This colorful Black Bean Salsa recipe is as easy to make as it is versatile, with fresh veggies and the unexpected surprise of olives. Serve this salsa as a chips & dip appetizer or as a topping for your favorite Mexican-inspired main dishes!

Serving utensils rest in a big bowl of black bean salsa.


 

Easy Black Bean Salsa Recipe

This Black Bean Salsa recipe is loaded with fresh veggies and features a fun, unexpected twist – olives! If you’re a fan of briny, salty olive awesomeness, you are going to love the addition of black and green olives in this easy recipe. Enjoy the salsa as a dip with tortilla chips – or add it to quesadillas, tacos, burritos, and so much more!

Why I Love This Black Bean Salsa Dip

I love a good surprise. Especially when it’s as delicious as this black bean salsa…with olives! Here’s why I make this recipe again and again:

  • Not your ordinary salsa recipe. While I rely on recipes like my restaurant style salsa and pico de gallo, it’s always fun to throw in this salsa with black beans and olives. The black olives and green olives add layers of savory flavor that are unexpectedly delicious!
  • Hearty. Black beans are protein-packed powerhouses. I’m always striving to include more protein in our menus.
  • Versatile. I most often serve this salsa as an appetizer – a dip with tortilla chips. But it’s also a great addition to meals as a topping or mix-in, like tacos or carnitas burrito bowls. It works really well with meats, fish & seafood, and vegetarian dishes.
Ingredients for black bean salsa are portioned out and labeled: black beans, olives, onion, vinegar, cilantro, canned tomatoes, garlic, cilantro.

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a look at what you’ll need to make this black bean salsa recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredient amounts.

  • Black beans – You’ll need one can of black beans. Be sure to rinse and drain them before adding them to the salsa.
  • Diced tomatoes – A can of diced tomatoes makes this salsa recipe extra easy – do not drain them.
  • Olives – This recipe calls for a combo of ripe black olives and green olives stuffed with pimentos. If you don’t like one of these olives, you could just double the quantity of the kind you like. (Or eliminate the olives entirely.)
  • Sweet bell peppers – I like to use a combination of red and yellow bell peppers, but any colors will work.
  • Onion – A sweet onion such as Vidalia is my favorite, but whatever you like will work.
  • Jalapeno pepper – Add more or less to your taste.
  • Garlic – Pungent garlic is great with this mix of ingredients.
  • Cilantro – I’m a big fan of fresh cilantro. If you’re not, try adding some fresh parsley instead.
  • Red wine vinegar – This adds delicious acidity!

How To Make Black Bean Salsa

This recipe for black bean salsa is so super simple to make. Find instructions with more detail in the recipe card lower down.

Black bean salsa components are added to a bowl to be mixed together.
Add ingredients.
Olives top a big bowl of black bean salsa.
Mix.
  • Assemble. Place all ingredients in a bowl.
  • Mix. Fold to combine.
Serving utensils rest in a big bowl of black bean salsa.
  • Serve. You can serve the salsa right away, although letting it rest for a few hours does help all the flavors meld.
A bowl of black bean salsa on a table with a bowl of chips.

Tips & Variations

Here are a few tips, plus some variation suggestions you may want to try:

  • Use fresh tomatoes. Canned tomatoes makes this salsa super easy. However, during tomato season, I like to add my own garden-grown tomatoes for even more fresh flavor. To use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, add 2 cups of diced tomatoes.
  • Other olives. You can use unstuffed green olives in place of the pimento-stuffed olives if you like. If you don’t like green olives, just use 1/2 to 1 cup ripe black olives.
  • Or skip the olives. If you don’t like olives at all, not even a teensy-weensy bit, just leave them out. This salsa will still be very yummy!
  • Add corn. Fresh sweet corn kernels add a lovely crunch and sweetness. Cut the kernels from 1 ear of sweet corn and add them to the salsa. Or use canned shoepeg corn, like this cowboy salsa recipe calls for – just be sure to drain it first.
  • Let it rest. Like many salsas, this salsa benefits from a rest – to let the flavors develop. Prep the salsa 1-3 hours prior to serving and keep it in the fridge, for the best flavor and texture.
  • Serve it warm or cold. You can serve this black bean salsa cold from the fridge, at room temperature, or slightly warmed. To enjoy it warm, microwave your desired quantity in 15-second intervals until warmed to your liking.
A hand holds a tortilla chip filled with black bean salsa.

Serving Suggestions

Here are a few ways to enjoy this salsa:

Proper Storage

Store black bean salsa in an airtight container (I like a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid) in the fridge for up to 1 week. This recipe makes 3 pints of salsa.

More Salsa & Dip Recipes

Serving utensils rest in a big bowl of black bean salsa.

Black Bean Salsa

Yield: 12
prep time: 15 minutes
total time: 15 minutes
This colorful Black Bean Salsa recipe is as easy to make as it is versatile, with fresh veggies and the unexpected surprise of olives. Serve this salsa as a chips & dip appetizer or as a topping for your favorite Mexican-inspired main dishes!
5 Stars (1 Review)
Print

Ingredients

  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes (do not drain)
  • ½ cup roughly chopped ripe black olives
  • ½ cup roughly chopped green olives stuffed with pimentos
  • 1½ cups diced bell peppers (I like to use a combination of red and yellow bell peppers, but any colors will work.)
  • ½ cup diced onion (I like to use a sweet onion such as Vidalia, but any onion will work.)
  • 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper (add more or less, to taste)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and fold together. Enjoy right away – or better yet, place in the fridge to let the flavors mingle for 1-3 hourse before serving.
  • Serve with tortilla chips – ones shaped like scoops work especially well.

Notes

Adapted from the recipe box of my friend Ann Hauer. Originally from Ann’s friend Anne Perkins.
Makes 3 pints of salsa.
Can be made 1 day prior to serving. 

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 64kcal Carbohydrates: 10g Protein: 3g Fat: 2g Saturated Fat: 0.3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 362mg Potassium: 238mg Fiber: 4g Sugar: 2g Vitamin A: 727IU Vitamin C: 30mg Calcium: 34mg Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
© Brenda | A Farmgirl’s Dabbles
Cuisine: Mexican
Course: Appetizers

The story behind the recipe:

My dear friend Ann shared this black bean salsa recipe with me many, many years ago, a favorite dish from her friend “Annie P”.

When Ann’s son Graham was very young, he raised and released over 26 monarchs one summer, naming each one as he went through the alphabet…A is for Albert, B is for Bill, C is for Cathy, etc.

It was during that summer that Ann and Graham started calling this recipe “Caterpillar Salsa”, incorporating only yellow tomatoes that I shared with them from my own garden, yellow bell peppers, white onions, black beans, and black olives. This was a nod to the yellow, white, and black stripes of a monarch caterpillar. I always love this story!!