dice for cowboy caviar.
• Trim the cilantro leaves from the stems and roughly chop them.
• Add corn, beans, red onions, red peppers, and cilantro to a large salad bowl.

• Whisk all of the lemon vinaigrette dressing ingredients together in a small bowl
• Drizzle the dressing onto the salad and toss until well combined
• Add the avocado and gently mix everything together
• Best served slightly chilled or at room temperature
• If serving as Cowboy Caviar dip add some tortilla chips on the side!

Types of corn to use:

This recipe is very flexible so use what is easiest for you!

• Frozen – It’s easy peasy and only needs a quick 3-minute steam because frozen corn is pre-cooked. It can be cooked ahead of time and chilled.
• Fresh – Perfect when fresh corn on the cob is in season. Better yet, grill it up for an extra punch of flavor!
• Canned – Great in a pinch but be sure to drain well

How to Store Corn Salad:

This salad stores well, covered, in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Keep in mind that cut avocado turns brown pretty quickly, although it will still taste fine.

Make ahead tips

Everything can be prepped up to 3 days ahead of time, except the avocado, and then assembled when ready to serve.

Variations and add-in ideas:

We LOVE the flexibility of this fresh black bean corn salad. A salad that can also be a dip? How much better can it get?

Feel free to make some substitutions/additions to mix it up based on what’s in your fridge. Here are some ideas:

• Replace the red onion with scallions or white onion
• Use flat-leaf parsley instead of cilantro
• Substitute lime for the lemon in the dressing
• Make a big batch of our Classic Lemon Vinaigrette to use all week and dress the salad with that instead of the dressing below
• Add chopped tomatoes (especially great in the cowboy caviar version)
• This salad is dairy-free as written, but adding crumbled feta or goat cheese is delicious
• Any cooked protein would make this a complete meal. Try shredded chicken or turkey, tofu, or shrimp

Perfect pairings with Corn Salad

As a side dish, this salad pairs especially well with BBQ mains such as Carne Asada, Jerk Chicken, or Cedar Plank Salmon.

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5 from 6 votes

Black Bean and Corn Salad

This easy Black Bean Corn Salad is colorful, nutritious, and delicious. Loaded with corn, black beans, avocado, bell pepper, and red onion. It's also called Cowboy Caviar!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 282kcal

Author: Cyndy Ufkes ~ The Art of Food and Wine

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 cups Corn kernels Fresh or frozen
• 2 15 ounce cans Black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium Red bell pepper stemmed, seeded and diced
• 1 cup Red Onion diced
• 1 avocado diced
• ⅓ cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped

Lemon Dressing

• ¼ cup Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 generous pinch salt
• 1 generous pinch black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 generous pinch cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes)

Instructions

Making Corn Salad (or Cowboy Caviar):

• Cook frozen corn by steaming it in the microwave or on the stovetop for about 3 minutes. Drain and let cool to room temperature while preparing the rest of the salad. if using canned corn simply drain, rinse, and set aside. (Fresh corn may need about 5 minutes to be fully cooked)
• Drain and rinse the black beans with cool water. Let drain well.
• Chop the red pepper, red onion, and avocado into medium dice for the salad or small dice for cowboy caviar.
• Strip cilantro from the stems and roughly chop.

Dressing:

• In a small bowl whisk together lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Assembly:

• In a large bowl combine corn, black beans, red peppers, red onions, and cilantro and toss until well mixed.

  Drizzle on lemon dressing and toss again to coat.

  Add avocado and gently mix to combine.
• Best served slightly chilled or at room temperature.
• If serving as cowboy caviar add tortilla chips on the side for dipping.

Notes

• Common substitutions:
  • Swap red onion for white onion or scallions
  • Use lime instead of lemon for the dressing
  • Not a fan of cilantro? Just substitute parsley or leave it out altogether
  • Use roasted corn for added depth of flavor
• Other add-in ideas
  • Add chopped tomatoes
  • Feta or goat cheese crumbles work well in this salad
  • Top with grilled or roasted chicken, pork, tofu, or shrimp for a complete meal
• If making ahead: Prepare all of the ingredients and toss when ready to serve.
• Don’t cut the avocado until ready to use because they turn brown pretty quickly once they’ve been cut.

Nutrition

Serving: 6ounce | Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 627mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 579IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 3mg