This Black Bean and Mango Quinoa Salad is so easy to throw together and makes both a great side dish, or main dish. It contains cooked quinoa, mixed with canned black beans, juicy mango, crunchy red bell pepper, along with some cilantro and green onion. Everything is dressed with a simple red wine and lime juice mixture that’s tangy in all the right ways. This is one of my favorite dishes to meal prep because it lasts in the fridge for days and easily pairs with so many proteins.
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
You’ll just need a small handful of ingredients for this quinoa salad recipe. I particularly appreciate that the dressing is incredibly simple, just 3 ingredients, that I often have on hand.
- Quinoa: Look for quinoa near the other grains. I recommend white quinoa for this recipe because it has the most mild flavor and fluffiest texture. Red and black varieties tend to be a little chewier and stronger in flavor, but if you like those, you could certainly use them here.
- Black Beans: simple canned black beans are perfect. I usually try to buy low-sodium beans when available.
- Red Bell Pepper: I like the contrast of red pepper with the yellow mango, but yellow or orange bell pepper would work just fine as well. I would avoid green bell peppers and they have a different flavor profile.
- Mango: This recipe calls for 1 medium-large mango (around 12 oz) which should yield you about 1 cup chopped fruit. If you purchase a smaller variety, you will want to grab a couple. If fresh mangos are absolutely not an option, you might have luck with some defrosted frozen mango if they were nice and sweet when frozen!
Instructions
- Cook and cool quinoa
- Combine cooked quinoa, washed and drained black beans, red bell pepper, mango, cilantro, and green onions in a large bowl.
- Whisk together dressing of red wine vinegar, lime juice, and olive oil and toss everything together.
- Season with Salt and Pepper
Serving Suggestions
This makes a great side dish, or prep-ahead lunch. We love pairing this with grilled chicken or steak for dinner and I love it chilled with leftover chopped steak the next day! Would also be great paired with seafood.
More quinoa recipes you might like:
Roasted Sweet Potato Chicken Quinoa Salad
Tabbouleh (this recipe uses bulgar wheat, but is great with quinoa as well)
Curried Cashew Quinoa Salad
Coconut Almond Breakfast Quinoa
Black Bean and Mango Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa 2/3 cup dry quinoa1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed1 medium mango, peeled and diced1 red bell pepper, diced6 green onions, thinly sliced1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)4 tablespoon red wine vinegar3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juicekosher saltfreshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- To cook quinoa, rinse several times in cool water and then let soak for 5 minutes. Drain. Place in a small pot with 1 1/3 cup water or broth (I like vegetable or chicken broth for additional flavor) and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa can be fluffed with a fork. Cool to room temp, or make ahead and chill.
- Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl. Add mango, red pepper, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.
- In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice. Whisk until smooth and pour on top of salad. Toss to combine and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least one hour before serving.
Questions & Reviews
I’m new to your website, but I laughed out loud while just reading your recipe. I love your humor and the salad looks delicious!
Can’t wait to try this!! Awesome gluten-free option!! You ladies should consider tagging recipes as GF when they naturally are, definately a huge help for us!
This sounded so good so tried it this very day. Excellent!! All my kids even ate it. We didn’t have red peppers–used tomatoes at your suggestion. Thank you! You have a new follower…
I discovered this site yesterday and knew immediately I had to try this recipe. I added a seeded serrano pepper to the ingredient list. Delicioso!!! I can’t wait to try 2 other recipes tomorrow.
So I made this the other day – DELISH! Thanks so much for sharing! I think my lime was a little strong, and I added 2T, so next time I would cut down on that. But, seriously, the BEST quinoa dish I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a lot of quinoa).
Just stumbled across this blog last night (thanks to a post form Money Saving Mom’s blog) & I am lovin’ this site. I just started watching Biggest Loser (I’m a little late in the game ~ have been watching it On Demand). I saw the episode where Ali made this recipe & it looked so delicious, but I had no idea what quinoa was. I am so glad you took the time to explain what it is. Quinoa is now on my grocery list & will be purchased today. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Loved this! The vinegar was a little strong for me, so next time I would only do half.
This is delish. But….being the mango lovers we are we doubled the mango. Really really good!
This is de-licious, and even though my kids wouldn’t eat it (or the tortellini bake, or taquitos… SIGH) I will be making it all summer long. So flavorful and summery. I used frozen mango chunks that I thawed and diced and they worked perfectly.
This is a very good idea with the frozen mango chunks. I’m gonna get me some of those.
So I just made this. Yummy. I have wanted to make it since I saw it on biggest looser. I love it. I haven’t even let it sit for an hour yet and am already eating it. I am making it for a big dinner tomorrow so it will sit all night. I am so excited to eat it tomorrow. I doubled the recipe and it made a very large bowl. I guess if people don’t eat it then Sunday I am making fish and we are eating it with it.
Wow! This stuff is a party for the mouth. I only used one Tbs evoo and used a tomato instead of bell pepper. Not a real hit with the kids but I don’t care, because I’ll eat it all! I could definitely see substituting pineapples or peaches with the mango, but I think I like the mango. Thanks for the recipe!
I made a huge batch of this to eat for lunch all week and I can only say one word: FABULOUS! I love the medley of flavors! I had never used mango before in any recipes (I hadn’t even bought one before!) and it perfectly complements the other flavors in the salad. I am one happy camper after lunch now 🙂 I ran out of limes so I used a lemon instead and the dressing was still great!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Woah. This is so delicious. It is colorful, summery, and has such a unique and light taste. I can’t wait to make this for my mom and mother-in-law!
Mmm, made this for lunch today and had leftovers with dinner, as well. Added a bit of honey to the dressing to make it more enticing for my kids, and it was a winner!
I went out on a limb and made this with peaches instead of mangoes because that is what I had on hand… and it was awesome! I roasted the red pepper on the grill and even my skeptical husband loved it!! Definitely will make again…over and over again!
I loved this! I think it needs more mango though. Next time I will use two. I love mangoes! Thanks!
I just have to add that my husband, a long-time quinoa skeptic, also likes this dish. To quote him, “This might actually pull it off.” That’s his way of saying he’s a fan. 🙂
P.S. I added avocado to mine (because I’m in love with avocado). Yum!
I made this tonight. It is the best quinoa recipe I’ve ever tried. It is so good. Thanks!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Thank-you so much.
Love quinoa and can’t wait to add this to my salad collection. Is there a way to print the text only on your older recipes? Am I not seeing the “print this” option?
I made this tonight for a work picnic tomorrow and followed the directions and exact ingredients. It was amazing!! The presentation alone is awesome, but the taste is even better. I see this being in a lot of potlucks and bbq’s this summer! Thanks
I made this tonight. It was delicious! It reminded me of cowboy caviar, so I thought I’d try it on tortilla chips. It was really good! The mango added the perfect amount of sweetness. I think next time I will 1 1/2 times the dressing. I thought it was lacking in that area. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay – Olivia won! She was my pick for this season’s Biggest Loser 🙂
I can’t wait to try this quinoa salad – looks very yummy.
I bought some quinoa 2-3 years ago in Denver & Salt Lake City. I paid $2-3 per lb. Yesterday, I went to our local stores (small town, 3 grocery store) to buy more. It was ~$7/lb(organic), so I used what I still have at home). Where are more reasonable sources?
By the way, I made the salad & everyone who tried it enjoyed it immensely.
If you have a costco membership it is $8 for an organic bag…I think its at least 2-3lbs.
I just shared this with 2 coworkers for lunch and we all loved it! And as a single mom with full time work and part time school, I am thrilled that it’s such an easy make-ahead take along meal. Thankyou!!
Ok, so I accidentally left this comment on the “how to cook quinoa” page, but I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed this recipe as inspiration.
This was a perfect side for tonight’s grilled chicken. Only I didn’t have most of the ingredients, but with your recipe as a starting point, I totally winged it! I used quinoa, corn, a peach, tomato, fresh chives, a few cilantro leaves, fresh chives, and a drizzle of pomegranate balsamic vinegar and eureka lemon olive oil (from allspiceonline.com). Delicious!! Thanks!
We’ve been tasting your blog recipes for a few months now…they’ve been delicious. Today we had this for lunch and my husband and I both loved it. Thanks for sharing your talent!
Love the Mango Salad Recipe….Love that beautiful Silver dress…U look Great.
Will you ever get a app so I can put it on my IPONE…I only have epicurious and I love your website!! thx