Southwest Rice and Bean Salad with Sweet and Spicy Dressing
This southwest rice and bean salad is a tasty medley of rice, beans, corn, chicken, and is tossed with a delicious sweet and spicy dressing.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This stuff is absolutely amazing! I added big chunks of avocado and tiny cherry tomatoes sliced in half along with fresh, seeded jalapenos and it is KILLER. I woke up this morning excited that I get to eat it again. -Marcie
5 Reasons to Make This Salad
If you are looking for the best way to change up your salad or dinner game, this southwest rice and bean salad is for you! Here are the reasons you should make it:
- It is VERY easy to make. Throw all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Blend the dressing. Toss the dressing with the salad, and you’re good to go.
- It is the perfect salad to make if you have leftover rice hanging out in your fridge!
- The flavor is through-the-roof delicious. The dressing is sweet and just a little bit spicy with warm smoky flavors that go so well with the rice, chicken and beans.
- It is packed with fiber and protein!
- This salad is adaptable to so many different add-ins. I’ve given a big list below. ⬇️
Important Ingredients Notes
- Cooked rice: This salad works great with cooked white, brown, or wild rice (or a combination!). It would also be great with quinoa or a quinoa and rice blend.
- Black beans: Drain and rinse the canned black beans before using.
- Pinto beans: Drain and rinse the canned pinto beans before using. You could easily sub in another type of beans for the pinto or black beans, if desired.
- Corn: The recipe calls for canned corn, but it also works great with fresh corn kernels or frozen corn kernels that have been thawed. The frozen roasted corn kernels from Trader Joe’s are super tasty here.
- Cooked chicken: This recipe is super easy if you have rotisserie chicken meat. Shred or chop the chicken for the salad.
- Green onions: The green and white parts of the onions can be chopped to use in the salad.
- Oil: I prefer using olive oil in the dressing, but you can use another type of oil.
- Lime juice: Fresh lime juice is best for maximum flavor.
- Pickled jalapeños: Look for pickled/brined jalapeños in a jar. You can add more or less jalapeños depending on your preference. As written, the dressing has a mild spice level, so if you’re looking for more heat, add a few more jalapeños.
- Red wine vinegar
- Brown sugar: This ingredient helps balance the smoky, mildly spicy flavors in the dressing.
- Chili powder
- Cumin
Variations and Add-Ins
There are so many ways to vary and elevate this salad. Here are just a few ideas:
- Add chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes or avocados to the salad.
- Serve the salad warm wrapped in warm tortillas with cheese (or make into quesadillas and crisp up in a skillet or on a griddle).
- Use finely chopped red onions or chives in place of the green onions.
- Use a can of green chiles in place of the jalapeños.
- Swap out the rice for quinoa or another grain of choice.
SO many people have commented that they wish they hadn’t waited so long to make this salad. It is a winner! I’ve been making it for over 15 years (!!), and it is still a recipe I turn to when I need a salad that will get rave reviews.
It is a perfect option for when you need to bring a dish to a potluck or event, but it is also perfect for a super easy weeknight dinner. We love this one and hope you will too!
Southwest Rice and Bean Salad with Sweet and Spicy Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 cups cooked rice, slightly warm or at room temperature (white, brown, wild rice or a combination)
- 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 12-ounce can corn, drained (see note)
- 2 cups cooked chopped or shredded chicken
- 4 green onions, chopped
Dressing:
- ⅔ cup canola, vegetable or olive oil (see note)
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 4 pickled jalepeno pepper rounds (from a jar) – use more for a bit more heat, if desired
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- For the salad, add all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl and toss lightly.
- For the dressing, add all the dressing ingredients to a blender and process until well-combined.
- Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to combine. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed (important!).
- Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. The salad can be assembled and refrigerated for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Rice: This salad would also be delicious with cooked quinoa or a quinoa/rice blend in place of the rice.
Corn: In place of the canned corn, you can use fresh corn kernels (no need to cook, just cut off the cob and add to the salad) or frozen corn kernels that have been thawed.
Oil: Over the years, I’ve cut back the oil to 1/2 cup and the dressing (and salad) still turns out stellar.
Salt: The amount of salt this salad needs is largely dependent on the salt content of the canned ingredients, as well as how much salt was used to cook the rice. So make sure to taste the salad after assembling and add additional salt (and pepper), if needed.
Add-ins and Variations:
- Add chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes or avocados to the salad.
- Use finely chopped red onions or chives in place of the green onions.
- Serve the salad warm wrapped in warm tortillas with cheese (or make into quesadillas and crisp up in a skillet or on a griddle).
- Use a can of green chiles in place of the jalapeños.
Serving: 1 Serving, Calories: 507kcal, Carbohydrates: 78g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 280mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 4g
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (my cousin-in-law, Tami, sent me the recipe!)
Recipe originally published September 2009; updated June 2026 with new recipe photos, notes, etc.
Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Oh my! Made this on a whim tonight (after getting your email about peanut butter popcorn ) and it seriously sang to my soul! So yum! Added avocado, chopped grape tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and ate with tortilla chips. My kids didn’t enojoy it as much but that’s ok. I’ll gladly eat it myself. Thanks Mel!!
Love your additions, Sara. YUM!
All 5 of my family members loved this! I’m not gonna lie—it’s not the prettiest dish around, but after one taste, we were hooked. My kiddo (and husband) that’s sensitive to spice drizzled a little Crema Mexicana on top, and gobbled it right up. I used quinoa instead of rice, and it was outstanding. Thanks for making me look like a rock star yet again!
Haha, so true! Won’t win any awards for looks, but I’m so happy you liked it!
We had chicken enchiladas last night and I made this salad as a side. Since there was chicken in the enchiladas, I left it out of the salad. The enchiladas were okay – not a recipe of yours. But the salad was divine! Good pairing, but next time I’ll skip the enchiladas and use the chicken in the salad! Perfecto!
Made this tonight for dinner and it was fantastic! Followed the recipe exactly and we all loved the flavor combination.
Thanks for letting me know, Jackie! So glad you loved it!
This is my favorite dish. I love the mixture of all the flavors. We make this all the time.
This is a forgotten recipe, but I agree, it is SO good! Glad you love it!
I am so excited to try this and am thrilled about using the leftovers for lunches! Would it be better just to dress as much of the salad as you are going to eat right then or does it absorb more flavor over time? Thanks for all your great recipes!
I actually really love this salad after it has sat with the dressing in the fridge for a day or so. Delicious!
This was Pretty good, I made with leftover brown cold rice , used just one can of black beans . I didn’t have pinto, I used 1 tsp of chili powder instead of 2 because I’m a whimp,I used 1/2 oliveoil and 1/4 water , I didn’t have canola oil. I didn’t add chicken was trying to make no meat meal for once and I didn’t have that either lol and it was great. Nice change for a summer meal my boys won’t probably eat this but I will.
This is an oldie but a goodie! Tried this tonight and am in LOVE!!
We love this recipe! I’m wondering if anyone has figured out a calorie count/nutrition facts for this?
Thanks, all!
Delicious! I added fresh garden chopped tomatoes, cilantro and a dollop of Daisy because well, I can’t not have sour cream with any mexi-dish. 🙂 Husband put it in a tortilla and loved it too – he asked why I didn’t try it soon. Lesson learned…move your recipes to the top of the ‘to try’ pile. Cheers from Kansas
Made this tonight for dinner. One word: DELICIOUS!
After having this pinned for way too long, I finally made it tonight and it is amazing!!! All three of my kids gobbled it up too. My husband loves Mexican food to the point of being happy to have it every day, so finding a great recipe in that genre is as good as gold. Thank you!!
We take a container of this for our lunch instead of sandwiches. This will make seven 14 ounce portions. Our first change was adding 50% more dressing, mixing it in a bowl. We also substituted a diced Red Bell Pepper, not putting it in the dressing but adding it to the other ingredients. The last time we made it we had 3 to 4 extra cups of torn up chicken, so we tossed that in. It made it really good. After putting it together we divide it into portion sized containers, packing one each in our lunch all week. Believe me, we love it. Like the idea of adding diced tomatoes…
Absolutely delish!! I made it vegetarian and halved the salad, but kept the sauce the same. It’s perfectly yummy!! Thank you!!
Mmmm…this one is a favorite at our house. I use a can of green chilies instead of the jalapeno rounds. I also used a mix of brown rice and wild rice and red beans. I am trying to get my son to eat more rice and this is a good way to go! My 2 year old says “This is too nummy Mom”. 🙂
Just made this Southwest Rice and Bean Salad for hubby and I’s lunches this week. It is so good! I make your Brown Rice Boiled and then covered for 10 minutes to go into it. We also like it with the dressing doubled. Thank you for so many excellent (nope, not good but excellent) recipes.
Made this tonight after coming across the recipe on Pinterest. YUM! Looking forward to taking the leftovers to lunch!
Yummy!! Hubby and I love this salad! The dressing is so good!! I doubled the dressing, and added some fresh cilantro. We ended up with a lot of leftovers, but I am sure they will be eaten! I like the idea I have seen in some other comments of putting this in a warm tortilla. Thanks Mel!