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Recipes

This Mexican Corn Salad Is a Must for Any Cookout

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at SLU chapter.

This Mexican corn salad serves as a colorful side dish to burgers (beef or veggie), chicken, or whatever is being cooked up on the grill. Loaded with black beans, corn, tomatoes, and avocado, and cilantro, this dish provides a fresh punch of flavor with every bite.  

The first time I made this Mexican corn salad was in seventh grade. My mom was in desperate need of an appetizer for a party she was attending, so she handed me the ingredients and I went to town. Because it was so memorable, it’s become a summertime staple in my household. Over time, my Mexican corn salad has evolved and developed into the recipe it is today.  

Mexican Black Bean and Corn Salad

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: minutesTotal time: 20 minutesServings:6 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Sarah Morrissey

    Drain the black beans and yellow corn in a colander.

  2. Sarah Morrissey

    Chop the red onion, tomatoes, garlic, and cilantro.

  3. Sarah Morrissey

    Combine the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.

  4. Sarah Morrissey

    Season with lime, olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper.

  5. Sarah Morrissey

    Carefully cut the avocado and scoop it into cubes.

    #SpoonTip: Do not cut into the avocado until right before serving to prevent unwanted browning.

  6. Sarah Morrissey

    Stir the salad together and serve.

Storage

Mexican corn salad corn
Sarah Morrissey

When storing, place plastic wrap directly on top of the salad, pressing it down to ensure that most of the air gets out.  While this may not stop the avocado’s browning process entirely, it will preserve the freshness of the avocado for longer. 

If you happen to have leftovers of this Mexican corn salad (which you probably won’t if serving a large group), the great thing about the salad is that it can easily be repurposed for later use. Have some tortilla chips laying around? Now it’s a dip! Mix in some spinach or other fresh greens and it turns into a great salad. My personal favorite usage is as a topping to a baked sweet potato. Get creative — the options are endless.

Sarah is a senior studying Nutrition and Dietetics at Saint Louis University.  Having Celiac Disease as well as other dietary restrictions (dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, and fish), Sarah is accustomed to navigating restaurants and modifying recipes to accommodate her specific needs This ultimately cultivated her love of cooking and motivates her career in nutrition.  When not learning about food, cooking food, or eating food, she can likely be found scouring new music or attempting to teach friends how to play cribbage.