Cajun Black Bean and Corn Salad is an excellent no-mayo salad option to bring to a picnic and a great meal prep option for a light lunch you can eat all week. This is a new family favorite recipe!
Cajun Black Bean and Corn Salad
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One of the things my family loves to eat most in the summer is fresh corn on the cob. The corn around here is especially sweet and delicious and my girls go crazy for it! As you can imagine, it makes it’s way onto our weekly dinner menus quite frequently.
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So I’m constantly in search of fun ways to mix things up with the ingredients we use frequently. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still frequent flyers with plain and simple corn on the cob, but variety is the spice of life. And I figured a summer corn salad would be a tasty option!
This particular corn salad is full of delicious veggies. I don’t work enough with cajun seasoning, but it’s so darn good that I figured I’d build the flavor profile around it. This is the perfect salad to bring to a summer picnic because there there is no mayonnaise in it, so it can sit outside without being refrigerated (although I personally love it cold!).
You can also enjoy it as salsa with your favorite tortilla chips or served over grilled fish or chicken. It’s a great light lunch option to make at the beginning of the week and portion out for a grab-and-go meal prep. Bonus points if you add grilled chicken to make its a black bean corn salad with chicken!
Tips for making corn and black bean salad
- Keep it simple and use canned black beans. While using dried beans can be slightly more economical, you have to soak them for a while and then cook them. Or you can open a can, drain and rinse the beans and be ready to go.
- If at all possible use fresh corn. I prefer to grill it because it adds fabulous flavor and color but if that’s not possible for you, just boil it. Or if fresh corn isn’t in season, just use frozen.
- Manage the level of spiciness to your taste. Some people love spicy foods while others don’t. For this reason, I’ve given two options for peppers (one on the spicier side, the other only has a tiny kick and is much more mild). Another way you can manage this is to use the measurement for the cajun seasoning that I’ve included within the recipe and once it’s all mixed together, taste it and add more if you want it spicier. I always recommend tasting food as you’re making it anyway, to make sure it’s got plenty of flavor.
- To get extra juice from the limes: you can roll them under your hand (apply a little pressure while you do this!). You can even heat them in the microwave for 20 seconds or so, although I’ve found that rolling does the trick nicely.
- To help avoid brown avocado chunks: I added the avocados to the bowl last and kept them in a pile and then poured the dressing directly on top of them before mixing everything. I was shocked when days later my avocados were still green!
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Cajun Black Bean and Corn Salad is an excellent no-mayo salad option to bring to a picnic and a great meal prep option for a light lunch you can eat all week. This is a new family favorite recipe!
- 6 ears corn on the cob, grilled (this ends up being 2 1/4 cups of corn if you're using frozen)
- 1 14.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped- green parts only
- 1 Anaheim pepper, seeded and diced (if you want a spicier salad you can use 2-3 serrano peppers seeded and diced)
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (around 3-4 limes)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
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Add all salad ingredients into a large mixing bowl, with the avocado chunks together on the very top of the pile.
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In a small bowl (or your measuring cup) whisk together all dressing ingredients until well combined.
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Pour the dressing into the bowl aiming for the top of the avocado chunks.
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Use a large spoon to mix the salad until well combined and fully coated with dressing.
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Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
This will last a few days in the refrigerator.
If you tried this recipe please comment and rate it 🙂 I love hearing your feedback and answering your questions!
Looking for some other summer salad recipes?
- Tuna Macaroni Salad
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Very Best Shrimp Macaroni Salad
- Shrimp and Peas Salad
- 7 Layer Taco Salad
You can find a full index of my recipes here.
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