If you need one more fresh summertime salad for this Memorial Day weekend, I’ve got ya! This light and fresh Cucumber and Black Bean Salad is the perfect side for all your summer grilling, but also works great as a taco topper, base for a bowl meal, or even a chunky salsa for chip dippin’. The freshness of the cucumber balances the earthy black beans, and the tangy homemade vinaigrette keeps everything light and fresh!
Keep it Simple or Spruce it Up
You know I love to keep my food as simple as possible, but this salad is flexible enough to handle additions, if you happen to have them on hand. Might as well use up any lingering ingredients in your fridge, right? Here are some other ingredients that would go great in this Cucumber and Black Bean Salad:
- Corn kernels
- Avocado
- Diced red bell pepper (fresh or roasted)
- Diced Green bell pepper
- Jalapeño
- Diced tomato
- Cotija cheese
- Pineapple
“I Hate Cilantro!”
I hear ya. You got dealt the cilantro-hating genetic hand, but this Cucumber and Black Bean Salad still looks so delicious! Luckily, this salad is one of the few instances where I think parsley would work equally as well. Parsley goes great with cucumber, so it would be just as home here as the cilantro. We all win!
How to Serve Cucumber and Black Bean Salad
This is another great “refrigerator salad” that you can keep on hand and add to just about any meal you eat throughout the week. And not only does it hold up well, the flavor gets better as it marinates in the fridge.
Its obvious use is as a side dish, and it would go particularly well with grilled meat, something like our Honey Chipotle Chicken, or as a side to cheese enchiladas. I’ve also been using it as a base for bowl meals (add an egg and a spoonful or two of salsa verde), it can be spooned onto tacos as a sort of chunky salsa or relish, or you can scoop it up with chips for a fresh vegetable-y dip!
Cucumber and Black Bean Salad
Servings 4 1 cup eachIngredients
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.49)
- 1 cucumber ($1.29)
- 1/3 cup finely diced red onion (about 1/4 onion) ($0.11)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, loosely packed ($0.20)
- 2 Tbsp crumbled feta (optional)* ($0.55)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ($0.12)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
Instructions
- Soak the red onions in ice water for about 5 minutes to soften their flavor. Rinse and drain the black beans. Allow them to drain well while you chop the rest of the vegetables.
- Finely dice the cucumber to pieces about the same size as the black beans. Finely dice the red onion, and roughly chop the cilantro.
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill).
- Add the black beans, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, and feta to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over top, then fold the ingredients to combine. Allow the salad to sit for 10 minutes to marinate. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 4-5 days.
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Notes
Nutrition
I live for cucumbers in the summertime!! If you want more cucumber salads, check out my Super Fresh Cucumber Salad, Creamy Cucumber Salad, Sesame Cucumber Salad, or Lemony Cucumber Couscous Salad.
How to Make Cucumber Black Bean Salad – Step by Step Photos
Let the red onion soak in ice water for about 5 minutes before you begin. This takes the sharp edge off their flavor. I like to slice them before soaking to maximize the water contact, then finely dice them after soaking. You’ll only need about 1/3 cup once diced, or about 1/4 of a medium red onion.
Rinse and drain one 15 oz. can of black beans. Let them drain well while you chop the rest of the ingredients.
Dice one cucumber into small pieces, about the same size as the black beans. The most efficient way to do this is to slice the cucumber, then stack a few of the slices, and cut crosswise into cubes. Take care when stacking and cutting, as the cucumber slices can be slippery. So watch those fingers!
Finely dice the onion after soaking, and roughly chop about 1/2 cup of cilantro. Combine the cucumber, black beans, red onion, cilantro, and 2 Tbsp feta in a large bowl.
In a separate small bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 15 cranks of a pepper mill). Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients.
Gently fold the ingredients together until everything is combined and coated in dressing. Let it sit to marinate for at least ten minutes before serving, or refrigerate for up to 4-5 days. Make sure to give it a brief stir to redistribute the dressing just before serving each time.
So good! I can already tell that I will be going back to this salad again this spring and summer. I had it with salmon, but the leftovers made a good quick meal by themselves (I actually dipped some blue corn tortilla chips in). I added about half a can of chickpeas that I had in the fridge, and it upped the protein content even more. I would probably also use a bit more feta next time.
This is a great “use what you have” recipe! I had half a can of black beans and two mini cucumbers that I wanted to use up and eat for lunch. I made this recipe, minus the red onions and feta because I didn’t have any, and it is fabulous! I added some mashed avocado to it as well because I had some of that in the refrigerator. It was a very filling salad/side to go work my leftover soup.
Delicious on a hot summer day! Makes a good work lunch too! Thank you!
Excellent.
I am glad to know about soaking red onion to take the edge off.
My personalizations. I added green pepper because red pepper was not on sale. I sprinkled sesame seeds on the salad, mixed in. Let over several hours, as suggested.
You are just the blessing you hope to be Beth.
WOW. This salad is amazing! It manages to be both cool and refreshing yet hearty and filling (I added a diced avocado bc I have some that need to be used). Absolutely delicious, this will definitely be a staple recipe in my house.
Thoughts on adding quinoa to this recipe? I love all the other quinoa salads on this website and have now tried them all. I was considering converting this to a quinoa salad to make the fresh ingredients go a little further.
I think cooled quinoa would be delicious!
Great salad for hungry students
It sure is Emma!
This salad has become a staple in our house. I make a batch at least once a week (with the addition of bell peppers). The most recent batch also has corn, and then we tossed it all with some leftover rotisserie chicken, which makes an excellent one-bowl cold lunch. A variant I’m considering but haven’t tried yet is replacing the feta with pepperjack.
I add bell peppers to mine too! It’s so versatile to add to. Thanks for sharing Evelyn.
Followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t have feta and used goat cheese. It made the salad creamy (which didn’t look so hot but still!) and was delish! We ate it with white long-grain rice with butter and cilantro and paired it with your Cilantro Lime Chicken. The oohs and ahhs that came out of our mouths ~~ followed by “oh, it’s heavenly!” would have made a great audio! So incredible! Thanks Beth for another meal that’s taken first place in my rotating recipes!
My whole family enjoyed this recipe and the leftovers as well. In fact, they were disappointed when it was finished. Two out of five of us are vegetarian but it was a hit with everyone. Delicious with pita bread and on its own! We can easily bring this to school or work for a healthy and filling meal.
I made this last night and it was incredible!
I substituted garbanzo beans for the black beans. to make it more of a Mediterranean salad. I’ll be eating this all summer!
This was delicious! I used it as a side to go with some shrimp I sauteed with jerk seasoning. A really great, light yet filling dinner. My boyfriend thought it could use some more sweetness, so next time I might add pineapple or red bell pepper (or both!) as you suggested. I’ve never thought of pairing black beans with cucumber before, but I really liked it, and I look forward to doing more riffs on this salad in the future!
This was a delicious recipe – even though I accidentally forgot the cilantro. We ate it over 5 days and it was still delicious. Definitely making this one again
What can I sub for pineapple? Thanks
There is no pineapple in this recipe. Am I misunderstanding your question?