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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, or if you’re looking for a main dish to serve with it try my Chicken Fajita Bowls.
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, Crispy Black Bean 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.
This salad was delicious. Definitely one of my favorites. I only had one ripe avocado. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Carol, I am thrilled to hear that you loved it just as much as I did thank you for coming back to let me know!!
I love this recipe but am confused by the 4tbsp of cilantro and the quarter cup of cilantro …is one of these coriander?
Thank you,
Shelly
Hi! There needs to be cilantro in the salad and then also in the dressing. So there are two different measurements for the cilantro in this recipe 🙂 I hope that helps with any confusion! Enjoy the recipe and have a wonderful weekend.
The recipe for ingredients says 1/4 cup cilantro and 4 tbsp cilantro.
Then the dressing says 2tbsp cilantro. Can you please clarify the amounts for the salad and the dressing?
Hey there! The salad gets 1/4 cup cilantro for color/flavor and then the dressing gets the 2tablespoon amount when blended. thats why there are 2 amounts. Sorry for any confusion!! 😊 enjoy!
You can never have too much cilantro.
Absolutely delicious!!! Love it for my work lunches! 😍
Super delicious salad!!! Followed the recipe as written except I added filet mignon to it to make it more of a meal. I was confused by the 4 tablespoons of cilantro in the salad ingredients. You call for 1/4 cup AND 4 TBLS in the ingredients for the salad part.
I absolutely will be making this again and again and again!!!
That sounds absolutely delicious what a perfect pair! Sorry for the confusion there is cilantro for the actual salad and then there is cilantro in the dressing to give the dressing a better flavor to match the salad that’s why there are two measurements 😊 thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it!!!!
Do you cook the beans? When do you add the beans? The beans are not mentioned in the steps.
Hi! Yes the beans should be cooked they typically always are if they are canned but make sure you check that. And my apologies for not adding went to put the beans and just go ahead and mix them in when you’re mixing the salad with everything else! Enjoy 😉
This was so tasty and is now a bbq side dish fav. Question about the nutrition info – is that for the entire salad or for 1 serving?
I am so happy to hear you loved it! As for the nutrition info – it’s per serving if you were to split the salad between four. Which would be about 1.5 – 2-ish cups each. If you are eating it as a side, the nutrition count would be a bit lower.
So delicious!! My husband and I absolutely loved this recipe. I will be making this over and over all summer long!
Hi Tessa! I am thrilled to hear that. I just bought more corn to make for my husband and I this week 🙂 Thanks for coming back to let me know.
Going to make this for my daughter! I’m confused on your cilantro amounts as well. It says 1/4 cup and 4 TBL cilantro for the salad and then 2 TBL for dressing. Is this correct?
Yes this is correct! Enjoy
Loved it – will put cilantro in sauce next time!
Used tomatoes as I didn’t have beans as per your recommendation.
My son and I had it with a tin of tuna.
Will definitely make again and try out your other recipes.
Hi Roseanne thank you so much for making my recipe and coming back to let me know that you loved it 🥰
This salad and dressing was delicious! I will definitely be adding to my regular rotation! We added some romaine and spring mix and grilled chicken.
Hi Jenni!
I am so happy to hear that! I love to add chicken and even shrimp to this salad as well. Happy cooking, xoxo – Bailey
So fresh and flavorful, perfect summer salad
Is the corn cooled before adding to the salad?
Hi there! If you are using fresh corn on the cob, you don’t even need to cook it ☺️and if you are using frozen corn, just let it cool a tad bit before adding.