Make this Mango Black Bean Salad with Lemon Lime Vinaigrette with canned black beans, sweet mango and crunchy bell peppers. Season it with green onions, jalapeño and fresh cilantro for an incredibly tasty 15 minute-make-ahead salad! This black bean salad makes a satisfying side salad or a healthy Mason jar lunch.
If you're looking to add more plant-based foods to your diet, do I have a salad for you! This Mango Black Bean Salad is bursting with flavour and vibrant colours.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's a vegetarian salad you can feel good about eating as a side salad or a healthy, satisfying lunch.
- Great for lunch! I like to serve this salad "as is" for lunch. It's a perfect candidate for a Mason jar salad too. Layer it in a jar, then shake or toss for a quick lunch!
- Delicious for dinner! For dinner, I like to add a few freshly grilled prawns on rice or some grilled chicken or salmon and serve this salad on the side.
- A great side for Mexican dishes. This mango salad is also delicious with any Southwestern or Tex-Mex dishes.
- If black beans are new to your family, this salad (with lots of sweetness from fresh mango and a to-die-for honey lemon-lime dressing) is a great way to introduce them to your diet.
Jump to:
🛒 Ingredients
So let's whip up a quick, healthy black bean salad with mango!
Here are a few notes about the ingredients you'll need to make this Mango and Black Bean Salad with Lemon Lime Vinaigrette.
- mangoes: You can use any variety. Choose mangoes that are fully ripe, but still firm. I like the Ataulfo mangoes. Also known as Honey mangoes, they are smaller and often sweeter than other varieties like Haden.
- black beans: for protein and fiber. I use canned black beans in this mango black bean salad recipe. Be sure to drain and rinse them thoroughly.
- bell peppers: any colour, or use a variety of colours. Red, yellow and orange are sweeter than green bell peppers, but green ones add a nice contrast in flavour. Bell peppers add just the right amount of crunch to this salad.
- green onions: for flavour and garnish.
- jalapeño: adds a hint of heat to this salad to balance the blandness of the beans. If you want less heat, remove the seeds before adding them to the salad. Mince some of the jalapeño pepper to add to the salad and leave a few as rings to add as a garnish for those people who love the extra heat.
- cilantro: adds bright, fresh flavour!
- lime: you'll add the zest to the Lemon-Lime Dressing.
- Lemon-Lime Vinaigrette: olive oil, lemon juice, lime zest, black pepper, honey.
🔪 Instructions
Drain and rinse the canned black beans, then remove the stem and seeds from the bell peppers and dice them. Slice the green onions, finely chop the cilantro leaves, and mince the jalapeño pepper. Dice the mango into small bite-sized cubes.
Add all ingredients to a bowl. Whisk the Honey Lemon-Lime Vinaigrette ingredients together or shake in a small jar with a lid and toss with the salad.
Refrigerate until serving time, if you can wait that long!
👍🏼 Helpful Tip: How to cut a mango
The easiest way to cut a mango is to first determine where the long oval seed is situated. Find the noticeable ridge that indicates how the seed is lying in the fruit.
Slice lengthwise from stem to tip on one side of the ridge, as close to the seed as you can, then repeat on the other side.
Score the two halves into cubes, then turn the skin inside out so the cubes pop up. Use a sharp paring knife to remove them from the skin.
You can also use the drinking glass method! It works beautifully! Watch this YouTube video for two easy ways to cut and peel mangoes.
🔁 Ways to vary black bean salad
Can't find mangoes? You could substitute fresh pineapple (or even canned pineapple tidbits) for the mango.
Like extra heat? Garnish with sliced jalapeño peppers. Add a pinch of ground chipotle powder to the dressing.
Make it a full meal deal! Add cooked chicken cubes, grilled or sautéed prawns or shrimp, or cooked salmon skewers.
Keep it Vegan: Substitute maple syrup for the honey in the lemon-lime dressing. Add 1 cup of cooked quinoa for extra protein.
Add corn for Southwestern flavour: While I purposely made this mango black bean salad without corn, you might like to add in ¼ to ½ cup of canned or frozen corn kernels. And if you love corn salads, you'll love this Mexican Corn Salad with Queso Fresco!
Substitute Cilantro Lime Dressing: While I like the slightly sweet flavour of the Lemon Lime Dressing in this recipe, you might like the Southwestern flavour of the Cilantro Lime Dressing you'll find in this recipe for Tomato Avocado Black Bean Salad.
🍽 Serving suggestions
This black bean salad with mango makes a satisfying side dish or a filling lunch.
It's also fun to scoop up with tortilla chips and guacamole!
This black bean salad with mango makes a great accompaniment to burgers. Try it with either these Chicken Fajita Burgers or Chipotle Chicken Burgers.
It's also delicious alongside 4-Ingredient Honey Lime Chili Chicken Thighs or Honey Chili Lime Glazed Salmon.
🥶 Storage Instructions
Make this easy black bean salad ahead of time!
It's an ideal salad to pack in a Mason jar for quick make-ahead lunches!
To pack it for optimum freshness, start by adding the dressing to the bottom of the jar. Next add the black beans, followed by the bell peppers and then the mango chunks. Finish the layers by adding the green onions, minced jalapeño and chopped cilantro leaves. Add a lid, refrigerate, and lunch is made!
When you're ready to eat, give the jar a good shake or add it to a bowl to toss the ingredients.
This salad will stay fresh when covered and refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.
🗒More salad recipes you might like
Prawn Mango Avocado Salad with Lemon-Lime Dressing
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📖 Recipe
Mango Black Bean Salad with Lemon Lime Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2 medium mangoes, ripe but firm, cubed
- 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 small bell peppers, any colour, or one of each, diced
- 4 medium green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 1 medium jalapeño pepper, finely minced
Lemon-Lime Vinaigrette
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- ½ teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
Instructions
- Whisk or shake lemon-lime vinaigrette ingredients in a small jar.
- Combine salad ingredients in a bowl, toss with vinaigrette and refrigerate until serving time.
Mel
With mangoes on sale this week, I knew I had to make this. The lemon-lime dressing is perfect on this salad. Just the right amount of sweetness. 5 stars.
Elaine
Thanks Mel!
MaryAnne
Incredible flavours! I kept the jalapeño to a minimum for the kids, but we all loved this salad.
Elise
Can't wait to try this! My family loves mangoes, so I'm sure they'll love this salad.
Flavour & Savour
Glad to hear you're going to try it!