This 10-minute Black Bean Salsa is made with canned black beans, sweet corn, bell peppers, red onion, and avocado. The cilantro, jalapeño, and lime give it authentic Mexican flavor. Serve this easy salsa with tortilla chips, in tacos, burritos, and over grilled meat.
Black Bean Corn Salsa
One of my favorite Mexican party foods of all time is black bean corn salsa.
I absolutely love the texture of the beans and fresh produce combined with the distinct Mexican flavors of fresh cilantro, jalapeño, and lime juice.
This fun, Tex-Mex recipe dates back to my earliest beginnings as a deli/bakery manager in a health food store.
My co-manager, Kris, contributed her black bean corn salsa recipe to the deli and I’ll never forget how that stuff flew off the shelves!
It’s light, soooo flavorful, and loaded with nutrition!
I adapted her recipe and added bell peppers, instead of tomatoes, so that I could make it any season outside of tomato season.
Every time I make a black bean salsa, I think of Kris and those glorious college days where I got paid to play with food.
How to make Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Step 1. Drain and rinse the canned black beans and thaw the corn (if frozen).
Step 2. Chop the bell peppers, onions, jalapeño pepper, and cilantro.
Step 3. Zest and juice lime and dice the avocado
Step 4. Combine all ingredients (except avocado) in a mixing bowl.
Step 5. Cover and chill until ready to serve, then add avocado…and devour!
What I love about a black bean salsa
- easy to assemble and comes together in ten minutes
- canned black beans are convenient to use and loaded with fiber and protein
- it’s reduced-sodium friendly
- naturally vegan and gluten-free
- can be made a day or two in advance
- uses everyday ingredients
- everyone LOVES it!
Black Bean Corn Salsa Ingredients:
- canned black beans
- frozen sweet corn
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- jalapeño pepper
- cilantro
- fresh lime
- salt and pepper
- avocado
Tools I use to make this recipe:
Want more Mexican recipes?
- Loaded Black Bean Dip
- Chicken Tacos
- Totchos Tater Tot Nachos
- Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa
- Avocado Ranch Dressing and Dip
- Peach Salsa
Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz can Black Beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup Corn fresh, frozen, or canned
- 1/2 Red Bell Pepper diced
- 1/2 medium Red Onion 1/2 cup diced
- 1 Jalapeño Pepper seeded and diced
- 1 Lime zested and juiced
- 1/4 cup Cilantro finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Avocado diced
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together BEANS, CORN, BELL PEPPER, ONION, JALAPENO PEPPER, LIME JUICE, CILANTRO, SALT, and PEPPER; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- To serve, gently fold in diced AVOCADO.
- Serve with tortilla chips or as a topping for nachos, tacos, burritos.
Nutrition
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Ou heck yes! This kind of reminds me of cowboy caviar, but better. Because hello, avocado! This is so so refreshing and exactly what I need this time of year to brighten things up. I’m kind of over comfort food now. I want light, bright, and warm-weather inspired!
Thanks Dana! I’m right there with you on being ready for warm-weather foods. Can’t wait for the new season! 🙂
I love making a salsa bar for Cinco de Mayo parties or game day get togethers, and this black bean corn avocado salsa would be a great addition. I bet it would also be really easy to turn it into a meal by spooning it over some baked sweet potatoes and topping the whole thing with a dollop of sour cream. Great recipe!
Thanks Daniela! Yep, it’s very versatile like that 🙂
You know, I could eat this as a meal. Seriously, I’d eat this dip just like a salad! Love all of the ingredients and the addition of beans is perfection. SO GOOD!
Thanks so much, Trish! I’ve eaten this one as a salad many times! It’s the perfect snack too 🙂
What a perfect salsa for fresh corn! I love cutting the kernels off the cobs for salads, so making this salsa is right up my alley. And the colors are great too – the yellow, red, black, and green of the veggies makes eating healthy both fun and tasty.
Thanks Annemarie! Yep, I love fresh corn in the summer…it’s my go-to for sure! 🙂
Thanks, Traci for inspiring this recipe! What a great memory. And a super delicious, fast, salsa. We brought this to a party and it was a huge hit!
Awesome and thank YOU Tracy! So glad it was such a hit! 🙂
Oh I love this as an afternoon snack before dinner is ready. So easy to whip up a big batch and have it hanging out in the fridge for a bit of a nibble instead of reaching for something I shouldn’t!
Thanks Donna! It is the perfect snack food…have used it that way many many times 🙂
What a beautiful salsa! The flavor combination makes my mouth water. Avocado is one of my favorite ingredients. This looks so satisfying, I don’t think I even need dippers for it. I might just spoon it over a salad and call it lunch!
Thanks so much, Annissa! Love hearing those words 🙂
10 minutes and loaded with homemade flavor? I’m in!! So simple, yet so much better than jarred salsa. Love that you can prep it in advance and just add the avocado last minute. Easy clean up when you have guests or take to someone else’s house.
Thanks Debra! Yep, all the flavor is in this one! 🙂
This looks perfect for game day! I love a good salsa, it sounds like such a refreshing bite! I wish I had a bowl of this right now actually.
Thanks Carmy! Come on over! 🙂
This is nicely timed for me! I’m looking to use beans more and more (I love how fast I can have them ready in my Instant Pot), and I’m looking for better, healthier snacks. Great idea about leaving the avocado out until you’re closer to serving time. I can see how this would last quite a bit longer minus that ingredient. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Sean! We love cooking beans in our IP too…doing it right now, in fact! 🙂 Yep, this recipe gets ALL the beans into your diet. Cheers to you too!
Your salsa looks delicious !! There is something about a Tex-Mex appetizer that no-one can resist. In fact we have all of the ingredients – they would be perfect for the Super Bowl party. I know the boys won’t be able to resist anything with black beans and corn. Just give them some nacho scoopers and they’re in hog heaven.
Thanks so much, Marisa! Haha, I’m right there with the boys…I inhale this stuff! 🙂
Traci, the fresh flavors and healthy ingredients in this salsa look great for dipping, but also to spoon over a piece of grilled chicken or fish. I have a similar recipe, but it doesn’t have corn and includes a can of ro-tel. We make it any time we have company and people just plow through it. I’m excited to have a new version I can share. I am making up my shopping list now!
Yay Lisa…I’m excited to hear it! This is absolutely one of our fav recipes of all time! Hope you love it like we do 🙂
I always have cans of black beans in the house. This sounds delicious…and I know it would be a hit on Mexican night. What a great “take along” to a pot luck too.
Thanks Gloria! Yep, perfect pot luck dish for any Mexican themed event! 🙂
This just sounds so fresh and delicious. Plus being healthy is a nice bonus 🙂
Thanks Danielle…you’re right…super bonus 🙂
I’ve been known to make entire meals out of salsa, so this is right up my alley!
Thanks Sue! I’m right there with you 🙂
Yum! I’d have a hard time sharing this with anyone else!
Haha thanks Denisse…that’s a nice compliment 🙂
One of the things I most love about mid-April to early May is all of the delicious and fun Mexican recipes that come out! Your recipe definitely falls into the delicious and fun category!! I can not wait to try your recipe!!
Aww thanks Elaine! I’m right there with you on the Mexican recipe blast! 🙂
Black beans are my favorite and we love them in salsas and many other foods. This would be perfect with fish too. Yum!
Thanks April…they’re a favorite of ours too! So versatile! 🙂
This salsa looks perfect! I love beans in my salsa. Absolutely, why not for dinner?
Haha thanks, Beth! Love beans in salsa too! 🙂
You are making me want to eat salsa for breakfast…that closeup of the chip with salsa, OMG!
Haha Sandi thanks…I love your comment! 🙂 It gets me every time too LOL
This deliciousness would totally spoil my appetite for dinner too but WORTH IT!!!
LOL Thanks Jenn! I may or may not have eaten this for dinner…and nothing else…except chips 😉
mmmmm yum! i never would have thought to put black beans in a salsa! love it! looks really fresh and flavourful!
Thanks Georgie! It’s a favorite treat for sure! 🙂
Love this ingredient list and how simple this is!! Perfect as a dip for a little Mexican night or basically all the nights!! And it makes such an awesome topping too!
Yay thanks Christina! I’m with you on ALL the nights 🙂
I love beans and love corn so I know black bean and corn salad must be good. Is it okay to use canned corn instead of frozen?
April, absolutely! Fresh, frozen, or canned works perfectly. I’ll make a note of it in the recipe…in fact, I think I’ll take out the “frozen” part LOL. No need for it to be that specific. Thanks for asking 🙂
I am going to make this salsa to put on top of tostadas tonight for dinner. Looks nice and spicy. 😋
Great! Hope you love it like I do! It’ll taste even better the next day 🙂
I bet this is delish! I want some right now!
Thanks Rebecca, wish I had a whole bowl of it right now…I’d share 🙂
Wow, this recipe looks delicious! I really like all the ingredients in this recipe! This is the perfect for me! I definitely want to try it ! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Thanks Veena! You’re so very welcome…hope you get to try it out! 🙂
This is all my favorite ingredients in one Yummy bowl. And that’s so cool how you got paid to play with food.
Thanks Stephanie! I’m right there with you 🙂 And yep, gotta love getting paid to be in the kitchen!
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through
some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and
checking back frequently!
Hey there, Emily. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Hope you’re loving the recipes here! Any questions, lemme know 😉
How does this taste and look as a make ahead dish?
Great question! It holds up perfect for 48 hours or more, as long as you don’t add any avocados until you are ready to serve. At that point, dice your avos and give them a quick toss with the salad.