by Spiced black beans and corn, roasted sweet potatoes, and fresh, crunchy veggies all combined with a delicious lime dressing, what’s not to love about this Healthy Black Bean, Corn & Sweet Potato Salad?! It comes together in less than 30-minutes and makes the most delicious meal on its own, can be paired with chips as a dip or added to a wrap!
Friends, I know I always say this, but this may be one of my most favorite recipes I’ve made recently.
Especially because, while I knew it would be tasty, I wasn’t necessarily expecting it to be this good. But something about the combination of the spiced black beans and corn, roasted, caramelized sweet potato and fresh crunchy vegetables all pair together so well, I can’t get enough of it!
Not only is this salad delicious, it’s actually super healthy, too!
What makes this salad healthy?
While my top priority in recipes is always taste, as a registered dietitian, I can’t help but love a healthy recipe, too! Here’s what makes this black bean corn salad healthy:
- It has a great amount of protein from the black beans
- We get lots of gut healthy fiber from the black beans and sweet potato.
- There’s healthy fats in the salad dressing, which helps with absorption of certain vitamins!
- We’ve got lots of vitamins and minerals from the veggies.
What to Pair This Salad With
One of the best parts about this salad is that it’s actually filling, meaning you can enjoy it on its own, but it’s also delicious paired with other things, like:
- As a dip for corn chips
- In a wrap
- With my Pineapple BBQ Tofu Skewers
I absolutely love bringing this easy salad recipe to summer barbecues! Try pairing it with my Pineapple BBQ Tofu Skewers, and Strawberry Shortcake!
Main Ingredients and Substitutions
While this recipe looks like it has a lot of ingredients and steps,
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Spiced black beans and corn: We loosely use my 10-Minute Spiced Black Bean recipe for this part of the recipe, but throw some corn in there, too, so it gets nice and golden brown and crispy!
I used canned black beans and frozen corn for this, but fresh beans you’ve cooked yourself will also work. If you don’t have frozen corn on hand, canned or even fresh corn sliced off the cob will work, too!
Roasted sweet potatoes: These add some fiber rich carbs to the salad, along with a deliciously sweet, caramelized flavor from roasting the sweet potato.
If you don’t have sweet potatoes on hand you can omit them altogether, but just note that you may need to adjust the dressing amounts accordingly.
Quick Pickled Red Onion: My most popular recipe, and for good reason! I love that the pickled red onion adds a tangy, slightly sweet, crispy flavor that pairs perfectly with the roasted sweet potato and spiced black beans.
If you don’t feel like making a batch of my quick pickled red onion, you can totally use store bought or just use fresh red onion!
How to make this black bean and sweet potato salad
While this recipe might look like it has a lot of steps, I promise, it comes together way more easily and quickly than you’d think, because we roast the sweet potatoes at the same time as we sauté the black beans and corn, then it’s just about throwing it all together in a bowl with the other fresh veggies!
- Start by adding the cubed sweet potato to a large bowl with the olive oil, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika and chili powder. Toss well to combine, then add to the air fryer and cook at 400 F for 20-25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender, flipping half way through.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to a large pan on medium heat for the black beans and corn. Once the oil is heated, add the drained and rinsed black beans and frozen corn to the pan, and sprinkle with chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Sauté and let cook for 10 minutes, or until some of the black beans have cracked open, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, prep the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, and pickled red onion (see note) for the salad.
- Once the sweet potato and black beans have finished cooking, combine in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, pickled red onion, and salad dressing ingredients, which can simply be drizzled over top of the salad rather than mixing together ahead of time. Mix well and enjoy!
Actually Tasty & Healthy Black Bean, Corn & Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
For the roasted sweet potato
- 1 medium sweet potato, cubed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
For the spiced black beans and corn
- 540 ml canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn, I used frozen
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper
For the lime dressing
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime , juiced
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 salt, or to taste
Other salad ingredients
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup pickled red onion, diced
- extra lime for topping, optional
Equipment
- Air fryer optional
Instructions
- Start by adding the cubed sweet potato to a large bowl with the olive oil, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika and chili powder. Toss well to combine, then add to the air fryer (see note*) and cook at 400 F for 20-25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender, flipping half way through.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to a large pan on medium heat for the black beans and corn. Once the oil is heated, add the drained and rinsed black beans and frozen corn to the pan, and sprinkle with chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Sauté and let cook for 10 minutes, or until some of the black beans have cracked open, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, prep the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, and pickled red onion (see note**) for the salad.
- Once the sweet potato and black beans have finished cooking, combine in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, pickled red onion, and salad dressing ingredients, which can simply be drizzled over top of the salad rather than mixing together ahead of time. Mix well and enjoy!
Notes
Did you try this recipe? Make sure to leave a review, take a photo and tag me on Instagram at @tastingtothrive_rd so I can see!
Actually Tasty and Healthy Black Bean, Corn & Sweet Potato Salad. Can this be made ahead and saved a couple days in the fridge? Would it be served cold or warmed? Do you think something could be substituted for the tomatoes, like cucumber or zucchini or red peppers? Thanks for your help
Yes, it absolutely could be made ahead of time! You could serve cold or warm, whatever your preference is. Cucumber or red bell peppers would both be great substitutions!
This was delicious! Great receipe. I will do this again
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!