I’m just getting home from a gorgeous weekend in Minnesota. Tony and I walked around Lake Calhoun, and it took me back to when I was around 9 or 10; my mom used to bring me along 20 mile bike rides along the different paths that connected the Minnesotan lakes. We had the best times together cruising around the city in search of different outdoor adventures. In fact, we did everything together. Just us two girls. We’d make breakfast, bake pies, do crafts, shop at the Hispanic market, go on long summer bike rides, take workout classes, go to movies, etc.
My mom has inspired many recipes on this site; her love of cooking and flavor creativity is as strong as mine. When I first started my blog, I was living at home after college and packing all of my mom’s lunches and planning our dinners. She was my taste tester and allowing me to meal prep and cook always meant that we had healthy meals available. We’d make huge batches of chili with corn muffins, strawberry banana quesadillas for breakfast, skinny banana muffins and her personal favorite: butternut squash black bean enchiladas skillet.
Another favorite of hers? My always different, yet delicious and healthy quinoa salads. This mango black bean quinoa salad is a recipe I know my mom would just adore. It’s simple, beautiful, seasonal and stays good for days. It tastes like a little fiesta in your mouth and yes Mom, I made it just for you. It’s vegetarian, healthy and perfect for packing for lunches.
Looking for more 30-minute meals?
Enter your email below to get my FREE e-book with our best 30-minute dinners straight to your inbox!
Ingredients in this mango quinoa salad
We’re packing aaall of the delicious summer produce into this easy, flavorful quinoa salad, and tossing it in the BEST honey chipotle lime dressing. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Quinoa: the base of this salad is, of course, nutty, delicious quinoa!
- Black beans: we’re getting plenty of plant-based protein from a can of black beans.
- Produce: this quinoa salad is so fresh thanks to mango, a red bell pepper, creamy avocado, fresh cilantro, red onion, and a jalapeño.
- For the dressing: the easy honey chipotle lime dressing is made with olive oil, fresh lime juice, honey, dijon mustard, chipotle chili powder, garlic, salt & pepper. To keep the dressing vegan simply swap the honey for pure maple syrup.
- To garnish: I like to top my salad with extra cilantro and pepitas.
Customize your salad
This mango black bean quinoa salad is so easy to customize with whatever you have available! Here are some substitutions I can recommend:
- For the quinoa: feel free to swap the quinoa for another grain like farro, barley, orzo, or pearl couscous.
- For the mango: I think pineapple would be a great alternative if you’re looking for a swap.
- For the black beans: feel free to use a can of chickpeas if you’d like!
- Add a savory boost: I love adding crumbled feta, goat cheese, or cotija cheese for an extra savory element in the salad.
Looking for more protein?
You can absolutely add more black beans if you’d like, or try one of these non-vegan proteins:
- Top with my Grilled Jalapeño Cilantro Chicken
- Add grilled salmon or shrimp
How to make the best fluffy quinoa for salads
I know how difficult it can be to make the PERFECT quinoa, but I have a tried and true method for making super fluffy. It’s perfect for quinoa salads & side dishes, and will be your new go-to method. Get all of my tips & tricks here to make the best quinoa every time!
Mango black bean quinoa salad in 4 steps
- Cook your quinoa. Start by using my method above to cook your quinoa until it’s nice and fluffy.
- Chop your veggies. While the quinoa is cooking, chop up all of the beautiful produce and add it to a large bowl. Add the cooled quinoa along with the veggies.
- Make the dressing. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and pour it over the salad.
- Toss, garnish & serve. Toss everything together well, garnish with cilantro and pepitas, and serve it up!
Storing tips
Store this mango quinoa salad in an airtight container in the fridge, without or without the dressing, for up to 4-5 days. The acidity from the lime juice will help the avocado stay fresh! However, if you’re worried about the avocado getting brown, I suggest adding it right before serving.
The dressing will also stay good in a container in the fridge for up to one week as well.
More quinoa salad recipes you’ll love
- Kale, Edamame & Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Avocado Blueberry Quinoa Salad
- One Pot Moroccan-Inspired Chickpea Quinoa Salad
- Famous Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad {vegan & gluten-free}
- Balsamic Chicken Berry Quinoa Salad
Get all of my salad recipes here!
If you make this recipe, be sure to tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram. You can also leave a comment and rate the recipe below so other readers know how you liked it. xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Fiesta Mango Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
- For the quinoa:
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cups water
- For the salad:
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
- 1 large mango, diced (about 1 heaping cup diced mango)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup diced cilantro
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
- For the honey lime chipotle dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder, plus more if you like things a little spicy
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- To garnish:
- Extra cilantro
- Pepitas
Instructions
- Add water and quinoa to a medium pot and place over high heat; bring mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for exactly 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove pot from heat and fluff quinoa with a fork.
- While the quinoa is cooking, chop all your fruits & veggies. Once done, add them to a large bowl along with your cooked quinoa.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing: olive oil, fresh lime juice, honey, dijon, chipotle chili powder, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Pour dressing all over the quinoa salad and toss to combine. Garnish with extra cilantro and pepitas if you’d like. Serve at room temp or cold. Salad with stay good for 4-5 days in the fridge. Serves 4.
87 comments
So fresh and flavorful! Such a fun idea to add mango to the mix 🙂
Absolutely! The mango with the kick of spice is delicious 🙂
I agree with the mango! A little bit of sweet!
Lil’ sweet lil’ spicy! So good 🙂
I made this salad last night for dinner. It was so delicious!! I can’t say enough good things about this recipe. My husband was very skeptical about it satisfying his hunger but he was pleasantly surprised and didn’t even need to go back for seconds. The only thing I changed was using a bag of quinoa/basmati rice blend instead of the quinoa because that is what I had in the pantry. I will be making this one all summer long. A few weeks ago I tried the sweet potato avocado brownies. 5 stars all around. Even our grandchildren loved them.
5 stars. Great fresh and filling summer salad
Absolutely!! Glad you loved it.
I can’t wait to try this, been looking for a fresh summer salad that’s vegan!
This one is perfect! Hope you love it 🙂
This looks delicious! Can I ask if it is 415cal per serving ie for one quarter of the prepared amount ? Thanks Indy
That’s correct!
She’s correct that that each serving is 415? Or that all servings add up to 415? Sorry, got confused. Either way will be making!
What can I sub for mango? Not really a fan of it.
You can leave it out or maybe use peaches!
Try Mandarin Orange slices.
Wow the flavors are so perfect and refreshingly different from other similar quinoa salads I have made. This recipe makes me very happy, thank you!
So happy to hear that Sam! Love the sweet + savory parts of this one 🙂
Wonderful salad
My new fav!
This sounds so good – I am on a NO sugar diet – stevia or Xylitol – anyone ever try it instead of honey???
It’s delicious! I haven’t tried it with those – they might change the flavor and/or consistency a bit here.
I have made this, without the avocado or mango –yet– I got it started to serve tomorrow. i added some baby cucumber and wow, it’s already amazing. I will add the other ingredients tomorrow just wanted to say Thanks, this is a fantastic recipe! I will be making this often.
This is a great go-to! And cucumber sounds delicious in here 🙂
It’s the dressing that puts this over the top! I switched to orange juice instead of lime to carry the sweet flavor. I also added crushed tortilla chips. Now I have a party in a bowl every day at work! This is great – thank you!
Crushed tortilla chips sound amaaazing! No sad work lunches here 🙂
My family loved. This. Salad. I have a feeling requests will be in for this at least once a week for the forsee able future. Sadly I am the only mango lover in the house so I tried subbing some cubed watermelon and that worked great!
I’m so glad!! Peach would also be delicious in here 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight. Perfect dish for a hot,Texas summer! Light, fresh, flavorful, colorful and delicious!!
So glad you liked it! The BEST on a hot summer day.
Hi if you don’t have have the chipotle chilli powder what can you use instead?
This was an amazing recipe!!!! My family loved it! The seasonings and combination was perfect!
I”m so glad!! Perfect lunch or dinner for the whole family 🙂
This is my new favorite salad – amazing flavors!!!
So happy to hear that!!
This salad is the perfect combination of flavors and nutritious elements. I do it often and my family love it.
Absolutely. Glad you and the whole family love it!
This sounds delicious I am going to try it I am from australia
I can’t wait to hear what you think!
I cannot get this to print.
absolutely delicious!!
Glad you liked it!!
Love this salad. Can’t do cilantro so just left it out. Added chipotle pest to a vinaigrette I had already in the fridge. Awesome!! Thanks so much.
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I made this salad for a Fundraiser meeting today and it was a hit. Easy to make. I couldn’t find ripe mangoes so I bought canned mango chunks and rinsed them. They worked fine. Be sure to wear gloves when handling the jalapeño.
Perfect! Glad everyone loved this one. Great tip to use gloves for the jalapeño, too.
I found the red onion overpowering but otherwise it was really good. Next time I will add cucumber and leave out the onion (I had to double the dressing to mask the oniony flavour). I didn’t have chipotle chili powder so I used plain chili powder instead.
Interesting! I’ve never found the onion to be overpowering as there’s only 1/4 cup finely diced, but everyone’s taste preferences for onions can vary. Absolutely feel free to leave the onion out if you’d like!
My husband and I loved this bright, beautiful salad. I’m not a chipotle fan so I used regular chili powder instead but still loved the flavor! Great for a side or to meal prep for lunches. Yum!
Delicious! So happy to hear that 🙂
This salad looks so delicious! I love the idea of adding chipotle powder to the dressing! I’ve been so into quinoa salad lately– just can’t get enough of it! I’ll need to make this next time I can find some mangoes! Thanks so much for sharing! Pinning this now to Pinterest. 🙂
I’m all about quinoa salads – they’re so good! Hope you get a chance to try this one 🙂
Made tonight and it was so good! I love the cilantro and mango together. I don’t like spicy so I didn’t use the red onion, jalepeno, or chili powder and it tasted great. Thanks!
Perfect! One of my favorites, too 🙂
I was super excited to make this salad and it did not disappoint. It tasted like summer – fresh and crisp and delicious. I added grilled chicken for a full meal – amazing.
Love that! One of my favs for summer, too 🙂
This salad is so good and perfect for meal prep. The dressing is amazing!
Absolutely! Glad you love it!
Delicious! My family loved it this weekend for a cookout
So happy to hear that!
Trying to give 5 stars but phone not cooperating.
Easy to make. Very refreshing and satisfying
So glad you enjoyed!
Great recipe! I wouldn’t add avocado unless it is going to all be eaten immediately. It turns brown. Add it as you use the salad.
Great tip! You can also spritz it with a little lemon or lime juice to keep it fresh.
Wondering if anyone has used frozen mango in this salad? I want to make this today or tomorrow and the mangos at the grocery store are rock solid.
Hi, Heather! You could try it but they might get a little mushy when they thaw out. Fresh is best if you can wait for them to ripen!
I made this for lunches this past week and loved it! The sauce is so good and all the ingredients go together so perfectly! The pepitas added in are a must! Thank you for the recipe!
Awesome!! So happy you loved this one. Agreed on those crunchy pepitas 🙂
Delicious and easy! I didn’t have any cilantro on hand and used green onion instead which worked well. Will make again!
Nice–that’s a great addition! So glad you loved it 🙂
This is the most delicious dish! I love that it’s mostly raw and can be served at any temperature. I always get HUGE COMPLIMENTS on this one! The dressing can be made ahead of time for a quick and easy and incredibly delicious meal!
This recipe was amazing! I was a bit hesitant to use mango with the other ingredients but it turned out incredible— don’t skip a single ingredient on this list because they all work together so well!
Nice! Glad you found that the mango worked well in here 🙂 Thanks so much for leaving a review, Daria!
This was great for a lighter meal on a hot day. The amount of heat was just right to balance the sweetness of the mango. I substituted raw agave in place of honey for a vegan version. I thought this would pair better with the flavors than maple syrup would.
How did I survive without your salads and yummy dressings before finding you, honestly?!! I just go right down the list on your site, nothing ever fails! Another lunch prep week winner, this is delicious!!
AW that is so sweet! I’m SO glad you’re loving everything, Abby 🥰
Very excited to make this but do i need to drain the beans?
Hi! Yes you should drain and rinse them 🙂
I took this to a gathering last night and everyone raved!! It is so light and also healthy. I love Ambitious kitchen!!
Aw thank you, Tammy! SO happy everyone loved it 🙂
I just can’t stop making your recipes! 😂 I made this for lunch today exactly as written other than to use a microwave packet of a red & white quinoa blend. The mango absolutely MAKES this salad. I was a little skeptical of the dressing flavors but yet again, I trusted you and it was fabulous!
This vibrant salad recipe is a feast for the senses!
I know it’s winter but I was craving something light and refreshing. And this was it!! The flavors all came together and tasted great. I didn’t modify anything! This will now be on repeat.
Perfect! Great way to get some fruits and veggies in 🙂
Yummy and colorful! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Made this tonight and it was great. Subbed in rice instead of quinoa and used rice wine vinegar because I didn’t have lime. Simple prep and assembly. Just love how easy AK recipes are. Love the ideas. I can’t wait to plan summer meals with ideas from AK because they’re always so easy.
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing with what you have on hand. So happy you’re finding summer recipes here that you love!