Whip up a giant batch of Black Bean Salsa in minutes! It’s fresh and delicious, perfect for parties, so easy to make, and addictive!
I have fond, nostalgic feelings for Black Bean Salsa.
When I first began dabbling in the world of the culinary arts, I found a recipe for Black Bean Salsa on a can of Bush’s Black Beans. Over the years it has evolved, as I have evolved, but Black Bean Salsa and me continue to be friends.
I have made it for more parties than I can count, and everyone always wants the recipe.
I like Black Bean Salsa because it can be made with either all fresh ingredients, mostly canned ingredients, or a mixture of both.
I always use black beans, but really, you could use whatever type of bean you prefer or have on hand. Tomatoes can be canned or fresh, or you can get the kind with bell peppers already mixed in.
Any kind of bell pepper tastes good here. I usually go with green for the color. Onion is open for interpretation too – red, white, yellow, green, sweet. Whatever you like or whatever is on sale.
If your mom or best friend hates cilantro, try Black Bean Salsa with parsley instead. I have never added avocado, but I know it would be amazing here. Like things spicy? Add a jalapeño or some Tabasco sauce.
What really makes it good is the combination of fresh garlic, red wine vinegar, and lime juice. I have specific measurements listed in the recipe, but I rarely follow them. I pour what looks good and taste until I get it the way I want it. The flavors develop as the Black Bean Salsa rests, and somehow it always comes out perfectly.
Black Bean Salsa is fast, fresh, healthy, and delicious. Without trying, it happens to be vegan and gluten-free, too.
Black Bean Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed (see note 1)
- 1 (14 ounce) can corn drained (see note 2)
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 1 green bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and diced (see note 3)
- 1/2 cup red onion diced (1 small, see note 4)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (see note 5)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add beans, corn, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and cilantro. Add olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Stir to combine.
- Cover and chill until serving time. Serve with tortilla chips or as an accompaniment to grilled meats.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Black beans: 1 ½ cups cooked beans can be substituted for the 1 can (that’s about ½ cup dried beans before cooking). You can use any type of canned or cooked bean instead of black.
- Corn: 12 ounces (1 ½ cups) frozen corn, thawed, may be substituted for the canned corn. To substitute fresh corn, bring a medium pot of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add 2-3 ears of corn and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Submerge ears in a large bowl of ice water. When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut it off the cob.
- Bell pepper: Substitute any color of pepper you prefer.
- Onion: Red, white, yellow, green, sweet, or even shallots will do; dice and stir in whatever you have on hand.
- Cilantro: If you or someone you are feeding has an aversion to cilantro, consider fresh parsley instead. Mexican oregano is also tasty here.
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 appetizer-size portions, but the recipe is easily doubled or tripled to feed more.
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: All the ingredients can be prepped a day in advance and tossed together 1 hour before serving time.
- Sweeter: For a similar recipe with a little sugar in it, try Cowboy Caviar.
- More mix-ins: Fold in chopped avocado, diced jalapeño or serrano chiles, or a dash or two of hot sauce, if desired.
- Serving ideas: Tortilla chips are a classic choice, but anything from pita chips and crackers to bell pepper wedges and cucumber slices also taste amazing. Or try this dip as a condiment: spoon it over grilled chicken, steak, or pork.
Nutrition
So good ! Especially with fresh ingredients out of the garden!
Yum! Sounds great Sharon! -Meggan
This sounds amazing! With the tomato, lime juice and vinegar would this work for a canning recipe?
do you think this recipe can be canned? I love salsa with corn and black beans….and would love to can it to eat throughout the year.
Im confused.. it says to bake for 35 minutes….
And choll and cover
So what am i baking it at for 35 minutes?
Hi Tegan, it doesn’t say anywhere to bake for 35 minutes. There is a “cook time” listed of 35 minutes, but that is just the total time it takes to make the recipe (not cook time per se, that’s just a bad label; it’s actually the chilling time). Sorry for the confusion on that! -Meggan
It says that this recipe makes “8 servings”, how much is considered a serving? I’m just trying to figure out how many cups this would make in total as I am planning on using this in another recipe that requires salsa.
Hi Misty! It makes somewhere between 4 and 5 cups depending on the exact size of your tomato and your pepper. When I say 8 servings, I’m assuming 4 cups and 1/2 cup serving per person. I hope this helps and tastes great in your recipe! Thanks.
What are the chances that this recipe could be canned? Any instructions for canning this recipe?
Hey there! I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t can this, although I don’t have much personal experience with canning. I have a book on it though, so here’s some info from Ball’s Guide to Preserving. It looks like beans and vegetables are low-acid foods which means they require a pressure canner (not the boiling method). Looking at some recipes in the book, it looks like you pressure can them for at 10 psi for 40 to 50 minutes… but that’s just a guess. I would say if you want to can this salsa, I would look for a book at your library and follow the directions to a T! Best to be careful and watch out for food illness. Good luck!
Would it be ok to make this the night before a party, and have it sit covered in the refrigerator overnight?
Thanks!
Yep, definitely! Some of the vegetables (peppers especially) will soften a bit in the liquid. What I used to do was pour it in my salad spinner (or you could use a colander) to drain out the excess liquid overnight so that wouldn’t happen. But save the liquid and add it back right when you serve it. OR don’t worry about it at all, it will taste great and the flavors will have a chance to develop!
I love how quick and easy this salsa is – I could totally go at it with a bowl of chips and be one happy girl!
One of my all time favorites!
Mine too, it’s soooo stinkin’ good!
I love black bean salsa so fun with chips as a snack :)
This is the second time I’ve made this. The first time it was a hit with kids, grandkids and husband. DH made me print it out so he can put it in his collection he built in all his years cooking at the Firehouse.
I followed the recipe but personalized it to my and his taste. We made the following changes and this how I will likely continue to make it in the future since it was absolutely delicious. Basically, I made the dressing separately and kept adding seasoning to taste.
-used 1 can Rotel and 1 can diced tomatoes, (Well Drained) for the tomatoes.
-measured abt 2 cups frozen corn (nuked for 1.5 min to thaw) for the corn
-For the peppers I used 1/2 a red one, 1/2 a green one and abt 1/4 of a yellow one.
-only 2 T. Sugar
-added extra regular chili powder plus about 1/6 tsp of Ancho chili powder.
-added 1/4 tsp. Cumin
-added abt 1 T. finely minced garlic
– added abt 1/2 cup of Good Seasons Italian dressing that I already had made with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
-added some fresh ground black pepper and extra salt.
I used every drop of the dressing and it tastes so good. It’s in the fridge chilling right now. If it looks too juicy when it is time to serve I will simply strain some liquid out before adding to serving dish.
Thank you for this recipe and encouraging folks to make it their own. Have a wonderful day! ☮️ From Ohio.