3 Bean Salad Recipe – Mexican Side Dish: An easy, no-cook, side dish recipe that can be made for a weeknight dinner, or for a potluck dinner at an event!
Salad recipes are my favorite. They’re super easy to make, can be made ahead of time (for the most part) and are usually loved and wanted by all!
3 Bean Salad Recipe
I’m not going to lie. When I’m at a potluck dinner, I typically reach right over the bean salads and head right for the potato dishes.
But now that I’ve made my own 3 bean salad recipe and have realized just how delicious they can be, I’ll be giving them a fair chance at the next church picnic.
Mexican Style Bean Salad
If you’ve made my guacamole recipe,
then you know my love for cilantro and all things that remind me of a trip to Mexico!
But in any dish, combine cilantro AND red onion and you’re speaking my love language.
The fresh cilantro, avocado lime dressing (store-bought, but you can make your own too) and the flavors of the beans, make this side salad dish a no-brainer for the next time you need something quick and tasty!
How to Make 3 Bean Salad
To start, open your cans of beans, drain, add to a colander, and rinse.
Next, open and drain your corn, then add to the bowl of beans.
If you haven’t diced your peppers and red onion yet, you’ll want to go ahead and do that now, and then add to the beans/corn.
If you don’t have a chopper like this one, to quickly chop peppers and onions… you gotta give it a try. It’s a life changer when it comes to chopping in the kitchen.
3 Bean Salad Dressing
The next part is quite possibly my favorite step because it’s so easy! I found a Sweet Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette Dressing from Sam’s Choice, at Walmart when I was ordering online with my grocery pickup app, planning to make this salad recipe.
Now you know me, and how I prefer fabulously fast dishes, rather than making complete, from scratch meals… so buying a dressing instead of having to make it myself, was a no-brainer.
HOWEVER, if you have trouble finding this dressing at the store, have fun with it and look to see if you can find something similar, like a lime-dressing.
Or, you CAN make your own dressing too! I have put the ingredients for a 3 bean salad dressing recipe in the recipe card below too, that uses everyday ingredients. So again, don’t stress about finding this particular dressing.
Once you’ve poured the desired amount of dressing on to your bean salad, toss until mixed, add a dash of salt, and top with fresh cilantro if you have some on hand!
There’s just nothing better than fresh cilantro if you ask me. But I’m not one of those that think that it tastes like soap!
It’s such a mystery to me, with how that works and we can all taste different things like that. (Sorry, squirrel moment.)
Isn’t that a gorgeous 3-bean salad? I just love the vibrant colors that it has, the texture of the crunch of the peppers and onions, and the ease of the dressing.
Let us know in the comments below if you’re trying 3 bean salad for the first time, or if you’ve been a long time fan of it!
3 Bean Salad Recipe - Mexican Style
Ingredients
- 1 15.5 oz can black beans rinsed
- 1 15.5 oz can pinto beans rinsed
- 1 15.5 oz can dark red kidney beans rinsed
- 1 15.5 oz can corn drained
- .5 red bell pepper diced
- .5 orange bell pepper diced
- .5 yellow bell pepper diced
- .5 green bell pepper diced
- .25 red onion diced
- .5 cup Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette Dressing
- salt to taste
- fresh cilantro (if desired) chopped
Instructions
- Drain and rinse all beans and pour into medium size bowl
- Drain corn and add to beans
- Add in peppers, onions and dressing
- If desired, sprinkle on fresh cilantro and salt to taste
Notes
Nutrition
Hosting a Fiesta?
This is an OLD Fiesta Housewarming party that I helped style for a friend, years… I mean YEARS ago, but you may still find some fun ideas for your fiesta!
Don’t Forget to Pin This Recipe!!!
You know how life gets. We see something online and say to ourselves,
“Man that looks good. I should make that sometime.”
Then we close out of the browser and never think about it again. Do yourself a favor and PIN this recipe to your Pinterest board, so the next time you’re looking for a pot luck side dish idea, you’ll have this one to turn to!