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
PrintBlack Bean and Mango Quinoa Salad
Description
A fresh and hearty salad that works great as both a side dish or a main dish. Top with grilled steak, chicken, or seafood for a filling meal.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (2/3 cup dry quinoa)
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium mango, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)
4 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
kosher salt
freshly 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.
I’ve made this several times, I love it!
Tried this tonight. In a word, AWESOME.
Sara – this salad is the BOMB!! I fixed it for Memorial Day to go with fajitas. Only change (sorry) was I used a frozen bag of organic red quinoa & brown rice that I had microwaved earlier in the week. Even the hubs thought it was good & he hates quinoa. LOL
Thanks so much for this yummy, healthy recipe!
Liz