Southwestern corn salads are a fairly popular dish for the warmer weather. I honestly can’t get enough of them. I created my own favorite version. Most versions seem to have tomatoes and onions and I don’t care too much for them raw in this type of dish, so I just stuck with lots of bell pepper.
This is such a simple, incredibly fast dish to throw together with loads of flavor. The whole recipe is just 8 basic ingredients (+ salt). For the “dressing”, I made it a tad sweet, so it wasn’t just straight lime juice, it gave it a wonderful flavor to the end product. When tossed with all the ingredients, it gives a wonderful punch of lime flavor with a sweet undertone. My hubby especially loves this dish! It’s great on it’s own or as a filling inside tacos too.
I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this super simple, easy and delicious southwest lime corn salad! It’s one of our favorites for sure. It means the world to hear your awesome feedback, so please leave it below after you make this. In addition, if you want, I’d love to see your photo on Instagram using my hashtag #thevegan8, otherwise I’ll likely miss it since my feed moves quickly. Thank you!
Southwest Lime Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped (200g, you'll need about 2 cups chopped)
- 1 1/4 cups pre-cooked corn
- 2 15 oz cans low-sodium black beans, drained & rinsed
- 1/4 cup (60g) fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon (20g) pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 avocado chopped
- Optional crushed tortilla chips for added crunch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a pan with parchment paper. Add the bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes.
- While the peppers are roasting, place the corn and beans in a bowl and warm up, as desired, either in the microwave or over a stove.
- Combine the lime juice, syrup, chili powder, cumin and salt in a small bowl, and whisk well. Add the lime mixture to a small pan over medium-low heat. Cook 2 minutes to heat through.
- Add the roasted pepper to a large serving bowl. Add the corn, beans, and lime mixture, and toss to coat everything evenly. Taste and add more salt and seasoning, if desired.
- Chop your avocado and add last right before serving. If serving this as a main meal, it will probably only be enough for 2 people, but as a side dish, it will be good for 4 servings. We've eaten this as a salad and also added it as a filling inside tacos with my Mexican Tahini Sauce as a dipping sauce.
Delicious simple corn salad. I’m with you on the raw onion, this is perfect summer fare.
Thanks so much Suzanne! I hope you are doing well!
I love these kinds of salads for packing to take to work. I just make a big batch at the weekend then add a few scoops to my lunchbox with some leafy greens + a side of hummus + tortilla chips or a wrap. Yum.
Such a great idea Emma! This is definitely delicious in tortilla wraps!
Mmm yes! I think everyone should always have a southwest/mexican bean salad in the fridge during the summer 😉 An essential!
I agree!
I agree, thank you Rebecca!
Made this for lunch! Toasted a tortilla in shape of bowl, added some lettuce and this wonderful stuff on top. It was a hit and goes on the repeat list. We enjoyed while sitting on our patio. Left overs for tomorrow. Perfect
This is the perfect summer salad! Easy to make and delicious! I think it’s also great to add some tempeh or smoked tofu! It’s wonderful, Brandi to have an easy to make recipe and you can play around with flavors and spices.
Thank you so much Florian! So glad you like it!
A lovely tasty easy corn salad that I also love,….a big Yum!
Thank you so much Sophie!
Refreshing Sunday brunch dish. Lined individual bowls with 1/2 cup warm brown rice, topped with shredded romaine and baby kale, then scooped bean mixture onto bowl and sprinkled avocado on last. Beautiful, delicious and filling.
That sounds so wonderful Davida!! I’m so glad you loved it! We love it inside tacos too and adding rice would definitely take this from a lighter dish to a more filling one, great idea! This is great because it can be a side or make it into a meal. Thank you so much for the feedback!
What a fabulous meal and so full of yummy flavors. I love the avocado creamy topping but the real star is the lime juice. I LOVE limes and especially with spicy dishes. My guacamole has too much some times cause I’m always after that tang/sweet thing.
Really bright and fabulous. I’m wondering how it would be at room temp. for travel? I know those tacos would be delicious!!
🙂
Hi Angela! Thank you so much sweet lady! Definitely fine at room temperature, in fact I prefer it that way! It is good room temp, cold and hot…totally versatile! 🙂
This hit the spot for an easy Sunday dinner! I didn’t want to heat up the house by turning on the oven so I just used a jarred roasted red bell pepper. I mixed all the ingredients in a large bowl and skipped the stovetop part. We served it chilled in tacos and in a taco salad. Also added some lime zest & cilantro. So good! Definitely a new go-to.
I’m so thrilled you loved this Robin and thank you so much for the wonderful feedback and sharing your gorgeous photo on Instagram! I love how you decorated the salads, thank you again 🙂
This looks fantastic Brandy! I love Rebecca’s suggestion of having a bean salad in the frig during summer…I’m starting now! 🙂
oopsies ~ I spelled your name wrong! So sorry! 🙂
Oh no worries at all!!
Thank you so much Julie! Yes, this is so good cold and warm, it really is good anyway you serve it 🙂
It’s honestly like you know what all my favorite flavors are girl! I am loving this Southwest lime corn salad! It looks like it could very easily become a weeknight staple around here! The roasted corn, black beans and light lime dressing – YUM! I actually have everything on hand for it right now so might just have to whip it up for dinner tonight! 😀 I’ll make sure to leave a comment with my results!! 🙂
Thank you so much Ceara and yes, we love so much of the same foods! This is just so simple to make and can be adapted to basically any dish you want! Thanks girl!
This is SO delicious!! Such a fun and easy salad to whip up!! I love how light it is too. We stuffed it into baked sweet potatoes and drizzled your awesome Mexican tahini dressing on top – such an AWESOME meal!! My partner LOVED it as well! It makes the BEST leftover too!! Thanks for the awesome recipe as always 🙂 🙂
I’m thrilled you and your hubby loved this so much Ceara! Thank you so much for making it and sharing your beautiful photo on IG as well, you rock!
Now this is my kind of salad – I loooove the flavour combo of cumin, chilli and maple! What a perfect mix. Mmmm. This sounds so delicious and refreshing! What stunning photographs too, I wish I could grab the bowl of salad out of the photo and eat it right now lol!
You are so sweet, thank you Harriet for the compliment on my photos! I was really rushed this day and battling lighting and wasn’t thrilled with these, so thank you for the compliment! xx And I agree too, cumin, chili and maple syrup and lime juice all together is so heavenly!
Just brilliant, and the man agrees as well. I couldn’t find any black beans that look like yours so I used kidney beans instead. I also added some chopped sweet potato and we had it as our dinner tonight. Thank you for this recipe.
Yay, I’m so happy to hear you loved this so much and even moreso, your hubby! Men are harder to please, lol! Chopped sweet potato sounds like a wonderful addition too, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!!
YUM! This is such a lovely recipe!! I’ve been meaning to make a salad like this!! Great job! …perf for this time of year! 🙂 Also, love the avocado in there! This is so great for vegans and meateaters! PERF!
Thank you so much Cailee for your kind words!! This was SUCH a hit with my husband who is so darn picky, so I just had to share it!
This looks full of flavor! I really appreciate that you skipped the onion and garlic this time, they tend to take over any flavor party, which I get a little tired of. This could be the base of the world’s simplest taco night 🙂
I agree Natalie! And I do NOT like raw onions…yuck! Most of these types of salads call for them but they are way too strong….I do like green onions raw because they are milder, but this one I wanted the citrus to take center stage and it does perfectly!
This plus my mouth plus chips equals major gorge fest! Looks and sounds awesome. LOVE all those flavors!
Thank you so much Sophia! It was all scarfed down in record time!
This salad is incredible!! I made it tonight and it is so good. I only made a couple of changes: I didn’t have fresh limes so I used store-bought lime juice, and I didn’t roast the corn. I buy frozen Roasted Corn from Trader Joe’s and used that instead. It was easy and convenient.
I also made the Mexican Tahini Sauce and added that…OMG…that sent it over the top!! In my opinion, it didn’t need the avocado, but it was good in it. Next time I’ll leave it out and see how it tastes.
This is a winner!! Thank you for posting it.
Wonderful LeeAnne! Thank you so much for the awesome feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! Haha, isn’t that tahini sauce incredible?! We eat it all the time around here and it goes on pretty much anything! Yes, if you added the tahini sauce, you could totally skip the avocado since the sauce is so creamy! Oh, and next time definitely try it with fresh limes and it is even better, the fresh taste is just the best! Thanks again 😉
This looks delish! I love the idea of roasting the veggies for a few minutes. I attend a lot of potlucks, and this will definitely go into my rotation of dishes–so quick, easy, and yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Awesome, thank you so much Nichole!
The colors in this dish are vibrant and amazing. It makes the dish look delicious! I will definitely have to give this a try!
Thank you so much Coley! Yes, I love the colors as well and the flavors just make it that much better! 🙂
Another recipe by you that knocks it out of the park. This one has such great flavor combinations without the avocado, but adding the avocado in gives it a whole new level.
I’m so happy to hear you loved this so much Kim! I love the feedback and really appreciate it! Yes, the avocado totally completes it for me with that creamy bite 🙂
Another delicious recipe. I’ve made this a couple times, and have had it both warmed and chilled. Tastes great inside corn tortillas. As usual, this is a well-balanced sweet/tart/creamy/slightly spicy/crunchy/soft dish, as I’ve come to expect from you, Brandi! You are a master at hitting all the right notes in your creations, though at first glance your recipes appear so simple. It is amazing to me that most of the time, my fairly well-stocked vegan kitchen has almost all the ingredients in your recipes. No need to run to the stores for some exotic, expensive thing I’ll only use a tiny bit of and that will be forgotten and wasted further down the road.
Anyhooo… back to the recipe! The only thing I did differently was to add some finely chopped fresh jalapenos. I might skip the roasting part next time, as it’s gotten hot here in Colorado and I resent heating up the house during the summer months. Like a few other posters, I tend to over-garlic/onion/tomato/cilantro all my Mexican-flavored dishes, so this was a delightfully different flavor combination.
Thank you for this recipe; another winner which will go in the regular rotation.
I need to look into your other recipes which use a crock pot or don’t involve the oven. I know as a vegan I should be happy with just eating cold salads, but really, they’re some of my least favorite things to eat . Always have loved vegetables, but not a salad fan.
Thank you so much for such awesome feedback Caroline! You made my day! I appreciate your kind words so very much!! I need to get some crockpot recipes on the blog…thanks for the reminder. I have lots of non-oven recipes though…lots of soups and chili!
made it.great taste.thanks 🙂
Wonderful, I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you!
Made this last night and loved it! I was surprised how good the dressing turned out. I roasted the peppers and corn like instructed but they didn’t taste any different, or even that warm. Not sure if I did something wrong there. I only had 1 can of black beans so I used 1 can of cannellini beans as well. Loved it.
So glad you loved it Rachel, thank you so much for the feedback! As far as the roasting, are you sure you had the correct oven setting because slighting roasting the peppers takes them from their raw state to a softened, slightly sweetened taste and texture. Not cooking them is obviously leaving them super crunchy, that is why they are cooked. The corn taste isn’t changing drastically, rather it’s just again, making the texture a bit different. It is just subtle changes and since I used frozen corn, they definitely need to be heated up. Everything should be warm if adding the warmed beans and dressing at the same time, but this salad many readers also eat chilled, which is my favorite way. Hope that helps!
WOW, this Southwest Lime Corn Salad is fabulous and that Mexican Tahini Sauce is to die for!!! Lots of calories but VERY tasty!!! Thank you very much for the wonderful recipe. Im new to the vegan world as my son has decided to eat vegan as of dec 1 so Im eating along with him with a few minor additions now and then. Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear you loved this so much Maureen! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, I really appreciate it!
Made this for dinner tonight with tortilla chips and a little of your Mexican Tahini sauce. All the ingredients are amazing together the lime juice adds so much flavour! Delicious!!
I’m so happy you loved this recipe Debbie, thank you so much for the feedback, it is so appreciated!
Super yummy!
So glad you enjoyed it Liz, thank you!
It is definitely a winner! I added a couple of Roma tomatoes, but everything else stayed the same. It is so delish. Thanks for sharing this.
I have just made this for a picnic for a vegan friend of my daughters. OMG, it is good. Since we are battling 100ºF temp here in KS i did not want to turn on the oven. So i blanched the corn in salted water and added bell pepper raw, to give it crunch. I did add tomatoes and onions to it and subbed the maple for honey. I did not want to believe it but it is really good. the Cumin and Chilipowder work nicely with the sweetness of the honey and the tanginess of the lime. Thank you.
Brandi, your site caught my eye on Pinterest because I’m newly vegan due to a gout flare-up and I’m curious how your husband has fared with the vegan diet as a gout sufferer. I look forward to trying your recipes.
Hi Karin! It healed his gout going plant-based and homecooked meals. It literally changed his and my life! You can read about our story here. There are still a few plants that he cannot eat that cause flareups but meat and dairy were the main culprits. https://thevegan8.com/2014/09/08/how-my-life-has-changed-since-going-vegan/
What can I use instead of Lime Juice? I’m allergic to citrus and citric acid
Hi Laura, I’m not really sure because that is the main flavor component of the flavor to the dish. Citrus is what balances out the sweetness. I would probably just skip the sauce altogether and try this sauce to top on it instead? https://thevegan8.com/2015/04/15/rice-blackbean-bowl-chili-mustard-sauce/
Too bad, I am a Type 1 diabetic…this recipe looks wonderful but Type 1’s need to know how many carbohydrates and fibre are included per serving as we inject insulin accordingly.
Made this for the first time for a Memorial Day picnic and it was a big hit! the roasted pepper and corn add such a nice flavor, and I especially love the dressing. Definitely going into the “keeper” file! 🙂
One of my favorite meals! I always add tortilla chips because I like crunch.
This is an excellent dish for hot weather. I made it this evening – it was so easy, didn’t take much time and tasted delicious! It’s so good, I’m considering serving it at an upcoming ladies’ luncheon I’m hosting. Thanks for another winner, Brandi!
Perfect summertime meal when you don’t want to cook. Fast and delicious.