Sweet Corn & Black Bean Tacos
These hearty summer tacos feature lime-marinated fresh corn, jalapeño and radishes on top of warm black beans. Feta and avocado make these complete!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
August is slipping through my fingers. Time is slipping through my fingers. I celebrated my favorite tiny person’s second birthday this weekend and I remember the day I visited her in the hospital like it was yesterday. Now she calls me “Ka-Ka” like my little brother did and glides through the house wearing my ballet flats, which are about ten sizes too big.
These sweet corn tacos seem to be a perfectly appropriate way to commemorate mid-August. I opted not to cook or grill the corn—it’s so creamy and sweet when it’s fresh—and instead marinate it in lime juice, with some lime zest to really set it off. (You could grill it, though, if you prefer!) Finely sliced radishes and jalapeño lend a bit of crunch and heat, while sliced avocado and feta finish it off.
Sometimes I find corn to be a little too sweet, so if you’re like me, you might want to add some pickled jalapeños on top. This recipe yields quite a lot of tacos (about 10 well-filled tacos), so you could probably halve it if need be. The individual components should keep well in the fridge if you want to assemble more tacos later. Oh summer, please don’t end!
More Fresh Corn Recipes to Try
- The Best Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Elote (Mexican Street Corn)
- Fresh Corn Salsa
- Garden-Fresh Corn Salad
- Southwestern Corn Chowder
- Vegetarian Succotash
Sweet Corn and Black Bean Tacos
These hearty summer tacos feature lime-marinated fresh corn, jalapeño and radishes on top of warm black beans. Feta and avocado make these complete! Recipe yields 10 tacos (a lot!).
Ingredients
Corn and feta salad
- 2 ears of corn, shucked (about 2 cups fresh corn kernels)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 3 medium red radishes, thinly sliced into small strips
- 1 medium lime, zested and juiced (to yield about 1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons lime juice)
- 1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ to ⅔ cup crumbled feta, to taste (optional)
Black beans
- 2 cans black black beans, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups cooked black beans)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow or white onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ⅓ cup water
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Everything else
- 10 small round corn tortillas (gluten free for gluten-free tacos)
- 1 large avocado, sliced into thin strips
- Optional garnishes: pickled jalapeños, salsa verde and/or hot sauce
Instructions
- To prepare the corn salad: Use a sharp chef’s knife to slice the kernels off all four sides of the corn cobs. Transfer the kernels to a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the chopped cilantro, radishes, lime zest and juice, jalapeño, olive oil and sea salt. Mix well. Stir in ½ cup crumbled feta, taste, and add a little more if you’d like. Set the bowl aside to marinate while your prepare the beans.
- To prepare the black beans: Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and a sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened and are turning translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the cumin and cook for about 30 seconds while stirring. Pour in the beans and ⅓ cup water. Stir, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove the lid and use the back of a fork to mash up at least half of the beans. Remove from heat, season generously with salt and pepper, to taste, and cover until you’re ready to serve.
- To warm the tortillas: Heat a cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat and warm each tortilla individually, flipping occasionally. Alternatively, you can warm them directly over a low flame on a gas range. Fold a tea towel over the warmed tortillas to keep them warm.
- Put it all together: Spread black beans down the middle of each tortilla. Top the beans with corn salad. Place a slice of avocado to the side of the beans and serve with optional pickled jalapeños, salsa or hot sauce on the side.
Notes
Corn salad adapted from Sprouted Kitchen’s sweet corn ceviche. Black beans adapted from my arugula and pickled radish tacos.
Make it vegan/dairy free: Skip the feta and add pickled jalapeños or pickled radishes to make up for the feta’s salty punch.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
These were AMAZING. A couple of notes: didn’t have feta, so subbed goat cheese (divine). Used frozen corn. These were absolutely delightful and will be in the regular rotation.
Thank you for sharing, Alyssa!
My vegitarian daughter who eats lots of black beans, and rarely comments on them good or bad, said these tacos were delicious! My husband agreed.
I love that! Thanks for sharing, Denise.
My family has recently made the switch to a whole-foods, plant-based diet. We’ve been making the transition over the last few weeks and have finally reached the point of eliminating meat and dairy from our dinners, as this was the last and hardest meal for us to change. This dish was our first intentional WFPB vegan dinner, and my family was very happy with it. My husband and I both feel that, if I can continue to find recipes this tasty, removing the meat and dairy from our diets will be easier than we expected.
This recipe is wonderful, and we found that it was even better when each taco was topped with avocado, as recommended in the recipe. Salsa verde was the prefect choice for this taco, and I highly recommend it over a red salsa.
I’m glad this recipe was helpful in your transition, Sophia! Thanks for your review!
Excellent recipe. Most of the ingredients I have in the house already. My family loved them!
I’m happy to hear that, Mariane! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made these tacos a few times for myself & brought them to a potluck taco night, as the vegan/vegetarian option naturally falls on the shoulders of the RD lol! These tacos are delicious & work great as a prep-ahead option because you can keep all the ingredients separate until you’re ready to eat. The flavors sit & get more intense & delicious the longer they marinate together. The corn salsa (which I have never tried with feta), is great with other taco fillings & makes a yummy addition to burrito bowls. 10/10 would recommend them!
I’m glad they were a hit! Thanks for sharing, Emily.
These are so good! I like to use Mexican cotija cheese instead of feta. Yummm.
What a revelation! And absolutely not just the recipe, but your entire aesthetic and your views on life, food and most importantly, Cookie. My husband and I have been working from home (precautionary self-isolating) and this recipe jazzed up our long work days immensely! The corn salad in particular is a zesty dream.
Separately – my best friend (Bichon) growing up was also named Cookie! Dogs > humans, in my opinion. When I was reading about how your beloved Cookie was injured, my heart broke. Thank goodness healing came swiftly – more time for runs, food and tail wagging :)
Thank you, Lila! I appreciate your kind words and review. Dogs are pretty great!
Planning to make this tonight, but have a question: Do you cook the corn first? Or does it go in raw?
Hey Josh! The corn goes in raw. I love raw corn. Defrosted frozen/canned/lightly cooked corn would all work well here, though.
Corn salsa was great! I was out of black beans so I used great northern beans. It was an excellent substitute. I made it 2 days in a row. For extra flavor I also used broth instead of plain water and added garlic to beans
Delicious! We call these summer tacos because they are light and refreshing good,!
Yes, perfect for the summer! Thanks for sharing, Kathy.
So YUMMY! It’s so great to have tacos that are bright tasting, instead of the heavily salted typical red sauce, salsa, tomato-based kind. The corn is delicious like this, and I am SO thrilled to have discovered this method. I didn’t use cheese, and I didn’t miss it at all. I used hot sauce to kick up the heat, and I think next time I may add an additional jalapeño instead. These are amazing!
The corn and feta salad (even without the feta) is AMAZING!! So delicious in season with fresh corn. Thanks for sharing this recipe. This one will be on repeat all summer.
Thanks!
-Michele
Mmmm these were so delicious!! Thanks, Kate!
You’re welcome, Julia!
If every meal was this simple, I’d cook dinner for myself every single night. This was delicious and so filling!
Really good! Followed recipe exactly. IMHO, no salsa is necessary!! Thanks again!
I’ve got this recipe in the queue to try but have a question first: Neither my husband nor I like radishes. Is there a substitute you’d recommend? Thanks!
Hi Tammy! You could perhaps use some chopped green onion (though they won’t be as crunchy) or a small amount of chopped red onion (soaked in cold water for a bit to reduce the bite). Or you might love them without any of the above. Hope that helps.
That did help, thanks! I made these for dinner with a little bit of red onion soaked as you suggested and the tacos were a big hit. My husband repeatedly said how much he loved them ;)
These are a real favorite with us – we’ve been making them for years! When we’re tired we just used canned black or refried beans as a short cut and let that corn salsa shine!
Made these last night for some out-of-towners who were visiting. My husband and I are vegan, so we left out the feta. These were incredible. And topped with so, so many pickled onions. Thank you!
These were SO good! I only made the black beans per the recipe. I then added plain corn, salsa, lettuce, sour cream and cheese on top. We will definitely be making them again! Both my girls, age 6 and 11 loved them.
* I did add some minced garlic to the black beans.
The corn salad (I made it without feta) is Amazing! I added a jalapeno for extra spice and it was perfection. I can easily see us eating it with chips for a light dinner with beer.
As written the beans needed more flavor so I added lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder. The texture was great and the cooking method was easy!
I didn’t use radishes because I didn’t have any. BUT I loveee your avocado salsa verde so I topped each taco with that. I did try it with just sliced avocados and that was good too. But the sauce was even better.
We loved it. Thanks!
This is fantastic! I can’t wait to make it again with fresh corn available now. I’m wondering if anyone has frozen or canned the corn mix to enjoy later in Winter?
Hi Penny! You could try frozen, just thaw first. Thanks for your review!
Thank you but I think I phrased my question wrong; what I was asking is if it is possible to freeze the prepared corn salad, or even possibly can it? BTW, made just the corn salad as a dip with corn tortilla chips yesterday, with fresh corn from the market. YUM.
Hi Penny! This isn’t designed for canning, and I’m not a canning expert so I’m not sure. You could try to freeze it, but I can’t guarantee the results.
I’m slowly making my way through your vegetarian taco recipes and this one was another hit! So easy, so fresh, so delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
These tacos are amazing! I can rarely find a vegetarian dish that my boyfriend loves, but he regularly begs me to make these. The corn is easy to prep ahead of time and all that’s left to do is cook the beans and warm the tortillas. These have been my go-to summer meal :)
Thank you, Katie for your review! This would be a great go-to in the summer.
These are tasty! Unique and easy. I used frozen corn and canned jalapeños.
Delicious!! I subbed red onion for the radishes in the corn salsa.
My family LOVED these! We had them with halibut and made fish tacos. The radishes make the corn salad so colorful and pretty. Huge hit!
I love that! Thank you for your review, Cgw.
There is absolutely nothing that needs to be changed on this recipe! Never thought about not cooking the corn… Amah-zing! Just added my favorite hot sauce (El Yucateco) and I was golden! Thanks much for sharing!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, James.
Question: If you are using canned beans do you still mix in the 1/4 cup of water?
Hi, This recipe calls for canned beans so yes, you still need the water. I hope you enjoy it!
Thank You!
These tacos were so delicious! I made them exactly as written and added the avocado too. In addition to the tacos all put together, the corn salad and beans are individually super tasty and will be useful as sides or as components in other recipes too. I never would’ve thought to mix fresh corn, radishes and feta but this is awesome! Thanks Kate.
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Rebecca! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
these are my FAVORITE TACOS EVER. I have shared this recipe with a ton of friends and make these tacos at least every other month. thank you so much for this and all your other wonderful recipes. I can’t wait to buy your cookbook for my post-grad apt :)
Hooray! I’m delighted to hear these are your favorite, Lauren. Thank you for your review.
Such a simple and delicious recipe!
I subbed lemon for the lime since that’s all I had on hand.
Also added fresh tomatoes and green onions on top!
So good and healthy!
Thanks Cookie and Kate!
You’re welcome, Liz! Thank you for your review.
Hi! I am such a fan and love the cookbook and the site, including this delicious recipe! Question, and sincere apologies if the answer is obvious (I searched the site and newsletter and could not figure it out) — What is the best way to print the recipes? The print button near the recipe name has disappeared (at least for me, and I checked on both Mac + PC), and I do not see a new one. Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah! I’m delighted you are loving my recipes. I’m working to get the printer button back up there. I hope to have it back soon!
Amazing! The only thing I’m sad about is how long it took me to try this recipe. This was a really nice change of pace from my usual veggie tacos (just veggies and taco seasoning) I used frozen corn as that’s what I had on hand, and it was still delicious. Fresh, flavorful, easy to prepare. Already looking forward to leftovers!
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I appreciate you sharing your experience, Hilary.
These are quite literally the best tacos I have ever eaten . I make a bunch of your recipes and have two q’s. What brand are your corn tortillas you use and is there a sub for cilantro? I usually just leave it out but just curious.
Hi Kim! I have tried some different ones. Right now I use a local Kansas City, Yoli. Sometimes you just have to try a few different ones to find what you like best. You can omit the cilantro or use parsley if you have an aversion.
This recipe is absolutely to die for, I’ve made it dozens of times and it’s always satisfying. I’m prepping it right now in anticipation of a hot Midwestern week and returning to the office.
I have made the corn salsa on its own (+ 3 entire green onions chopped) and taken it to barbecues with chips as as appetizer. It always gets rave reviews as a stand alone.
Thanks Kate!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved it, Stacey.
Love the flavor and texture combination! Very refreshing on hot summer day. I did not know that I can eat corn raw. I was able to take advantage of crisp, sweet, local-grown corn. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you enjoyed it
Oh my, this recipe rocks!! Absolutely delicious and a gorgeous presentation. Fresh corn, and radish was just spectacular. Thank you Kate!!
Wondering how these do as leftovers or if you make it ahead of time for meal prep for the week?
Store separately, but I think they would make great leftovers!
This was so good!! I am so glad that I tried it with the fresh corn, first timeI have ever cut it off the cob, it was so worth it..
I’m glad you loved it, Catherine! I appreciate your review.
Another winner! The only changes I made were to use a mini-food-processor to mash the beans, and to substitute cotija cheese for feta because I accidentally used all of mine up on the black bean/corn summer pasta dish on this website (also, am excellent recipe). I had been skeptical of the radishes, but my husband picked it and far be it from me to dissuade him from helping meal plan. But it all worked really well – and I’d use cotija again in the future!
Great to hear, Delphine!
I am SO EXCITED to try this. However, I don’t like feta. Do you think cotija work as a sub? Also, I’m wondering about grilling the corn??
Sure! That would be a great alternative.
Trader Joe’s sells frozen roasted corn. How do you think that would be in this recipe?
You could try it. Let me know what you think, Suzy!
I have chronic kidney disease, so I have limits on just about everything I eat. That especially means animal protein, potassium and sodium in my case. I had some leftover corn and some black beans that I made in the slow cooker a couple of days ago. When I typed in “taco filling, black beans, corn” the search engine suggested this recipe. Serendipity! The only adjustments I made were to omit the salt and avocado, also I added some shredded lettuce. These were so good I was absolutely overjoyed! After I finished chowing down, I went and purchased “Love Real Food”. Thanks for helping me start being more optimistic again. Life doesn’t have to be bland.
You’re welcome, Michelle!
These are delicious and easy. My husband is not remotely vegetarian and thinks meat must be eaten at every meal. THESE, he ate 3 of right away. They are definitely in the favorites category now. Thanks so much for an easy and deliciously fresh recipe.
One of my favorite recipes! The sweet corn salad is soooo good. Easy to make vegan too!! I just used non-dairy cheese for the top but it works fine without any.