When you’re trying to eat a healthy diet, figuring out exciting lunches can be a challenge. And if you are trying to pack a healthy lunch to take to school or work, it can be even more of a challenge. This yummy Black Bean Salsa is delicious, good for you, and super easy to put together.
Pack it up “to go” with some blue corn chips, some fruit and a Peanut Butter Honey Bar, and you’ve got a great lunch that’s easy to take anywhere.
Black Bean Salsa
- 1 cup dried black beans
- 5 tomatoes, diced
- 1 small onion, chopped fine
- 1 cup frozen corn, steamed and cooled
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Soak beans in water overnight.
- Drain and cover with fresh water in saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes.
- Drain.
- In large bowl, mix together beans, tomatoes, onion, corn and cilantro.
- Stir together.
- Store in refrigerator.
- Serve with corn chips or baked tortilla chips.
Make this salsa even easier by using canned black beans and canned corn…then all you have to do is quickly throw all the ingredients into a bowl and stir!
Mmmmm…I LOVE this stuff!
Need more “to go” lunch ideas?
Look through all the recipes listed in our Make-Ahead Lunch Box series. Lunch can be so much more than a sandwich and carrot stick! All of the ideas will work great to make ahead, then pull out to pack for a lunch.
YUM! I’ll be making that soon — thanks for sharing!
Yum! I was planning tacos of some sort for dinner tomorrow night, this will make a great addition!
My mother-in-law got me on to making black bean salad — a similar recipe to your salsa — earlier this year. It is so refreshing for a hot summer day!
A bright-colored bell pepper adds flavor and cheer, too. :)
This is a family favorite. We like to throw in some avocado, too.
It sounds delicious. I had to google ‘cilantro’ because I had never heard if it before (we call it coriander). Do your boys eat this? My children do not get excited about beans. (quite the opposite in fact.)
That looks GREAT!
this sounds delicious! i’m adding it to my “to make” list :)
This is one of my FAVORITE treats. We make about 5 gallons of it every year. I use canned corn and beans, and I add the juice of several limes to it, too. I may need to make some of this soon!
I have a bowl of this in my fridge at all times in case we need something to eat in a hurry. Yum!
If you use canned ingredients, would you drain them first? I would assume you would drain and rinse the beans? I’ve had this somewhere before and LOVED it…
Thanks!
Yum! Looks super tasty! I make something similar to this and add leftover chicken for a light dinner!
Best,
Sarah
Oh WOW!! That looks like such a great lunch or snack. I am looking for new ideas for lunch as peanut butter sandwiches are getting old! LOL!!!!
That looks soooo delicious! I want to just reach in the screen and grab it!
Will definitely be trying this, thank you!
This is a fantastic recipe; thank you!!
Yum! That looks wonderful! I have been wanting to find some recipes for some black beans in my pantry, so this is perfect. Thanks for being part of the carnival. :-)
Looks yummy! My friend gave me a similar recipe. It is for corn salad and she uses onions, cilantro, and red peppers with it. I haven’t tried the black beans and tomatoes in it as well, but sounds delicious. Maybe I’ll pack that for lunches next week… mmmm…
This looks scrumptious!
My hubby would love this, and I just happed to have some black beans in the fridge! I never thought of using corn, I will be trying it soon!
Toni
That sounds super yummy! Thanks!
I can’t wait to make this. I added you to my favorite blogs so I can check back and try out some more of your great menu ideas!
Yum! I have black beans cooking for black bean burritos tonight so I’ll just save out some for this recipe. Thanks!
Looks delicious! I’ll definitly have to keep this one in mind. I think my daughter would eat most of the stuff in it!
Looks great! I think I will add some jalapeno for spice but looks great as is. Thanks for sharing!
Mmmmm…that looks yummy! I find that I keep clicking on all the recipes in this week’s WFMW. I’m getting hungry. ;-)
I just love black bean salsa. I could eat it with a fork and No chips without a problem. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ll try that one next.
Laura, I have a question for the tomato queen! Have you canned your own salsa? have you canned this salsa? Salsa is one of the very last prepared foods we eat. I plan on doing some canning this year and would love to know if you’ve done this and how it turned out.
forgot to subscribe!
I have canned my own own salsa, but not this recipe. You’d have to use a pressure canner with this one since it has beans and corn in it. Plus, I’m not sure about the taste. I think this one tastes better fresh!
Laura, this is a great recipe! One of my friends introduced me to it last summer and I was HOOKED! I add fresh lime juice, minced garlic and cumin to my version. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser!!
thanks for the tip.
I really love this stuff, I think another name is Black Bean & Corn Pico de Gallo? Unfortunately I have YET to be able to cook black beans and have them stay small and shiny black! Mine always swell, split and turn brown :( What am I doing wrong??? Tried boiling. Brown. Tried crock-pot. Brown. And I know for a FACT they can be cooked and still be black on the outside and white on the inside because I’ve eaten them like that 3 times (once at a restaurant, once at a luncheon, once on my own using a can of them from Save-A-Lot, which when I went back for more all the cans I bought and opened were brown.) Will have to try the soaking overnight I guess, making the cooking time (45 minutes I think you said) so much shorter. Thank you!
Hi Laura,
I’ve been wondering if you also make your own tortilla chips? Just out of curiosity :))
Sometimes, but usually we just eat organic corn chips.
I also use Zesty Italian dressing in this recipe.
I just ate some of this today, only difference is mine has the juice of one lime and a tablespoon of olive oil and I let it marinade for a few hours or a day!
I decided to try this in order to use up some of the black beans I had on hand. My husband (who is a little skeptical about trying something new) took a tiny portion because he didn’t think he would like it. He was surprised and declared it very good after the first bite :-) This will be great to fix during the summer. I love how the corn adds a little bit of sweet to the salsa. Thanks for this recipe!