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This avocado corn salad comes together in 15 minutes and serves as a summer staple. It has crunch, flavor, creaminess and pairs beautifully with anything you grill up. Mexican style corn salad will be your new favorite side dish!
Table of Contents
Why You Need To Make This Avocado Corn Salad
- This avocado corn salad is the perfect summer side dish. It feeds the whole family in under 20 minutes.
- Customizable. You can add extra veggies or substitute veggies for ones you may like more.
- No Cooking Required! No ovens or stovetops needed, just a simple salad with a light dressing,
- Loaded with seasonal veggies and flavor, it’s light but satisfying. It makes a great salad style dip with tortilla chips, and there is minimal cooking required. A wonderful Mexican style corn dip.
If you want another great side dish, try my Lemon Orzo With Feta, Corn & Poblano Pepper Salad.
Ingredient Notes
Notes about the ingredients in this recipe you may find helpful. Full of simple feel good ingredients!
All other ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card towards the bottom of this post.
Corn. The main ingredient. I like to use fresh corn on the cob, but frozen will also work perfectly.
Black Beans. I use canned, drained and rinsed beans.
Avocado. 2 avocados will be needed, make sure they aren’t over ripe! we want firmness so it holds up well in the salad.
Red onion. For flavor and color. This gives a strong pop of onion flavor
Seasoning. Paprika, black pepper, salt, garlic powder
Fresh lime juice. This is a must for the easy dressing.
Apple Cider Vinegar. This is for the dressing, it adds a little vinegar and sweetness to the the dish.
Steps To Make This Recipe
If you are ready to get this salad going, yay! Just grab all your ingredients and prepare them ahead of time to really speed things up.
Step One. If the corn is frozen, thaw it according to the package. I prefer it fresh off the cob for extra crunch.
Step Two. Mix up all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, apple cider vinegar, oil, seasoning, chopped cilantro, honey, lime juice. Give it a taste and adjust as needed (maybe more salt? or more honey? you decide!)
Step Three. Chop up the jalapeño, red bell pepper, avocado, onion, and cilantro into bite sized pieces. Try to keep everything close in size.
Step Four. With a sharp knife and steady hand, place the corn on a non slip cutting board vertically or horizontal if needed. Use the knife to slice all the corn kernels off. Gently separate the kernels if they are all stuck together, some stuck together is okay, and looks beautiful in the salad.
Step Five. Assemble salad and pour dressing over the salad. Toss well, serve.
Recipe Tips
- Use fresh corn if available. It tastes the best and has the most crunch!
- Taste the dressing as you go! Adjust as needed, you may want it a little sweeter, add more honey.
- Use an avocado that is still firm and only slightly soft, this will hold up the best in the salad.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes! you can, it will work great, just thaw it first.
CAN I ADD CHEESE TO THIS AVOCADO
MEXICAN CORN SALAD?
Yes, adding cheese to this salad is a delicious change up. I recommend feta or queso fresco, as they both pair amazingly with the flavors of this salad.
I DON’T LIKE CILANTRO. CAN I USE A DIFFERENT HERB?
Absolutely! Parsley or dill would make a great substitute for the cilantro.
Because avocados turn brown easily, I recommend eating this dish within 2 days of making it. If you want to add the avocado in as you go, then it will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Recipe Pairings
- Serve this avocado corn salad over tacos; like my Blackened Salmon Tacos or Chipotle Chicken Tacos.
- You can also use it as a dip with tortilla chips or top salads with it. It’s delicious on my Spicy Southwest Salad!
- BBQ Foods also pair great. Serve with Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, Shrimp Skewers, Pulled Chicken Burgers and more!
Other Appetizers To Try
Appetizers
Burrata Tomato Salad
Recipe Roundups
30 BBQ Chicken Sides
Appetizers
Smoked Queso With Real Cheese
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Avocado Corn Salad
Equipment
- large bowl
- whisk
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked corn, about 3 medium/ large ears of corn
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 avocados, not overly ripe
- ¼ cup red onion
- 1 Jalapeño , optional
- 4 tbsp fresh cilantro, *Note: you need more for the dressing below
Dressing
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice, *2 limes
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey, *see notes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro , optional for dressing
Instructions
- If the corn is frozen, thaw it according to the package. I prefer it fresh off the cob for extra crunch. If using fresh corn on the cob, peel and shuck it.
- Mix up all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, apple cider vinegar, oil, seasoning, chopped cilantro, honey, lime juice. Give it a taste and adjust as needed.
- Chop up the jalapeño, red bell pepper, avocado, onion, and cilantro into bite sized pieces. Try to keep everything close in size.
- With a sharp knife and steady hand, place the corn cob on a non slip cutting board vertically and use the knife to slice all the corn kernels off in a downward direction. Gently separate the kernels if they are all stuck together, some stuck together is okay, and looks beautiful in the salad.
- Assemble salad by adding all the ingredients together, peppers, onion, black beans, cilantro, jalapeño, avocado and pour dressing over the salad. Toss well, serve.
Notes
- Use fresh corn if available. It tastes the best and has the most crunch!
- Taste the dressing as you go! Adjust as needed, you may want it a little sweeter, add more honey.
- Use an avocado that is still firm and only slightly soft, this will hold up the best in the salad.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Excellent salad. So fresh and didn’t last long here. I followed all of it exactly.
Made this for a Derby potluck and snuck a few bites SO GOOD. I wish I doubled the recipe, the dressing is killer.
Cinco De Mayo favorite!I make this every year for my kids – I have tried several recipes and yours is always the best. Thank you Bailey
So grateful to hear you enjoyed it as much as we do, thank you for the feedback.
May be a stupid question, but you recommended using fresh corn on the cob. However, in ingredient list, it says “cooked” corn. You did not give instructions on how long to cook it to maintain the crunch factor.
Fresh or cooked corn will work great, If you use fresh – skip the cooking process. I just recommend thawing/heating up from zen corn 🙂 xoxo
This recipe is amazing! I’m an instant favorite at home and to all the potlucks I have taken it to. I make sure to have the link handy so I can share it with others the gatherings 😉
Hi! Thank you for the feedback, I am so happy to hear this. Enjoy and happy cooking!
Soooo crazy good. Thank you Sailer Bailey
You are so welcome! Happy to hear this.
Looks delicious can’t wait to try it.