This Mexican Bean Salad is quick and simple salad that is hearty, flavorful and high in protein. Ready in 15 minutes, it’s a perfect addition to Taco Tuesdays and summer gatherings!
We also love this mango black bean salad, white bean salad and chickpea avocado salad.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
As much as I love a simple green salad and leafy salads like this Mexican kale salad, sometimes you want something that has a little more hearty oomph. And this Mexican bean salad certainly has that!
Packed with legumes and several vegetables, this salad is high in protein, has flavor and texture that is sure to satisfy and is perfect for meal prep.
Reader’s Review
SO yummy and quick!! Made it for a Mexican get together and everyone loved it!! Fresh and colorful! Will make again.
Esther
Ingredients for Mexican Bean Salad
For the salad:
- The beans: I use a combination of low sodium black beans, red kidney beans, and either navy beans, cannellini beans, great northern beans, or black eyed peas. Feel free to adapt this Mexican bean salad to a four bean salad.
- Corn: You can use fresh corn or frozen corn that has been thawed. I don’t recommend canned corn if you want the best flavor and texture. You can use leftover grilled corn, Instant Pot corn on the cob or crock pot corn on the cob.
- Bell pepper: Any color bell pepper will work like green, red, orange, or yellow. This will add crunch and extra freshness. I tend to go for green bell pepper for the slight bitterness it adds.
- Tomatoes: I like to use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, which are easy to quarter and chuck into the salad. Feel free to use larger tomatoes and chop them into small pieces.
- Red onion: Since the onion is added to the salad raw, I prefer to use red onion, which is slightly milder. You can also use white onion. The acidity in the salad dressing will help mellow the onion’s flavor over time too. Sometimes I’ll even use green onion.
- Cilantro: If you’re not a huge cilantro fan, you can use fresh parsley instead although it won’t be exactly the same. Or omit it entirely.
For the dressing:
- The liquids: A combination of extra virgin olive oil and fresh lime juice as the salad dressing base and add spice with hot sauce. Feel free to add chili sauce or hot sauce to your personal taste.
- The seasonings: Fresh garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and a little sugar to balance the flavors. I’ve tried it with honey and maple syrup, but their flavors are stronger and affect the dressing more.
How to Make Mexican Bean Salad
Mexican bean salad takes just minutes to prepare and is a perfect appetizer or side dish for warm summer evenings. Full recipe card is located below.
- Prep the beans and veggies: Drain and rinse the beans and finely dice the pepper and red onion. Add to a large bowl.
- Chop the tomatoes: Quarter cherry tomatoes and chop the cilantro, transfer to same bowl. If you use regular tomatoes, you may want to dice them finely. Feel free to de-seed them if you don’t want a soggy salad.
- Make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lime juice, garlic, sugar, cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, salt and whisk well. Taste and adjust to personal taste.
- Assemble the salad: Pour the dressing over the bowl and stir a few times to make sure it’s thoroughly incorporated. You can garnish Mexican three bean salad with some slices of jalapeño and lime wedges.
Tips for Best Results
- Let it chill: If you have the time, I like to let salad rest in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before serving to allow all the flavors to marinate. If you have time to wait for 1-2 hours, the flavors will develop even further. It just tastes best when chilled.
- Experiment with beans: This bean salad is super versatile, so mix up the beans based on what you have on hand. I also like to use Instant Pot kidney beans and Instant Pot black beans instead of canned beans.
- Rinse the beans: Do not use the gooey liquid canned beans are packed in. Drain it, rinse the beans and let drain fully again.
- Adding extra ingredients: Be aware that any added ingredients may affect the shelf life of the salad. For example, if you’d like to add avocado, I recommend doing so just before serving.
- Turn it into a meal: By adding a grain like cooked quinoa, greens and potentially more protein like grilled chicken breast. To keep the recipe plant-based, use fried tofu.
Serving Ideas
This Mexican bean salad makes for a wonderful addition to both themed and unthemed dinner tables and events. Here are just a few ways you can enjoy it:
- As a salsa: Serve with corn tortilla chips as an appetizer dip. Or serve it over some toast or crostini for a quick and healthy snack.
- Tacos: With fish tacos or carne asada tacos.
- Quesadillas: Like these chicken quesadillas or veggie quesadillas.
- Burritos: Like this chicken burrito. You can use this salad as a burrito filling along with some rice and cheese.
- Enchiladas: Alongside chicken enchiladas.
- Meat: Serve it as a fiber-rich side salad with grilled chicken thighs or chili lime chicken.
Can I Make It Ahead?
You can prepare this bean salad and the dressing separately up to 1 day in advance and combine the two a few minutes before serving.
Olive oil in the dressing will solidify in the fridge. Just place the container in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes to bring it back to the melting point.
How to Store
Store: Once fully assembled, any leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If you haven’t included tomatoes, then it may last 3-4 days.
If you find the flavors have mellowed too much over time, add a splash of lime juice or lemon juice to freshen them up again.
FAQs
Yes. You can cook your own dried beans and then replace each 15 ounces can of beans with 1 1/2 cup of cooked beans of choice.
I don’t recommend freezing this salad because of the various fresh vegetables. Their texture will become unpleasant upon thawing.
Mexican bean salad is packed with beans! According to Healthline, beans are full of protein, fiber, and are low in fat and calories. They contain high amounts of zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and vitamins B1, B6, E, and K. Drain and rinse canned beans to reduce the salt content of even low-sodium canned beans.
More Bean Salad Recipes to Try
- Quinoa and black bean salad
- Southwest quinoa salad
- Mexican tuna salad
- Healthy taco salad
- Mexican street corn salad
If you enjoyed this Mexican bean salad recipe, you may also enjoy browsing through my entire collection of Mexican recipes!
15 Minute Mexican Bean Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 15 ounces can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
- 15 ounces can low sodium red kidney, rinsed and drained
- 15 ounces can low sodium navy, cannellini, great Northern beans or black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
- 1 large any color bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 lime, juice of
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
- 1 teaspoon Frank's red hot sauce, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add olive oil, lime juice, garlic, sugar, cumin, hot sauce, chili powder and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add beans, corn, bell pepper, tomatoes, cilantro and red onion.
- Give dressing a good whisk, pour over salad and gently mix with large spoon until well combined.
- Serve cold. It would be also great to let salad sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes if you have time.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Make ahead: Refrigerate without the dressing for up to 24 hours, and then add before serving. Dressing can be also refrigerated separately, before mixing place jar in a bowl with hot water for a few minutes to melt olive oil.
- Bell pepper color: I used green bell pepper because I love less sweet taste it adds. You can use any.
- Why add sugar? It really rounds out the dressing. I wouldn’t use maple syrup or honey.
- Any beans work: Use a combination of beans you love or have on hand. The key is variety, no other rules.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made it this evening and loved it! Will have for lunch at work tomorrow as well (I added some feta cheese!)
OMG!!! Delicious!
I just found this website lately while taking a course in nutrition. I’ve tried a few recipes and and they’ve been fantastic. I can’t believe I’ve finally learned to make yummy AND healthy food for my family (of 10) and me.
Thank you so much!
Awh, you are so welcome! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes! Please don’t be shy to leave me a comment with a star review once you make any recipe. Have a great week!