At a glance

What stands out: Dig into this black bean corn salsa with chips or add a couple spoonfuls to your favorite salad, bowl, or burrito. This fresh salsa is so flavorful, packed with beans and colorful veggies. It can be made ahead, too.

How long it takes: 15 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: sharp knife, colander, mixing bowl
Servings: makes 4 cups

Black bean corn salsa in a bowl with a chip and lime wedges.

Salsa, Plus!

Are you a salsa fan? We sure am! We can totally make a meal out of chips and salsa. Put a basket of chips in front of us and watch out! The problem is, a meal of chips and salsa doesn’t have a lot of nutritional value.

Ta-da! Black bean corn salsa comes to the rescue. Chock full of lighter beans (protein!) and colorful veggies, this salsa is filling and nutritious. Guess what? A half cup serving only has 85 calories!

Black Bean Corn Salsa

So much better than store-bought salsa! From-scratch black bean corn salsa isn’t anything like that black bean corn salsa you may have purchased at your grocery store. It usually comes in a jar much like regular salsa. Yeah, and it pretty much tastes like canned salsa with a few beans and corn kernels thrown in. It’s not too exciting. Let’s just say, you’re in for a real treat with this straightforward salsa recipe.

A salsa that’s almost a salad. Black bean corn salsa is more like a scoopable salad, or a dip, somewhat similar to pico de gallo, with lots of fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cilantro. We've added canned black beans and corn kernels to the mix. Freshly squeezed lime juice with a bit of warm cumin is the only dressing in this salsa; there’s no added oil or artificial ingredients.

Versatile. This salsa is not just for chips. Keep reading for lots more ways to enjoy black bean corn salsa. We could eat it just plain.

What goes in

Black Beans: Canned black beans make this dip straightforward. You can substitute pinto beans if you prefer. Rinse the beans in a colander with cool running water until the water runs clear before adding them to the dip.
Corn: For convenience, canned corn can’t be beat. There are lots of different kinds so just choose the one you like best. If fresh corn on the cob is available, for sure you’ll want to use that. It has a nice crisp texture, and lots more flavor. It’s straightforward to cut the kernels off the cob.
Tomatoes: We usually use Roma tomatoes for this dip because they are meatier and not as juicy. Grape or cherry tomatoes are fine if you cut them into halves or quarters. If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, use a can of diced tomatoes, drained well.
Red Onion: Red onion is reliable for this salsa but a sweet onion such as Vidalia is good, too.
Jalapeño Pepper: Remove the ribs and seeds from the pepper before adding it to the dip to make the salsa more mild. The heat of jalapeños can vary so taste a little bit before you add it all to the dip.
Cilantro: Fresh cilantro is a must for salsa. Use the leaves and tender stems.
Fresh Lime Juice: One lime will give you just enough juice.
Cumin: This earthy spice is added to many southwestern style recipes.
Salt & Pepper: Season the salsa to taste.

Why Rinse Canned Beans?

When you open a can of beans, you’ll notice a thick viscous liquid surrounding the beans. It contains starch from the beans, water, and salt, which helps preserve the beans. If you’re making a salad or salsa like this one, rinsing is a good idea because you don’t want all that liquid mucking things up. Rinsing the beans also removes much of the sodium.

How it comes together

This is a pretty straightforward recipe to make. It does involve a little chopping and dicing so you’ll need a sharp knife and cutting board.

Prep beans and corn. Make sure your can of beans is rinsed and drained. Put the beans in a colander in the sink and run water over them until the water runs clear. You can drain the can of corn in the same colander (no need to rinse it).

Prep tomatoes. Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. You’ll want to remove some of the seeds and the jelly-like part of the tomato by gently squeezing the halves. Dice the tomatoes into fairly small pieces so that they are “dippable.”

Prep onion and pepper. Peel and dice the red onion. You’ll only need about a quarter cup. Cut the stem end off the jalapeño pepper; cut it in half lengthwise and remove the ribs and seeds. Chop it pretty finely (minced). You probably don’t want huge chunks of jalapeño pepper in your salsa.

Prep cilantro. Rinse the cilantro well and shake off the excess water. A salad spinner works well. You can use the thin stems as well as the leaves. Chop it up, and now we’re good to go.

Mix it all together. Simply put all the ingredients into a bowl, add the cumin and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Stir it up and it’s ready to serve.

Ingredients needed, including black beans, corn, tomatoes, lime.

Cocktail Pairing

Looking for a cocktail to go with your salsa? Try a spicy Paloma or strawberry margarita punch. We love a frosty G &T with chips.

How To Cut Corn From The Cob

Set a small bowl upside down inside a large shallow bowl. We usually put them both in our sink to contain the mess a bit. Center the stem end of the corn on top of the small bowl. Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut the kernels off the cob, top to bottom. The corn will neatly fall into the larger bowl.
A bundt cake pan works surprisingly well too. The center hole can be used to position and hold the corn cob, and the cut corn falls into the pan. Nifty!

What To Serve With Black Bean Corn Salsa

Tortilla chips (of course): Buy a bag of your favorite chips or make your own. For a healthier choice, try baked tortilla chips or air fryer tortilla chips. There’s nothing like freshly made, warm chips, and these have little added oil or salt. (Be sure to try our Mexican street corn dip, too!)
Nachos: Arrange your chips on a platter, load it up with cheese, bake or microwave until the cheese is melted, then top it with lots of this salsa. So good! It’s also great on cauliflower nachos or vegetarian nachos (we love the creamy cilantro lime drizzle on these nachos.
Quesadillas: Black bean corn salsa takes cheese quesadillas to another dimension.
Bowls: If you’re a fan of burrito bowls, they are simple to make. Start with warm rice, add cooked meat of your choice, and top it all with this salsa. So straightforward and rich! You’ll want to try this BBQ chicken bowl.
Salads: Turn a bowl of plain greens into a power salad simply by adding a few spoonfuls of this salsa.
Tacos, Burritos, etc: Use black bean salsa anywhere you would add regular salsa!

Ways to change it

Add avocado. Stir in a diced avocado right before serving. The dip will be similar to cowboy caviar or our black bean and avocado salad (served with chips).

Make adjustments according to what you prefer. This is your salsa so tweak the ingredients any way you choose. Don’t like tomatoes? Make it with no tomatoes. Not a fan of corn? That’s okay, you could easily sub in chopped bell peppers. Love garlic? Go ahead and add a clove, finely minced. You get the idea.

Sub in canned tomatoes: A can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.) drained as much as possible, can be used instead of the fresh tomatoes.

Make Ahead Ideas

Since this salsa keeps well, it can be made ahead. In fact, it’s even a bit better the next day.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate/Freeze: Assuming the salsa is refrigerated promptly, it can be stored in the refrigerator safely for five days.

Yield: 8
Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 18 minutes

Ingredients

1 can (15 oz.) black or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) corn kernels, drained (or 1 ½ cups fresh corn or frozen corn, thawed)
1 ½ cups finely chopped roma tomatoes, seeds removed (about 3 tomatoes)
¼ cup finely diced red onion, finely diced (about ¼ onion)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely diced
¼ cup minced cilantro (leaves and small stems)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Method

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir well before serving.

Notes

Storage: Salsa will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days.

With canned tomatoes: If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, substitute one can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained well.

Add avocado: If desired, make this salsa with avocado. Add 1 or 2 diced avocados right before serving. Keep in mind it might not store as long as in the fridge without the avocado browning.