Black Bean and Corn Salad is the ultimate healthy summer side dish—packed with fresh corn, black beans, and cherry tomatoes and dressed with a cilantro-lime vinaigrette.
Black Bean and Corn Salad is one of my favorite ways to celebrate summer. Though you can make this dish year-round with canned or frozen corn and supermarket cherry tomatoes (and I do), nothing compares with summer farmers’ market corn and tomatoes. Add black beans, bright lime juice, and cilantro, and you’ve got summer side dish perfection.
Jump to:
Why Make This Dish
- Once you cook your corn on the cob, this dish comes together in minutes, and it’s happy to sit in your refrigerator until you need it. Make it while you’re grilling out back, or make it in advance and serve it the next day.
- And, this black bean corn salad is light and healthy—just the way I like to (try to) eat in the summer. And though I love nothing more than eating a salty, buttery ear of fresh corn, midway through summer, I'm searching for new ways to use those delicious kernels.
- Bring this dish to a summer BBQ or potluck, and you’ll please almost everyone there since this recipe is not only super tasty, but also gluten-free, vegan, and nut-free.
🥗 Ingredients
This recipe calls for only 6 ingredients, besides salt and pepper:
- Black Beans: Either cook your own first from dried beans, or used canned. You can substitute another kind of beans, chickpeas, or black eyed peas in this dish.
- Corn: I love corn fresh off the cob in this dish, especially in the summer, when there's plenty to go around. But you can also used frozen or canned corn and make this dish year-round. Personally, I love Del Monte’s Summer Crisp canned corn when fresh corn is out of season.
- Cherry Tomatoes: I like how cherry tomatoes keep their shape in this salad, even when sliced in half. If you can't find cherry tomatoes, though, you can replace with full-size tomatoes, chopped into bite-sized chunks. Seasonal, ripe tomatoes will give you the best flavor!
- Lime Juice: You can replace this with lemon juice, or with white wine vinegar or cider vinegar.
- Cilantro: I love the flavor fresh cilantro adds to this dish, but you could try a different twist by using fresh basil or parsley instead.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
To start, you’ll need to cook your corn. Trim off the silk and leaves at the top of each ear of corn and pull off any loose pieces of husk. Then put the corn (still in their husks) on a plate in the microwave and microwave for 10-15 minutes, depending on how large your ears of corn are. In general, an ear of corn will take around 4 minutes, with 2-3 minutes for each additional ear of corn.
Remove plate carefully from microwave, and let corn rest for 5 minutes to cool down.
When corn is cool enough to handle, peel back husk and remove corn silk. Then stand corn upright in a large bowl, holding it tightly at the top (you can use the husk you have peeled back for a better grip), and then slice off corn kernels using a sharp chef’s knife.
Drain and rinse the black beans. Rinse the cherry tomatoes and slice each in half.
Next, make the vinaigrette. Whisk the lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. I also love this salad with my Honey Lime Vinaigrette!
Stir in corn kernels, black beans, tomatoes, and cilantro. Taste, and add salt and pepper if necessary. That’s it!
🧐 FAQs
Yes, you can definitely make this black bean corn salad in advance. In fact, it benefits from a few hours of letting the flavors meld. If you let it sit more than a day, it may lose a little flavor, though I often make a big batch and eat it over a few days, and I hardly notice the difference.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this version of a black bean and corn salad because of the cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes don’t freeze and thaw nicely, and you’ll be left with quite a soggy salad. If you want to try freezing this, just don’t include the tomatoes. Still delicious!
👩🍳 Expert Tips
How to Cook Corn without a Microwave
If you don't have a microwave, you can also cook corn by sautéing it briefly in a nonstick skillet. Just cut off the cob, as shown above, then add to the skillet with a little bit of butter or olive oil. It will only need 2-3 minutes to cook through. Then cool before adding to the salad.
What to Serve with this Black Bean and Corn Salad
This dish really does play well with almost anything. It's a great side dish to grilled meat, tofu or fish, and perfect with a plate of fried chicken. Take in a Mediterranean direction and serve it with this Whole Baked Fish.
More Black Bean and Corn Recipes
Love the combination of black beans and corn? Same here. Try this Black Bean Corn Salsa, great with tortilla chips. Or turn it into a main course with this Orzo Pasta Salad recipe!
Other Delicious Summer Recipes
If you like this Black Beans and Corn Salad recipe, you may also be interested in checking out my Summer Recipes archive. Or, see below for some of my favorites!
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Vanilla Bean Cuisine.
Black Bean and Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 4 ears of corn or 3 cups of corn kernels
- 1 15-ounce can low-sodium black beans
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons lime juice from about 2 limes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Trim off the silk and leaves at the top of each ear of corn and pull off any loose pieces of husk. Then put the corn (still in their husks) on a plate in the microwave and microwave for 10-15 minutes, depending on how large your ears of corn are. Remove plate carefully from microwave, and let corn rest for 5 minutes to cool down.
- When corn is cool enough to handle, peel back husk and remove corn silk. Then stand corn upright in a large bowl, holding it tightly at the top (you can use the husk you have peeled back for a better grip), and then slice off corn kernels using a sharp chef’s knife.
- Drain and rinse the black beans.
- Rinse the cherry tomatoes and slice each in half.
- Next, make the vinaigrette. Whisk the lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.
- Stir in corn kernels, black beans, and tomatoes.
- Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
Amy says
Fantastic recipe! I added cumin, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to kick it up a bit. I served this at a party with tortilla and pita chips and it was a hit!
Molly Pisula says
Yum! Love the addition of extra spices in there!
Ellen Marciel says
This recipe was easy and delicious! I still cook corn on the cob the old-fashioned way, in a big pot of boiling water. But other than that, I followed the recipe and it came out great!