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This is one of the most simple recipes I make, and it’s so versatile. I use this as a dip, a taco or quesadilla filling, and I even eat it by itself on days when I don’t have much time for lunch.

I love that you can easily alter this simple chickpea salad based on what you have in your fridge, and the light seasonings really bring out the flavors in this hearty dish.

close up of black bean and corn salad with text for pinterest

Since I stopped eating meat, I’ve been focusing a lot on plant based meals and reworking some of my traditional high protein meals and snacks–it’s tough to find protein when you don’t eat meat or dairy!

Did you know that vegetables have protein? I love using this list of high protein vegetables to make meals.

Here are a few ways that you might enjoy eating this cold chickpea salad:

  • wrapped up in some crunchy romaine lettuce
  • in a bowl as a delicious two bean salad recipe
  • in a bowl with halved cherry tomatoes
  • in a tortilla as a taco or burrito
  • as a dip–for vegetables, pita chips, or tortilla chips
  • inside of mini bell peppers

Where’s the recipe?

Here at My Crazy Good Life, our recipes are written two ways–in the article with tips and tricks for making the dish as well as ingredient, meal prep, freezing, and special diet information.

If you’re looking for just the recipe, you’ll want to scroll straight down to the printable recipe for this Vegan Chickpea Salad.

Ingredients:

  • Corn kernels: You can use canned or frozen corn in this recipe, If you’d like to grill some corn and cut it off the cob yourself, that will work too!
  • Black beans: I use a can of low sodium black beans, and I always drain and rinse to remove as much of the sodium as possible.
  • Chickpeas: I like to use canned chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), and I drain and rinse them just like I do the black beans.
  • Tomatoes: You can used canned diced tomatoes, but I really love fresh for this recipe. I don’t pull out the seeds.
  • Diced green chilies: I love using fresh here, but if you only have canned (like I did when making this recipe last!) that will work too.
  • Red onion: I love red onion because it’s anti-inflammatory. One of the reasons I stopped eating meat was because of the inflammation, so I’m always looking to avoid inflammatory foods.
  • Bell pepper: Whatever color you have on hand.
  • Celery: Diced celery adds a great crunch to this recipe.
  • Mango: I used fresh but frozen works too! If you use frozen, allow it to thaw a bit so some of the liquid drains out.
  • Cumin: That’s the only spice I used in this recipe, but as I’ve mentioned, it’s super versatile and you could add others that you love.
ingredients in this black bean salad

Extra ingredient options that are delicious, quick, and easy:

  • Feta cheese or Cojita cheese
  • Fresh herbs, like cilantro
  • Chopped green onions
  • Lime juice or lemon juice, if you plan on having this around in the fridge for more than a day or two
  • Avocado
  • Cucumber adds a great crunch!
  • Cooked quinoa will add some additional protein
bowl of black beans and corn salad

Directions for this easy Black Bean and Corn salad:

Time needed: 20 minutes

There is no cook time needed for this easy chickpea, black bean, and corn salad!

  1. Drain and rinse your canned vegetables

    Drain the cans of corn, black beans, and chickpeas to avoid too much liquid in the salad, and rinse them to remove the extra sodium that’s used to preserve them in cans.
    After rinsing, add the canned items to a large bowl.

  2. Dice the veggies

    Dice the tomatoes, green chilies (if you’re using fresh), onion, celery, and mango.
    Add the vegetables and fruit to the bowl of corn, black beans, and chickpeas.

  3. Add spices

    Add cumin to the salad and mix well.

Recipe tips:

  • Omit anything in this recipe you don’t care for and add more of what you do–this recipe works well as long as you add in the beans!
  • As written, this recipe is dairy free, gluten free, and egg free.
  • If you’d like to, add a few teaspoons of olive oil or balsamic vinegar.
  • This recipe works great as a black bean salad–I’d double the black beans and leave out the corn!
pretzels dipping into corn and black bean dip in an orange bowl

Healthy Eating Plans for this Black Bean and Corn Salad:

21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: This recipe is made with ingredients straight from the food list!

Regular plan: Entire recipe: 9 yellow containers, 4 green containers, 1/2 purple container. Per serving: 1 1/8 yellow container (but I count 1 yellow to make it easy), 1/2 green container, negligible purple container (I don’t even count it!).

Vegan plan: Entire recipe: 3 yellow (a) containers, 4 red containers, 4 green containers, 1/2 purple container. Per serving: 1/3 yellow containers, 1/2 red containers, 1/2 green containers, negligible purple container (too small to count, for me!).

Weight Watchers: One serving of this recipe is 0 Blue Plan Points | 3 Green Plan Points | 0 Purple Plan Points

Looking for more meat free meals?

5 from 4 ratings
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Easy Corn and Black Bean Salad Recipe

Created by: Becca Ludlum
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Approximate Serving Size: 3/4 cup, depending on the size of your veggies.
Servings 8
This Easy Black Bean and Corn Salad recipe has a delicious Mexican spin on it–we added mango for sweetness, chickpeas for extra protein, and just a bit of spices to make the flavors pop!

Equipment

  • Kitchen Knife

Ingredients 

  • 1 can corn kernels I used a drained 15.5 oz can. You can also use frozen corn.
  • 1 can low sodium black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 can low sodium chickpeas rinsed and drained
  • 2 small tomatoes diced
  • 1 can diced green chilies I used a 4 oz. can. You can use fresh if you'd like!
  • 1/2 large red onion diced
  • 1 bell pepper I used yellow, you can use any color you like
  • 2 stalks of celery diced
  • 1 small mango diced into small chunks
  • 1/2 tsp cumin

Instructions

  • Drain and rinse the canned corn, beans, and chickpeas. 1 can corn kernels 1 can low sodium black beans 1 can low sodium chickpeas
  • Chop the vegetables and mango. 2 small tomatoes 1 can diced green chilies 1/2 large red onion 1 bell pepper 2 stalks of celery 1 small mango
  • Add cumin and combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. 1/2 tsp cumin

Notes

Recipe tips:

  • Omit anything in this recipe you don’t care for and add more of what you do–this recipe works well as long as you add in the beans!
  • As written, this recipe is dairy free, gluten free, and egg free.
  • If you’d like to, add a few teaspoons of olive oil or balsamic vinegar.
  • This recipe works great as a black bean salad–I’d double the black beans and leave out the corn!

Healthy eating plans:

  • 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: This recipe is made with ingredients straight from the food list!
    • Regular plan: Entire recipe: 9 yellow containers, 4 green containers, 1/2 purple container. Per serving: 1 1/8 yellow container (but I count 1 yellow to make it easy), 1/2 green container, negligible purple container (I don’t even count it!).
    • Vegan plan: Entire recipe: 3 yellow (a) containers, 4 red containers, 4 green containers, 1/2 purple container. Per serving: 1/3 yellow containers, 1/2 red containers, 1/2 green containers, negligible purple container (too small to count, for me!).
  • Weight Watchers: One serving of this recipe is 0 Blue Plan Points | 3 Green Plan Points | 0 Purple Plan Points
 

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 215mg | Potassium: 336mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 764IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg

Make This Recipe?

Make sure to follow on Pinterest @bludlum and on Instagram @beccaludlum

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4 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’ve made this twice now and it is super versatile and so tasty!

  2. I am looking at a lot of your recipes. I would love to print and use some of them. However, I do not see a WW points value associated with them. Do you post a WW points value with each recipe? if so, where do you post it on the recipe? Thank you..

    1. Hi Kathy! All of the points are at the bottom, right above the printable recipe area.

  3. 5 stars
    Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.

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