Black Bean Jicama Salad

Black Bean Jicama Salad is a delicious summer side dish with tomatoes, cilantro, and lime juice adding flavor! And I love the jicama, and it adds a delightful crunch to this fresh-tasting salad!

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This Black Bean Jicama Salad was adapted from a salad my friend Bonnie sent to me me. I added tomatoes and changed the dressing a little to add more flavor. (And cut down a bit on the lime juice, which Bonnie recommended.)

I’m still savoring the end-of-summer tomatoes from my garden, so I hope tomato-deprived readers won’t mind if I share a few more recipes using them. When I don’t have garden tomatoes I buy those “tomatoes on the vine” from Costco, but only if they have that fresh tomato smell.

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 with nutritious black beans does have quite a bit of fiber. The salad has 16 net carbs per serving, with 8 grams of protein.

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.)

1. Put a can of black beans into a colander, rinse, and let the beans drain well.
2. While beans drain make the dressing by whisking together the lime juice, garlic puree, ground cumin (affiliate link), and olive oil.
3. Put the drained beans into a bowl and toss with 2 T of the dressing. Let beans marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
4. 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.)
5. 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.)
6. Wash and dry 3 green onions, and cut into slices.
7. 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.)
8. Add the jicama, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro to the marinating beans.
9. Stir in the rest of the dressing, season salad with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve.

Make it a Carb-Conscious Meal:

Since the Black Bean Jicama Salad does have some carbs, I would serve it with an extra low-carb main dish like one of these:

• Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Capers
• Grilled Sausage and Peppers
• Marinated Beef Kabobs
• Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
• Lemon Pesto Chicken Kabobs

More Salad Recipes with Beans:

If you’re a fan of salads using dried beans, check out my round-up of Favorite Salads with Beans.

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5.0 Stars (7 Reviews)

Yield: 4 servings

Black Bean Jicama Salad

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

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

Toggle ingredient group

• 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

1. 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.)
2. In a small bowl, mix together lime juice, garlic puree, and ground cumin, and then whisk in olive oil.
3. 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.
4. 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.)
5. Dice enough tomatoes to make 1 cup tomatoes.
6. Clean green onions, then slice.
7. Wash cilantro and spin dry or dry with paper towels, then chop enough to make 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped cilantro.
8. Stir jicama pieces, diced tomatoes, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro into the marinating beans.
9. Stir in the rest of the dressing, season the salad with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and serve.
10. The Black Bean Jicama Salad salad wasn't 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 the net carbs.

Recipe adapted from The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook (affiliate link).

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount 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.

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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 be a treat for phase one. Remember 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 for 16 net carbs per serving. 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 original South Beach Diet and ate more beans. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2026.