Spruce up any meal in just 15 minutes with this colorful vegan salsa! It's loaded with vegetables, black beans, fresh cilantro, and a tangy lime dressing. Sprinkle it over tacos, salads, or baked sweet potatoes for a delicious and vibrant meal.
I call this rainbow salsa because it's made with a combination of different vegetables that represent every color of the rainbow! Red tomatoes, orange bell peppers, yellow corn, green cilantro, purple onions, and "almost blue" black beans. This salsa is so vibrant, flavorful, and easy to make! It's naturally gluten-free, oil-free, and it's perfect to add to tacos, burritos, wraps, or salad, or you can eat it with tortilla chips (like my husband does). It's a super easy and delicious way to work some extra fresh veggies into your meal.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This chunky rainbow salsa is made with a combination of fresh vegetables, canned beans, and dried seasonings. I used each vegetable to represent a specific color of the rainbow. Let's go over the most important ingredients and substitutions if you need them.
- Black Beans: I used canned black beans because it's the closest color to something blue, but kidney beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, or great northern beans would all be delicious. You can use any variety of beans that you like to make this vegan salsa!
- Orange Bell Pepper: I used an orange bell pepper for the orange part of this rainbow salsa. You could also use red or yellow bell peppers. Green bell peppers aren't as sweet.
- Corn: I used a bag of frozen grilled corn that I defrosted overnight in the fridge. You definitely don't have to use grilled corn, I just like the smoky flavor it adds to the salsa. Canned corn, frozen corn, or fresh corn are all fine to use.
- Maple Syrup: A small amount of maple syrup is used to balance the acidity in the lime dressing. You can use date syrup (low glycemic) or agave nectar if you need a substitute.
How to Make Rainbow Salsa
This vegan salsa comes together very quickly and easily! First, prep all the vegetables. Chop the bell pepper, tomatoes, red onion, and fresh cilantro and put them into a large mixing bowl along with the black beans and corn (Photo 1).
In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, maple syrup, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper (Photo 2). Pour the lime dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and toss well to combine (Photos 3 & 4). You can eat it immediately or put it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan salsa can be enjoyed with tortilla chips or crackers, or you can sprinkle it on top of walnut quinoa tacos or sweet potato enchiladas. You could also make a bowl with cilantro lime quinoa and fresh greens as the base and top it with this salsa and a drizzle of vegan ranch dressing for a delicious and colorful meal!
Lately, I've been loving serving the salsa over baked sweet potatoes! It's super filling and tastes delicious. Scrub, pierce, and bake the sweet potatoes for 1 hour at 400 degrees or until tender. Then you can top with a scoop of the rainbow salsa and add a dollop of guacamole, a drizzle of tahini, a scoop of roasted red pepper hummus, or hot sauce to taste.
How Long Does it Last in the Refrigerator?
Store the vegan salsa in an airtight container in the fridge and it should stay fresh for 3-4 days. The juice from the tomatoes might make it a little wet after the first day, but it will still taste delicious!
Can I Freeze It?
This vibrant vegan salsa is definitely best enjoyed fresh. The tomatoes and cilantro won't defrost well, and even if you omit them, the texture of the salsa will be softer and a little wet. If you need to, you can prep the salsa the day before you need it.
Success Tips
- Dice the tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and cilantro into bite-sized pieces so it's easy to eat.
- Roma tomatoes are the best tomatoes to use because they have low water content, so they don't release that much juice into the salsa. Using juicy tomatoes (like beefsteak) could make it a little watery.
- Make sure to rinse and drain the canned beans very well before you add them to the salsa.
- Grilled corn adds a delicious smoky flavor to this dish! You don't need to fire up the grill (unless you want to) because you can use frozen grilled corn instead. Just put the bag of corn in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours, drain any excess water from the bag, and then you can add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- The chili flakes add a little bit of heat to the salsa. Start with ¼ tsp and add more to taste. I like a little kick, so I usually end up using ½ tsp.
Want More Vegan Salsa Recipes?
Salsa Jackfruit Stuffed Peppers
Rainbow Salsa
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Small Bowl
Ingredients
- 3 cups roma tomatoes diced (4 medium tomatoes)
- 1 large orange bell pepper diced (seeds and membranes removed)
- 1 ½ cups grilled corn
- 1 small bunch fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- ¾ cup red onion diced
- 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp chili pepper flakes
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the diced tomatoes, bell pepper, corn, cilantro, red onion, and black beans in a large mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, maple syrup, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables in the bowl and toss to combine.
- You can eat the salsa immediately or put it into the fridge for 30 minutes to chill before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
- Dice the tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and cilantro into bite-sized pieces so it's easy to eat.
- Roma tomatoes are the best tomatoes to use because they have low water content, so they don't release that much juice into the salsa. Using juicy tomatoes (like beefsteak) could make it a little watery.
- Make sure to rinse and drain the canned beans very well before you add them to the salsa.
- Grilled corn adds a delicious smoky flavor to this dish! You don't need to fire up the grill (unless you want to) because you can use frozen grilled corn instead. Just put the bag of corn in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours, drain any excess water from the bag, and then you can add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- The chili flakes add a little bit of heat to the salsa. Start with ¼ tsp and add more to taste. I like a little kick, so I usually end up using ½ tsp.
Nutrition
*This vegan salsa recipe was originally shared on 11/5/17, but I updated it with new pictures on 10/29/20.
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