Mexican Three Bean Salad
This Mexican Three Bean Salad is chock full of veggies, protein-rich beans, and southwest flavor. Enjoy it as a side dish for Taco Night, OR make it the main event by stuffing it into tortillas for a delicious meatless meal!
When I was in high school, I started going out to eat with my friends a lot, and we would always go to this awesome Mexican restaurant in our hometown called El Sombrero. It was sooooooo good, and so cheap! Definitely the perfect place to hang out for high schoolers on a budget. I always ordered a chicken quesadilla, and pretty much devoured an entire basket of chips and salsa all on my own. And that is a skill I am proud to say I still have to this day. 😉
If anyone were to ask, I would say hands-down, every-time, that Mexican food is my favorite. And now that I’ve moved beyond just chicken quesadillas from my teenage years, I’ve gotten to discover how amazing this particular cuisine can be! I love to go out to eat for Mexican food, but I also enjoy making it for meals at home. Most of the time I just serve guacamole or chips and salsa alongside whatever we are eating, but y’all, this Mexican Three Bean Salad is the new hotness!
It’s just like most other salads, where the longer it has to sit in the refrigerator, the better it tastes. Make sure to give it at least a few hours to chill before serving. Like I said above, I LOVE having this alongside our enchiladas or tacos, but you can also serve it as a meatless main dish by scooping it into some tortillas! I also love to just eat with chips. 🙂
Recipe: Mexican Three Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
- 1/2 large green bell pepper,, chopped
- 1/2 large red bell pepper,, chopped
- 1 cup red onion,, chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro,, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 Tablespoon salt
- 1 clove garlic,, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- avocado,, diced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, bell peppers, red onion, and cilantro.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and pepper.
- Pour dressing over beans and veggies, and mix well. Chill for at least 3-4 hours before serving. Add in diced avocado, if desired right before serving.
I always love a Mexican bean salad and you’re so right, this IS better the next day after those flavors have hung out together. YUM!
This looks really filling and healthy!
I just love how simple and easy this is. So many great flavors too – Mexican food is just so good ๐
We make something very similar when we have a bbq. Itโs a great way to feed a crowd.
What a tasty looking side dish! It looks so fulfilling and delicious
Oh this salad looks so colourful and delicious! I’d love this for lunch right now!
I love how much colour there is in this. This would be great in a burrito bowll
This salad looks so delicious – colorful, healthy and perfect for dinner!
No cheese!!!!! Bingo! My co-worker is a vegan and I like to invite her over for dinner to try some new things she can eat. This is totally going on the next dinner menu, especially we could just make some chicken or beef on the side and eat it just the same!
Yum, what a bright and colourful salad and so full of flavour! I would love to have this with some hot tortilla chips!
I used balsamic vinegar and extra lime juice and got delicious results thx
Glad to hear that, Indi!
AWESOME… I just googled Best 3 bean salad, scrolled down, and found this….
Love 3 bean salad, and LOVE mexican food… and I ALWAYS cook at home…
Have all the ingredients and the canned beans.. Signing off and going to make this RIGHT NOW !!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU… SO MUCH… For posting this !!!
Yay! Glad you found it! Hope you enjoy it!!
Salad looks fresh and Yummy, My famiy loves this salad.Howeverjust one question, How long does it stay fresh?
Hi there, a few days in the fridge, I would say!
This was excellent. I made a few substitutions. Honey for the sugar, fresh parsley for the cilantro, sweet onions for the red onions, and decreased the salt by about a third. A great blend of flavours!
So glad to hear you were able to make it work for you and that you enjoyed it, Cam! Thanks for letting me know!
Hey Ashyln
Can the red wine vinegar be substituted or left out altogether? Thanks!
You could definitely sub it for another vinegar! Leaving it out altogether will give a bit of a different flavor, though.
Thanks so much!
Really needed a different bean salad recipe to take to the braai we’re going to. Excited to try this out!
My daughter and I love salads like this! This one is so colorful and gorgeous. This would pack up perfectly for lunch on the go! Love it!