Some days, food being fast is the most important thing, and this quick and simple black bean avocado salad relies on store-bought salsa, tangy feta cheese, and creamy avocado to make a delicious and quick weekday lunch!
Recipe: $6.38 | Per Serving: $3.19 | Yield: 2
This recipe was originally published in February of 2014! I've updated the photos, and modified the recipe card for clarity!
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This is your basic throw-a-bunch-of-things-together type of bean salad that saves you tons of time. While beans often work best with a slow cook or a marinade, the salsa, feta cheese, and avocado are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here, making for a fast and delicious weekday lunch!
If you love bean salads, you've got to try this Mediterrranan Lentil Salad or Chickpea Salad next!
Why You Will Love This Black Bean Avocado Salad
- Quick! With the help of a few store-bought ingredients, like salsa and pre-washed greens, you can throw this whole thing together in 5 minutes.
- Balanced: We've got a good ratio of protein and fat to carbohydrates, along with 13 grams of fiber per serving! Feel free to bulk this up with some chicken or a couple of eggs if you'd like more protein.
- On the lighter side: I would consider this a light lunch, which is often appealing for some people who tend to feel heavy in the afternoon.
Ingredients
- Black beans: Use salted beans (more flavor!) that are drained and rinsed.
- Restaurant-style salsa of choice: Personally, I like Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica, but your favorite salsa will work here. I've also got a homemade salsa recipe you can try as well!
- Extra virgin olive oil: We're using just a touch of olive oil here to bring everything together - nobody wants a dry salad!
- Arugula: Or you can use any other greens you like such as spring mix, chopped romaine, or any lettuce of choice. It's optional, so you can also skip it if you prefer.
- Avocado: Adds a ton of creaminess that I really recommend! Plus, you're getting healthy fats and extra fiber!
- Feta: Feta cheese is our salty substitute for Mexican cotija cheese - but it works too!
- Cilantro: Totally optional, but a nice addition if you've got it!
- Lime wedges: I LOVE lime, and I find this lifts the salad with some bright acidity, but you can skip it if you don't have any on hand!
Variations and Dietary Modifications
- Use different beans: I have not made this recipe with any other beans, but I would certainly try it with white beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas.
- Make it spicy: Top it with pickled jalapeños for a kick!
- Dairy-free: Use a dairy-free Greek-style cheese like Violife here, or you can increase the avocado and maybe add a pinch of salt if you skip it all together.
- Low FODMAP: This is not a low-FODMAP recipe, but you can significantly reduce FODMAPs and improve digestibility by using a low-FODMAP salsa like FODY foods, keeping the avocado to about 3 Tablespoons, and making sure you use canned beans cooked in kombu, or pressure-cooked beans. (See notes in recipe card for more details.)
How to Make Black Bean Salad
Step 1: Season the beans. Rinse the canned black beans and then combine them with the olive oil and salsa in a medium bowl and stir well.
Step 2: Assemble the bowl. Add about two handfuls of arugula to the base of each serving bowl (2 bowls). Divide the beans among the two bowls and pile on the avocado, feta cheese, extra salsa, and optional cilantro.
Expert Tips
- Chopped Salad: Feel free to chop or tear the arugula first if you prefer a chopped salad texture. You can also use shredded romaine or other greens here as well.
- Assemble in One Bowl: You can also mix everything together in one large bowl and serve. That isn’t quite as pretty for the photos, but it is a little more efficient!
- Add a Dressing: As written, this recipe takes about 5 minutes. If you have a little extra time, I like to make this lime-honey vinaigrette to use instead of the olive oil and lime juice in this recipe. You can toss it with the beans or drizzle it over the whole salad.
- Serving: Serve this as is or as a salad dip with chips! You can even combine it with mango salsa for a sweet and spicy twist!
Recipe FAQs
If beans are causing gas or discomfort, there are a few amazing solutions to this problem! You can soak your homemade beans for 24 hours, swapping the water halfway through, you can cook your homemade beans with kombu, buy canned beans cooked in kombu (Eden Foods), or buy or make pressure-cooker beans (Jovial Foods). Even my SIBO, IBS, and Low-FODMAP clients do well with beans when they’re cooked with kombu!
More Easy Salad Recipes
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Black Bean Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can salted black beans 15 oz, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup restaurant-style salsa of choice I like Trader Joe’s Salsa Autentica, plus more for topping
- 2 Teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 cups arugula or spring mix, optional
- 1 medium-large avocado cut into slices or cubes
- 2.5 oz feta crumbled
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro chopped (optional)
- 2 lime wedges more if desired
- Salt & pepper as desired
Instructions
- Drain and rinse a can of black beans. Combine the black beans with the olive oil and salsa in a medium bowl and stir well.
- If using, add about 1-1 ½ cups of arugula (about 2 handfuls) to the base of each serving bowl (2 bowls). Divide the beans among the two bowls, on top of the arugula, and pile on the other ingredients - avocado, feta cheese, extra salsa, and optional cilantro. Add a lime wedge to each bowl for serving and enjoy!
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