This easy Rice and Black Bean Salad is one of my favorite meal prep recipes. This lighter meatless main course is perfect for Meatless Monday.

Is anyone still eating healthy for the New Year?

My New Years resolutions always start to fizzle out after the first week of January, but this year I didn't even bother to make any resolutions. With a newborn, an extremely active toddler and basically 2 full time jobs, I have my hands full. Luckily, my toddler loves eating healthy, and requests salads quite often.

And whatever my toddler wants to eat I will make. If you have or had young kids, I am sure that you can relate. Getting them to eat is a struggle, so if he suggests something other than candy to eat for dinner, that's what we're having.

So this weekend while shopping for the week, he pulls some butter lettuce and salsa from the shelves and tells me to make something with that. This is how this Rice and Black Bean Salad was born.

The perfect meal for Meatless Monday if I do say so myself, this salad is actually better the next day. Such a great recipe to bring with you in your lunchbox, or as meal prep on busy days.

Rice and Black Bean Salad Ingredients

You mostly need fresh ingredients and pantry essentials to make this black bean rice salad recipe. All you need is:

olive oil
frozen corn
yellow or red onion
garlic cloves
chili powder
ground cumin
can of black beans
cooked rice
salsa
lettuce
shredded cheese

Tips

What types of rice to use: I love using white rice, but any leftover rice would work! Wild rice, black rice or basmati rice all go really well in this salad. I will say that a long-grain rice works best in the rice mixture, because it gives the salad more texture.

Add some more vegetables and fresh herbs in your salad. This is a good base recipe for a salad. I love to add some additional chopped tomatoes, green or red bell peppers and some fresh cilantro. A sprinkle of green onions would also be good on the salad.

Change up the spice in this recipe. If you don't like spicy food, use pico de gallo instead of salsa. However, if you like it spicier, I love adding a chopped jalapeño pepper or two, as well as using hot salsa.

Storage: I recommend storing the rice and lettuce separately when storing this salad. Store the lettuce in an airtight container with some paper towels in it to absorb any additional moisture. To store the rice, if you are using hot rice make sure to allow it to cool at room temperature before storing in the fridge in an airtight container for up 4 days.

Don't have black beans? Kidney beans or pinto beans are a great substitute.

More Cold Salad Recipes

Like this Rice and Black Bean Salad? Then you will love some of my favorite recipes for prepared salads:

Kale Quinoa and Cranberry Salad - This delicious side dish is the salad I make the most often. Using my favorite grains, and ready in no time.
Feta Chickpea and Kale Salad - The combo of feta cheese, kale, and chickpeas make this salad the perfect vegetarian side dish.
Romaine Lettuce and Chickpea Mason Jar - With minimal prep time, this is the ideal salad to bring to your work for a quick and delicious lunch.

If you try this recipe, let me know! Rate it, leave a comment and tag me with #atasteofmadness on Instagram! I always love seeing what you are creating!