Black Bean Jicama Salad
Black Bean Jicama Salad is a delicious summer side dish, and this tasty salad combination is vegan and gluten-free! And of course black beans do have some carbs, but this tasty salad has only about 16 net carbs per serving.
PIN this Black Bean Jicama Salad to try it later!
I’m still savoring the end-of-summer tomatoes from my garden, so I hope tomato-deprived readers won’t be too upset if I share a few more recipes using them before the calendar officially flips over to fall. When I don’t have garden tomatoes I’ve been known to buy those “tomatoes on the vine” from Costco, but only if they have that fresh tomato smell.
This Black Bean Jicama Salad is a recipe where I added some tomatoes, and this was adapted from a salad my friend Bonnie found for me. I changed the dressing a little to add more flavor (and cut down the lime juice, which Bonnie recommended.)
I loved the crunch of jicama in this salad and made it twice in a week, so even if you have to buy tomatoes, I hope you’ll give it a try before the salad days of summer are gone for another year.
And the hardest thing about using jicama in a salad is chopping up the jicama, but if your store sells sticks of jicama near the prepared salads, those are perfect for making this salad with cubes of jicama!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- canned black beans
- fresh-squeezed lime juice (I used my fresh-frozen lime juice)
- garlic pure or Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- ground cumin (affiliate link)
- extra-virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- jicama
- fresh tomatoes
- green onions
- chopped cilantro (optional)
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
What is Jicama?
Have you tried jicama? It’s a root crop that’s sometimes called Mexican Turnip, and I’d say the flavor is similar to turnip as well. Raw jicama is crispy and sweet, and it doesn’t turn dark when it’s cut, making it perfect to use in salads. Jicama is also very low on the glycemic index, relatively low in carbs, and high in fiber making it perfect for carb conscious eaters. If you visit Mexico you’ll see it sold on the street where you eat it with lots of lime juice and spicy hot chile powder. And it’s sometimes cooked and used as a replacement for potatoes, which I haven’t tried.
What if you don’t want cilantro in the Black Bean Jicama Salad?
If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy the taste of fresh cilantro, I’d just use a bit more thinly sliced green onion in this salad.
Is the Black Bean Jicama Salad low in carbs?
This salad is definitely not Keto, but it does have quite a bit of fiber so it’s only about 16 net carbs per serving which might work for some carb-conscious eaters.
How to Make Black Bean Jicama Salad:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Put a can of black beans into a colander, rinse, and let the beans drain well.
- While beans drain make the dressing by whisking together the lime juice, garlic puree, ground cumin (affiliate link), and olive oil.
- Put the drained beans into a bowl and toss with 2 T of the dressing. Let beans marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
- Peel the jicama and cut into small cubes. (The second time I made this, I cut the jicama even smaller, so take your choice on that.)
- Dice enough fresh tomatoes to make 1 cup diced tomatoes. (I used Roma tomatoes, but any type of tomato will work, even cherry tomatoes cut in half.)
- Wash and dry 3 green onions, and cut into slices.
- Wash and dry cilantro, then chop enough to make 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. (Just use a few more green onions if you’re not a cilantro fan.)
- Add the jicama, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro to the marinating beans.
- Stir in the rest of the dressing, season salad with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve.
More Recipes with Black Beans:
- Spicy Black Beans with Cilantro ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Southwestern Quinoa Salad ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Instant Pot Black Beans Recipes ~ Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker
- Black Bean Salad with Black-Eyed Peas ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Black Bean Jicama Salad
Black Bean Jicama Salad is a delicious summer side dish, and this tasty salad is loaded with flavor from tomatoes, lime juice, and cilantro!
Ingredients
- one 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained well
- 2 T + 1 tsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp. garlic pure (or finely minced garlic)
- 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
- 3 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small jicama, peeled and diced into small cubes
- 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes (see notes)
- 3 green onions, cleaned and sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour black beans into a colander placed in the sink, rinse well with cold water (until no more foam appears) and let beans drain well. (You can pat them dry with paper towels if you’re in a hurry.)
- In a small bowl, mix together lime juice, garlic puree, and ground cumin, and then whisk in olive oil.
- Put the drained beans into a plastic or glass bowl and stir in 2 T of the dressing. Let beans marinate in the dressing while you prep other ingredients.
- Peel jicama and dice into small cubes. (I used a vegetable peeler, but if your peeler isn’t very sharp it might be easier to cut the jicama into slices and cut off the peeling with a knife. Don’t get discouraged, because jicama is delicious in this salad.)
- Dice enough tomatoes to make 1 cup tomatoes.
- Clean green onions, then slice.
- Wash cilantro and spin dry or dry with paper towels, then chop enough to make 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped cilantro.
- Stir jicama pieces, diced tomatoes, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro into the marinating beans.
- Stir in the rest of the dressing, season the salad with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and serve.
- This salad was not bad when it had been in the fridge overnight, but the flavor was definitely best when it was freshly made. You could make it a few hours ahead and keep it at room temperature if needed.
Notes
I used Roma tomatoes, but any type of flavorful tomato will work for this salad.
If you're checking the carbs for this salad, subtract the fiber and you'll see it's much lower in net carbs.
Recipe adapted from The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook (affiliate link).
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 237Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 0mgSodium 563mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 13gSugar 3gProtein 8g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Jicama is approved for all phases of the original South Beach Diet, making this Black Bean Jicama Salad something that would definitely be a treat for phase one. Remember that beans should be limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup serving size for phase one. Black beans and tomatoes both have some carbs, but this salad has a lot of jicama and it has about 16 net carbs per serving, so it might not be too much of a splurge for some carb-conscious eaters.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This tasty Black Bean Jicama Salad was first posted in 2010, when I was following the South Beach Diet. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
35 Comments on “Black Bean Jicama Salad”
I must try this one. It sounds yummy!
Vicki, so glad you enjoyed the salad.
This salad was great! I ate the leftovers on top of some fresh spinach and sprinkled with a bit of feta! So yummy….thanks so much!
Charles, making people hungry is one of my goals, so I'm glad it worked! Try it, the recipe is not that difficult!
I feel hungry when I read this post…LOl.. How I wish someday I could cook this thing..
Amy, so glad you liked it!
Kalyn, I made this yesterday, and it was wonderful! Thankyou so much for all these wonderful recipes!! HUGS!!
Ken, although sunchokes or kohlrabi may work fine in this recipe for flavor and texture, for readers who are making it for the South Beach Diet they need to consider the glycemic index of those substitutions. I was surprised to find jicama recommended for phase one, and I also see kohlrabi listed as phase one, but I'm not sure if that would be true for sunchokes. (I don't find them in the South Beach book.)
Nice recipe, similar to one I make a lot. For those that can't find jicama, I'd suggest sunchokes (sometimes called jerusalem artichokes) or kohlrabi for a crisp, lightly-flavored vegetable. Standard white/purple turnips may have too strong a flavor and overpower the salad, although I've recently seen "salad turnips" at farm markets that are milder and similar to jicama. Don't despair if you can't find that one ingredient, there are often others with similar texture/flavor. – Ken
And a good jicama wake-up-call for me too!
Like Lydia, this is such a reminder to use jicama WAY more often than I do. I'm always glad when I remember!
Thanks CJ! (Me too.)
That salad is gorgeous! I could eat the whole bowl by myself.
TW, I definitely vote for that!
Delicious – That combination of black beans, cilantro and lime is so bright! Let's hang onto summer just a little longer.
What a great combination – jicama and tomatoes. I'll have to try it. I make a bean salsa with corn, mango, tomato, ginger, and cilantro:
Winnie, glad you like it. (And yaay for late-summer tomatoes.)
I still have tomatoes, too 🙂
I can never have too much salsa, and I absolutely love jicama. Thanks for the easy and delicious idea.
Susie, so glad it was timely for you!
Mmmm, I have some ripe tomatoes from my produce box just begging for something like this!
SusieBee
Thanks Karina! I'm always sad when the tomato season ends, but maybe if we had them all year they wouldn't seem quite so special.
I also needed a nudge to use more jicama. And as for sharing more tomato recipes- just looking at your garden fresh tomatoes makes me smile. So beautiful.
It's mainly the tomatoes that don't hold up well in the fridge, so one option would be to make the salad without them, then add diced tomato when you eat it. You could add dressing and tomatoes both when you eat it, but I'd still marinate the beans in advance.
I've never tried jicama,but will buy some this wk.for this salad. I have a question. Since it doesn't hold over very well,and I usually make enough for myself for several days,what would you recommend? I'm thinking that if I separate most of the ingredients,and mix when I eat..or would that not work? (DH doesn't like anything that's in this recipe,so it makes it difficult.) Thanks Kalyn..your really helping me along w/the beach.;o)
Nate, I did see a few salad with corn, but that would make it not South Beach friendly for me. I bet it's tasty though.
We did something similar, adding sweet peppers and grilled corn. This is a perfect end-of-summer salad!
http://www.houseofannie.com/sweet-corno-di-toro-peppers-mexican-chopped-salad/
Amy, thanks!
Lydia, I had forgotten how good they were too. And I was surprised to find out that jicama is phase one for South Beach as well.
Gnee, you're welcome.
Anonymous, I did cut the jicama smaller the second time I made it, but I liked it both ways.
Jovita, I didn't realize jicama was hard to find in Europe, but I guess that makes sense. Maybe use turnip instead?
Joanne, I think this recipe has made me rediscover jicama!
Lisa, you're welcome, and I agree about the salads with beans. So good!
Prakash, I loved it, hope you will too.
This recepie is very nice. I will try this out today and will let you know how this tastes
Having beans in a salad makes it so much more substantial, and these flavors are great together! I wish I had a big bowl of this in my refrigerator for lunch every day.
Also, thanks for the mention!
I never really know what to do with jicama when I find it so I'm so glad you posted this! Looks like one colorful and tasty salad.
oooh, you're making me hungry! I love this salad … it was a big staple in my weight loss adventure. so yummy i could it it for whole meals lunch and dinner. but i can't find jicama in europe!!!
When I use jicama in a salad, I usually julienne it. It is so crunchy that I think it would overwhelm a little. I like this combination and will have to try it soon!
This recipe looks so good and it's filled with all of my favorite things. Thanks so much for sharing it!
You've reminded me that I don't use jicama enough. One of my local markets has it from time to time, but there are good Latino markets in Providence where I could get jicama year-round. I just never think of it, but I do think it's delicious. Thanks for the nudge!
This looks just wonderful!