How much do we all love recipes we can prep ahead? If you’re anything like me, the answer is A LOT. If we’re hosting a bunch of people in our home, the last thing I want to be doing in the minutes before everyone arrives is scrambling to put the finishing touches on various recipes. If you fall into a similar boat, keep this black bean and brown rice salad in your back pocket because it’s one you can make in advance to help eliminate same-day hosting stress! More importantly though, it’s absolutely delicious and bursting with color, texture, flavor, nutrient-dense veggies and whole grains!
Ingredients (aka Everything You Need to Make Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad)
Here’s everything you need to make this black bean and brown rice salad:
- Brown rice: I have a feeling you knew this one was coming! To make this recipe even easier, you can use one of those quick-cook 90 second pouches of brown rice. I’m telling you, this recipe is a breeze!
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: A summertime must-have. So plump and juicy and they add a beautiful burst of red to the salad.
- Corn: Trust me and cut this stuff straight off the cob! It’s so sweet and gives this salad a fun little crunch.
- Black Beans: Rinsed and drained, please
- Green Onion: For a little pizzaz
- Cilantro: Because I’m 100 percent Team Cilantro. If you’re in the camp that thinks cilantro tastes like soap, you may omit this.
- Avocado: You can’t beat the creaminess and flavor
- Dressing: It’s an easy one! We’re talking fresh lime juice (to give the salad a citrusy tang), olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper — aka pantry staples
How to Make Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad
No need to buckle up when you read this one because the instructions are easy peasy. The Cliff’s Notes version: Dump everything in a bowl and toss it together. D-O-N-E.
The I-want-to-make-sure-you-get-the-very-best-results version is only slightly more detailed:
-
Step One
To make the black bean and brown rice salad, begin by combining cooked brown rice, tomatoes, corn, black beans, green onion and cilantro. (I’ve also added bell peppers and swapped diced red onion to use in place of the green onion at this stage and have loved them both. It’s an easy recipe to play around with depending on what produce you have on hand.)
-
Step Two
Now it’s time to make the dressing. I call this a “dressing” but it’s not really. Think of it more like a flavorful little sauce. Okay so maybe it is a dressing, but it’s not very plentiful because a little bit goes a long way. Anyway to make this saucy dressing, in a small bowl combine olive oil, fresh lime juice and your spices — garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir together until they’re completely combined.
-
Step Three
Now it’s time to bring everything together. Pour the dressing on top of the brown rice mixture and toss numerous times to coat. Toss with avocado immediately before serving and add any additional salt and pepper. Enjoy!
What Goes with Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad
Though I typically make this black bean and brown rice salad as a side dish, it’s also wonderful as meal. If you’re looking to make it a little more filling, consider topping it with grilled chicken or shrimp or adding some edamame to the mix. Even as a side dish, I love it with edamame, as the additional crunch adds some fun texture and the soybeans add a nice pop of color as well as protein and fiber.
If you are not the biggest fan of brown rice, this recipe is simple to customize with your favorite grains. Simply swap out the brown rice for quinoa, barley or even wheat berries. Wheat berries and barley will result in a chewier salad I personally love!
As far as what goes with this rice and black bean salad, some of my entree pairings include cilantro lime grilled shrimp, chicken thighs (made with our favorite chicken thigh marinade), my easy BBQ meatloaf and this slow cooker cilantro lime salsa chicken.
And for any meal preppers out there, this is a fantastic dish to meal prep ahead on a Sunday and enjoy for lunch throughout the week. (Just wait to add the avocado until you’re ready to dig in.)
If you decide to give this rice and black bean salad a try, I hope you love it as much as we do!
Print
Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 - 1/2 cup servings 1x
- Category: side dishes
Description
This Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad is a cold and tasty side dish bursting with color, texture, flavor, healthy veggies and whole grains. It comes together in a flash and can easily be prepped ahead of time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup fresh corn cut off the cob (approximately 2 small ears)
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped
- juice of 1 large lime
- 1 avocado, cut into small chunks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine cooked brown rice, tomatoes, corn, black beans, green onion and cilantro in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine lime juice, olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix together and then drizzle over the brown rice and black bean mixture. Toss repeatedly to coat everything in the dressing.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss with avocado immediately before serving and enjoy!
Notes
Though I typically make this black bean and brown rice salad as a side dish, it’s also wonderful as meal. If you’re looking to make it a little more filling, consider topping it with grilled chicken or shrimp or adding some edamame to the mix.
It’s fantastic as leftovers, too, but I’d recommend keeping the avocado on the side so you can use it to top individual portions. Then, when you’re ready to enjoy this dish again as leftovers, slice up some fresh avocado. This way you don’t have any brown avocado in your leftover salad.
If you aren’t a fan of brown rice, quinoa, barley or even wheat berries can be used in this dish in place of the rice. (Wheat berries and barley will result in a chewier salad I personally love!)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 145 calories
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 110mg
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 21g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 5g
Enjoy!!!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
A mid week cookout with neighbors sounds so fun! And this salad is a delicious combo. I have been meaning to get to Aldi because I’ve heard so many people raving about their organic section. It’s just that my local grocery store is 5 minutes away and Aldi is about 30, so I just need to plan it all out.
Our ALDI is 15 minutes or so away but it’s super close to our church so we usually go on Sundays or I pop in when I’m up in the area for various reasons. I really do think it’s worth the trip for the savings!
Yup!!! Get to ALDI’s. It was my sisterwho recommended their organic beef but now I get my bacon there too. Their organic section is pretty darn awesome!!! And they carry other things that I’ve wanted, like this bee house and muslin swaddles similar to Aiden and Anais brand.
Yummy, this looks delicious!
So colorful and would be great for meal prep
Amy | http://www.bucketloadofjoy.com
Definitely! It’s easy to prep ahead for sure — I’d just save the avocados for the last minute. Hope you love it if you decide to give it a try!! 🙂
That sounds so fun! I wish we had an Aldi, I love trying different grocery stores.
This combo sounds amazing! I’ve never been to an Aldi but found one not too far away. Can’t wait to check it out!
Yum! I love this combo together! I wish their was an Aldi near me–I dont think I’ve ever heard a bad thing about it!
This looks so delicious! And will please the variety of taste buds in my house. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they’ll put an Aldi’s near me soon..but for now I’ll recreate with my Trader Joe’s finds!
Oh my gosh just when I thought I couldn’t love you more, I do!!! My boyfriend and I are huge Survivor fans. His brothers and father also LOVE the show. I so wish we could’ve come to the cookout with y’all!!! I’m looking forward to trying out Aldi. There is a couple in Baltimore, but we usually shop at Harris Teeter and wow their organic foods are really expensive! Looking forward to checking out Aldi this weekend and seeing what discounts they offer xo
Haha!! I cannot believe next week is the FINALE! Who do you think has the best chance of winning!?
I have no idea honestly!! Who do you want to win? I love Tai! lol
This looks like such a refreshing and healthy meal and I love the seasonal ingredients!
This looks delicious and I just realized there is an Aldi right across from my gym!
My fiance HATES tomatoes 🙁 do you have any recommendations on what a good substitute would be for those?
I’d just leave them out! I don’t think you’ll miss them!
And random fact I had combined birthday party with my neighbor when I turned 10 and she turned 11. Well, it was survivor themed! Her 5th grade friends vs. my 4th grade friends! It was seriously one of the best birthday parties I had as a kid!
That sounds like a blast!!
That salad looks amazing! Perfect and light for summer. Thanks for sharing!
https://jonandaudadventure.wordpress.com/
I make a recipe similar to this, now will be adding brown rice, great idea! I made your cold quinoa salad the other night after a trip to Aldi, it’s delicious!
So glad you liked it!!! Thank you for letting me know! I have a feeling that one is going to be a summertime staple in our house.
YUM! I am all about anything with black beans and corn! You just can’t beat that flavor. I can’t wait to make this recipe and test it out on the hubby 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Julie!
How do you prep your sweet potatoes? They look fantastic! I am having friends over for burgers on Saturday and would love to have the potatoes to serve up with them! Thanks in advance!
How much fun! What a lovely party and I adore this recipe. ALDI really is the best!
How do you like their wines? We really like sparkling wines (noticed you had a bottle in your picture) but if they are too sweet or sugary, hangover city! I haven’t yet made it to our Aldi, but many of my friends go there.
I really do like them! Buuut I actually do like sugary wines so you may not like my recommendations (the Landshut Reisling is prob my fav). If you enjoy red wine, I definitely recommend trying their Outlander red blend. It’s delicious and not nearly as sweet!
Looks really good. how do you print the recipe?
Great dish for the summer!
Thanks for sharing! I made this with dinner tonight and we loved it. I do almost all my shopping at Aldi so I’m happy for new recipes!
I’m SO glad you liked the recipe! Thank you for taking the time to make it and let me know! 🙂
YAS–plant foods! haha. Love that you’re sharing something vegan 🙂 This is basically what I order at Chipotle–brown rice, beans, pico, corn salsa, and guac. I’ll have to try making this at home when I’m craving Chipotle!
Even though I don’t like mustard, I love how it looks zig zagged on top of things in a photograph! (Old skule flashback: there was a pic of Jenny McCarthy on the cover of Rolling Stone yearsssss ago, and I loved the way the streak of mustard looked in the photo!) Makes your burger look so artsy!
I love the looks of this bbq and the looks of that brown rice salad! Was just talking to one of my brothers yesterday about incorporating more grains into his diet (he brought it up, and we were both trying to remember the names of all the alternatives to brown rice. So thanks for the list! It’s like you read my mind days ago! Btw, amaranth is also a good choice! <—Giada tip.)
So excited to hear about organic beef at Aldi's! I'll admit that even though I've been going there for years, I have never bought meat there, so I haven't even LOOKED at the cases to even be aware of the fact that they carry organic beef now! Look – you made a consumer aware (me!) Aldi did a good thing bringing you on board! And you did ME a good thing by letting me know. Thanks!
Great post, as always! (I used to watch both Survivor and the Amazing race, but fell off the wagon for both. Or is it on the wagon? You know what I mean. Anyhow, just got back into the Amazing Race again after years of a hiatus, so I recommend that to you guys too! It's got travel, competition, AND exercise – I think you might like it!)
I have a feeling we’d like Amazing Race a lot but it’s a show we’ve never even tried to watch! I’ll put it back on my radar for the next season! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Kim!! <3
This looks like a great go-to recipe for Memorial Day weekend – thanks!!
Julie, this salad looks divine! Thanks for sharing it. And I just had to tell you that my husband and I love Survivor! We haven’t missed an episode since the very first season. It’s my guilty pleasure.
Cheers!
Christie
I want to try this salad this weekend! Looks delish. Where did you purchase your white plate, etc…?
The white plate with all of the food on it from the BBQ? I ordered it in a large set from RueLaLa years ago. I just checked for the brand and unfortunately the plate isn’t labeled on the bottom. 🙁
I just went to Aldi for the first time last week- and I LOVED it! I have to be honest, I was skeptical, but I picked up organic peanut butter, almonds, brown rice, some produce and frozen produce and was so happy with the quality and the prices! I will defiantly be going back 🙂
I love Aldi! I always forget about them when going grocery shopping since I have a closer store to me. I am always excited though to wander around the store to find some goodies. Now if I could only remember to bring my bags in with me… 🙂
Loving this recipe! I haven’t tried it yet, but being a fellow food blogger, and foodie at heart, I KNOW it will be good. I just shared it with a whole foods group that I moderate on Facebook and I know everyone will just love it. Your pictures are amazing so of course I had to pin them. 🙂