This corn black bean & avocado salsa is a party in a bowl, if you will. Loaded with chunks of avocado, plus plenty of black beans, cilantro, lime, red onion, and flavor, this is a quintessential dip for chips, but also acts as a wonderful side dish salad.
I promise you one thing: you won’t stop eating this.
Tell Me About This Corn Black Bean & Avocado Salsa
- Texture: For texture lovers, this salsa is a dream come true. There’s something different in every single bite which makes it hard (actually IMPOSSIBLE) to stop eating it. You’ll never get bored!
- Flavor: You’ll enjoy many different flavors like salty, tangy, and a little bit sweet from the corn. Plus, the lime juice gives it incredible zing.
- Ease: This is a very easy dip, salsa, and side dish recipe because everything goes into 1 bowl. Mix it up and you’re done. Like homemade pesto, this is “hardly a recipe” recipe since it’s so very simple.
- Time: Total prep time is 10 minutes. It tastes best after at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Success Tips for Corn Black Bean & Avocado Salsa
- Experiment with the corn. You can use fresh or canned. For an extra burst of flavor, try roasted corn.
- Talk about flexibility. The great thing about this recipe is that you can adapt it to what you like. Dislike onions? Leave them out. Not a fan of cilantro? Skip it. Don’t like spice? Forget the cayenne or jalapeño. For a fruity twist, add diced mango. Shall I go on? Seriously, this is the most adaptable recipe. Have fun with it.
- Let it sit. For the best flavor, let the prepared salsa sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day before serving. The flavors will mingle and intensify during this time. Because they’re mixed with lime juice, you don’t have to worry about the avocados browning.
How to Serve This Salsa
- with crunchy chips
- as a side salad alongside dishes like sweet chili chicken, jalapeño turkey burgers, or honey chipotle salmon
- topping on grilled chicken
- for dessert, serve lime-infused treats such as mini margarita cheesecakes, key lime pie, or coconut lime cookies
No matter how you serve it, I guarantee there won’t be any leftovers.
Print
Corn Black Bean Avocado Salsa
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: about 4 cups
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
This corn black bean & avocado salsa is loaded with avocado, black beans, corn, and cilantro. It’s perfect as a chip dip or side salad.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups fresh, canned, or frozen (and thawed) corn kernels
- 1 and 1/2 cups canned (cooked) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 small red onion, diced
- 1 cup (150g) diced tomato
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch ground pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper
- optional: 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
Instructions
- Add everything to a large bowl. Stir. Taste and add more salt/pepper/cayenne as needed.
- Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 1 day before enjoying. I find its flavor is best after an hour or so. (The lime juice and red onion keeps the avocado from turning brown.)
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Citrus Juicer
- This recipe is so forgiving! Feel free to sub ingredients and spices in and out according to your tastes. Sometimes I add diced mango for a fruity, refreshing twist.
Delicious! This is a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This sounds really good, but I am not a fan of cilantro. What can I use instead?
Hi Annette, you can simply leave it out. Parsley or basil would be nice substitutions though. Feel free to reduce the amount.
This is the best version of this type of recipe! Totally addictive!
Try using a ground Morita pepper! Available at Hispanic food markets.
Moritas are the little brother do chipotles. When growing, much smaller than a regular jalapeño with more “meat” in the pepper walls. Sweeter with equal heat. SMOKED (Morita), they are just superb!!!
I tried this today. Very good. I used 2 avocados. Our family enjoys a little more spice so I may try a serrano peppers next time.
Absolutely delicious!! Made this for Cinco de Mayo along with some enchiladas. So good!! Question though.. will it freeze & defrost well?
Hi Tara, we’re so glad you enjoyed this salsa! We haven’t tried freezing this recipe, but I fear the avocado wouldn’t fare well in the freezer. Let us know if you give it a try!
I made this for a 4th of July BBQ and everyone loved it. I added a mango I had sitting on the counter. Shared the recipe with everyone who asked. The tiny bit of leftovers my husband at with a spoon the next day. Will be making again. Thanks!
I made this on the 4th of July and my husband and I loved it. Thanks
I made it but I added shrimp to mine:) it was amazing:) Thank you for posting. Maria
Have made this several times for friends and it’s always a hit! I usually put in 2-3 avocados.
I am madly in love with this salsa!! I was making quesadillas for my kids and spooned a decent helping of this into the middle before adding more cheese and folding it over. Messy but amazing!!!
I’ve made this several times and it is amazing. I made it yesterday and barbequed the corn for a nice smokey taste and then mixed it with the other ingredients. I also grilled some beef sliced it and put it in a taco with the salso. Yum
I made this for my girls’ birthday fiesta…Mainly for the other family members who love Black Beans (I wouldn’t touch them). My husband is from Venezuela and I thought it’d be a good surprise for him. YOU HAVE CHANGED ME! I tried it because I have a rule to try new things and things I don’t normally like….and I LOVED this! Thank you so much! I’ve made it several times since and plan to make it a lot more!
I absolutely love this stuff! I ate an entire bowl of it once all by my lonesome as the hubby’s not a big fan of it. More for me!! I will NOT be ashamed! 🙂 I usually add cumin to mine for that classic Tex-Mex flavor. Thanks for the avocado addition, Sally. Now that’s a party!! 🙂
This is amazing! Can’t wait until it’s been chilled for an hour. This will be perfect with grilled chicken for dinner, and for lunch tomorrow… I’m gonna have to get more tomatoes.
oh.my.gosh. This was HEAVEN! We ate it like a “bean salad” with spoons. I’ve tried dozens of avocado/corn/bean/tomato salads, and they’re never “that recipe”. Now I am officially done of my hunt for the perfect one because I found it! Thank you SO much! Just added it to my recipe book, and made it two days in a row! YES!
I made this salsa recipe yesterday and added grilled diced chicken to it, for lunch. I also added an extra avocado, because I really like them. Yum!