🌽🫘🎉 My Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad is an EASY corn salad with black beans, zucchini, red onions, cilantro, lime juice, and more! With so much Mexican-inspired FLAVOR in every bite, it’s sure to be a family favorite!
Easy Corn and Black Bean Salad Recipe
This Mexican corn salad has so many awesome flavors and textures that whenever I make a corn salad like this, it disappears so quickly! It’s a spinoff of this Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad, but with grilled zucchini and red onions along with the grilled sweet corn.
I added plenty of butter after shaving the corn off the cobs along with black beans, fire-roasted green chiles, lime juice, cilantro, and red chili flakes for a little kick, although you can omit them if you’re not into the kick part.
We’re trying to milk every last drop of summer, and this grilled corn salad is perfect for Labor Day weekend or end-of-summer (family) backyard barbecues.
The Mexican corn and black bean salad is naturally gluten-free, vegetarian, and it’s vegan if you use a vegan buttery spread rather than real butter.
This salad is fantastic! I had a ginormous zucchini that I had to peel and seed but it still cooked up just fine on the grill. This makes a generous bowl of goodness but it is so tasty ( and healthy) so I am thrilled to eat it for a few days.
Paula
Ingredients and Notes
To make this easy Mexican salad with black beans and corn, you’ll need:
- Fresh Produce – Fresh sweet corn, zucchini, and red onion
- Olive oil – You can substitue avocado oil, but I prefer the stronger flavor of olive oil for this recipe
- Unsalted butter – Use vegan butter if you need to keep this recipe dairy-free
- Black beans
- Fire-roasted green chiles – The fire-roasted diced green chiles don’t make the salad spicy, but simply add another subtle layer of flavor
- Lime juice – Freshly squeezed is best, but bottled lime juice also works
- Fresh cilantro – Substitute fresh parsley, if preferred
- Kosher salt and black pepper – Don’t be afraid to add salt to this. I used about a tablespoon of kosher salt. I realize that sounds like a lot, but there are six ears of corn, one jumbo or two medium zucchini, a can of no-salt-added black beans, and more! It’s a lot of food to season, and it’s really important to add enough salt and pepper to bring this dish to life
- Red chile flakes, optional – I added about 1 tablespoon of red chili flakes. Now they do give the salad some kick, although still not spicy. If you don’t like heat, or are making this for a group of people who are sensitive to spicy foods, then add less or omit them altogether
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Recipe Variations
This corn and black bean Mexican salad recipe is ripe for experimentation and mixing and matching based on what you enjoy.
Some recipe tweaks include:
- Add red bell peppers to the grill basket with the zucchini and red onion
- Add avocado (I would have, but mine were all rock hard)
- Roma, heirloom, grape, or cherry tomatoes are juicy perfection here
- Incorporate grilled chicken for extra protein
- Add cayenne pepper or jalapeños with the seeds if you’re looking for more kick or up the red chile flakes
- Toss in diced cucumbers at the end to amp the veggie level
- Cotija cheese, queso fresco, or even feta cheese would be lovely
The sky is the limit with where you want to take this grilled corn and black bean salad with Mexican-inspired flavors!
How to Make Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad
It’s so easy to prepare this Mexican salad with black beans and corn! Here’s an overview of the recipe steps:
- I recommend using fresh, in-season, sweet corn. I clean the corn by removing all the husks and silks, drizzle the corn with a bit of olive oil and rub it in, and add the corn directly to the grill. Alongside it in a grill basket, I have chunky-diced zucchini and red onion, also drizzled with olive oil.
- Grilling the corn for about 7 to 8 minutes over medium-high heat, while rotating the ears a quarter-turn every couple minutes, works well for me but it all depends on the heat and potency of your grill.
- Cut the kernels off the corn cob and add all the grilled corn and bean salad ingredients to a large bowl, stir, and serve.
Grilling Tip
If your corn is blackening very quickly, your grill is likely a bit too hot. A little bit of blackening is fine, but too much blackening of the corn can adversely affect the flavor of the salad making it taste too charcoaly.
The zucchini and red onions may likely take a few minutes longer than the corn, probably 10 to 12 minutes. Keep tossing them in the grill basket as they cook with tongs.
What to Serve with Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad
Grilled Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad
Equipment
- 1 Grill
- 1 Grill Basket
Ingredients
- 6 ears fresh sweet corn, husks and silks removed
- 8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 jumbo or 2 medium/large zucchini, cut into chunky bite-sized pieces
- 1 large red onion, cut into chunky bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup unsalted butter, diced into medium cubes
- one 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- one 4-ounce can fire-roasted green chiles, do not drain
- ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh lime juice, or to taste
- ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste (See Notes)
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 to 3 teaspoons red chile flakes, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Tip – I recommend keeping the side with the corn slightly cooler than the side with the zucchini and red onion.
- Add the corn to a large plate and evenly drizzle the corn with about 4 tablespoons olive oil, and rub it in evenly over the corn.
- To a grill basket, add the zucchini, red onions, evenly drizzle with about 4 tablespoons olive oil, and toss with your hands to coat evenly.
- Place the corn on the grill on the cooler side and grill for about 7 to 8 minutes, turning the ears every minute or two by one-quarter turn, or as needed so that corn is cooking evenly and isn’t burning.
- Place the grill basket next to the corn on the warmer side, and toss the zucchini and red onion in the basket every few minutes to ensure even cooking. I find that they will take a few minutes longer to cook than the corn but grills vary widely so cook until all components are done to your liking.
- After the corn is cooked, cut the corn off the ears with a sharp knife and place into a large bowl. Tip – If you have rubber kitchen gloves, use them as heat protection for your hands or hold the tip of the corn with a pot holder. You want to start shaving the ears when the corn is still fairly warm so the butter will melt.
- Add the butter cubes to the bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the zucchini, red onions, black beans, green chiles, lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, optional chile flakes, and stir to combine.
- Taste and decide what tweaks you need to make, i.e. more salt, pepper, lime juice, cilantro, pinch of cayenne, etc.
- Salad can be served warm, at room temp, or chilled from the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Great recipe.. Easy to prepare.. a great summer/fall favorite..
Thanks for the 5 star review, Ros, and I’m glad to hear this was great and easy for you to prepare!
great
great
This salad is fantastic! I had a ginormous zucchini that I had to peel and seed but it still cooked up just fine on the grill. This makes a generous bowl of goodness but it is so tasty ( and healthy) so I am thrilled to eat it for a few days .
This salad is fantastic! I had a ginormous zucchini that I had to peel and seed but it still cooked up just fine on the grill. This makes a generous bowl of goodness but it is so tasty ( and healthy) so I am thrilled to eat it for a few days .
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this turned out fantastic for you! Glad you have leftovers for a few days and were able to use your ginormous zucchini, too!
a great summer dish, thank you! can’t help but be very nutritious!
This salad is yummy and super versatile.
This salad is yummy and super versatile.