Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad
Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad is a fresh and light side dish perfect for summer BBQs and potlucks. Grill the corn for a little extra something special. It’s a fresh and light side dish that screams summer!
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Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad
We try to teach our kids the value of money. They earn an allowance by doing chores throughout the week.
Today, I looked out the kitchen window to see my son spraying sunblock in the air like tropical air freshener.
All I saw was a mist of dollar bills – that stuff is liquid gold. Lesson fail.
Speaking of wasting money, I’m pretty sure the ice cream truck guy is stalking us.
I swear he pulls his van up to our house and turns up his carnival music. It puts me in an awkward position.
I look like the grumpy mom if I deny my kids, who are jumping up and down in front of the truck, ice cream in this blasted heat.
Even though my kids use their own money they’ve earned, the prices are ridiculously high.
I give in every once in a while…immediately followed by a lecture about how you can buy a whole carton of ice cream for the same price that the ice cream truck charges for one.
We have a freezer full of said ice cream but the allure of a colorfully painted truck driven by a creepy guy is for some reason much more appealing to them.
This salad can be summed up in one word. FRESH.
Fresh off-the-ear corn, fragrant tomatoes, and perfectly ripe avocados – firm but creamy.
You could use frozen corn here but why not take advantage of the fresh corn available right now.
It’s all tossed in a lime and cilantro dressing for a bright and summer infused side dish.
I had this Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad recipe at a friend’s house and have been making it ever since.
It’s best to let the flavors blend in the fridge for a little bit for the most flavor.
HOW TO COOK CORN ON THE COB
There are many ways that you can cook corn and here are the ways how:
- Bring a pot of water to boiling and boil the corn for 3-5 minutes.
- Grill the corn over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Keep the corn in its husk and microwave for 3-5 minutes. It steams the corn.
- Cut the corn off the cob and saute in a pan with a little oil for 3-5 minutes.
HOW TO GET GRILL MARKS WITHOUT GRILLING
You can get those nice roasted marks but either sauteing in a pan or holding the cooked corn with tongs over an open gas stove flame.
I even use my kitchen blow torch sometimes to get a little char on my corn.
TIPS
Add the avocado right before serving so that the avocado doesn’t turn brown. Squirting some lime juice directly on the avocados help them not brown.
OTHER SALAD RECIPES
- Frito Corn Salad
- Avocado Cucumber Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Marinated Caprese Salad
- Pizza Pasta Salad
- Macaroni Salad
- Taco Pasta Salad
- BLT Pasta Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked corn, fresh or frozen (see Note)
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
- 1-2 avocados, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Combine the cooked corn (see note on how to cook), tomatoes and onion in a large glass bowl. Mix together the dressing ingredients in another bowl, pour over the salad, and gently toss to mix. Chill salad for an hour or two to let flavors blend. Add avocados right before serving so they don't brown. Adding a squirt of lime directly to them will help them not brown.
Notes
There are many ways that you can cook corn and here are the ways how:
- Bring a pot of water to boiling and boil the corn for 3-5 minutes.
- Grill the corn over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Keep the corn in its husk and microwave for 3-5 minutes. It steams the corn.
- Cut the corn off the cob and saute in a pan with a little oil for 3-5 minutes.
I had a similar salad at a friends and it included BACON. You can add a lot of other favorite ingredients. I like bacon but in a pinch spam does the trick to add that salty umami. I also like a touch of heat but don’t want to cut up chili peppers. Trader Joe’s Yuzu hot sauce does the job . This salad is always a huge hit and once you’ve had it, you’ll crave it.
This salad is always a big hit with a crowd. Fresh ingredients work best. I usually parboil corn on cob then coat with avocado oil before grilling (just enough to get some char marks). Toss avocado before serving. You may need to double, triple or quadruple this recipe!
Thanks for the tips!
Delicious salad!! We added in some ground chicken and rice to make it a bit more substantial for our family dinner and everyone loved it. Thanks!!
Thank you!
Can I put the avocado in two hours prior to serving?
Might turn brown. Add lime juice on top to help
How much of green onions would you say to replace red onion?
Same amount.
Served this at a BBQ party and it was a tremendous hit. I used 2 bags of frozen sweet corn (thawed & uncooked), 2 avocados and Bolthouse Cilantro Avocado Dressing. Fabulous recipe.
Thank you!
I really liked this salad! I changed it up a little bit. They were our of cilantro for the dressing so I just used Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado dressing. I also just slightly warmed up some frozen corn. I was in a hurry. It all tastes really good together!
You’re welcome!
Easy delicious salad! made for potluck, and everyone liked it including the children. Have saved this recipe and will be making it again.
Thank you!
This was an excellent accompaniment to the Chile Verde and homemade tortillas I made last night. My only variation is that I didn’t cook the corn. So good.
Thank you!
This is so dang good. It’s all I want to eat.
Isn’t this Paula Deen’s recipe..?
Yes, she is credited in the recipe.
As the Reference Librarian at the Mims-Scottsmoor Library I organize a program called “Cook the Book Club”. At our monthly meetings everyone brings a dish that they have made from a recipe in from that month’s selected cookbook. We eat, and then discuss the recipes. This month’s cookbook is your “Scrumptious: from the girl….” I have a question about a specific recipe in the book. I think there is a proofreading error. The recipe on page 30 entitled: “One-Pan Sweet Potato Back Bean Skillet” does not list black beans as an ingredient. I assume I can just add a can of drained black beans. Thank you, Beth
Yes, thank you. They have updated it for the next printing.
Love this recipe! Delicious, colorful, easy! Thanks for sharing!
It looks wonderful. Unfortunately we don’t like cilantro, what do you recommend as either a substitute for the cilantro or maybe even a different dressing? Thank you!
You could use parsley or just leave it out
Loved this salad! I’m often not fond of lime flavored dressings, but this was perfect. I added some fresh zucchini pieces for some crunch and a jalepena as we like a little heat.
So glad you liked it!
I made this tonight and it was delish! I did the corn in the air fryer, approx. 8 minutes, turning it once. I also added some fresh chives from the garden as they had to be used up. I made a wee bit more dressing as we like things a bit saucy! Very good dish, thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
It is so pretty and tastes wonderful!!
Thank you!
M RR
Made this yesterday and it was pretty awesome! Not a lot of people ate it because of he corn, but I ate nearly the entire bowl. Argh, but it was so good! I can’t eat peppers or raw onion, so I browned the finely chopped green onion and tossed a little in. That really added a smokeiness to it. (Browned finely chopped green onion, sometime with a little cumin added, is one of my secret additions!)
Glad you liked it!
Can this be made a day in advance?
I don’t re commend, but you can. After a few hours, mine turned darker even though I added lemon and lime juice. If you mix it up the color lessens but it’s not as bright and cheery as when you make it. I chilled all my ingridents before and it was nice and cold when I made it.
I just made this and it is seriously THE BEST corn, avocado, tomato and lime salad I have ever tasted in my entire life! My husband and I LOVED it!! 😍 I am definitely making this every week for us. Thank you so much for the awesome recipe!!
Thank you thank you!
Love this light summer salad. I used fresh thyme instead of cilantro.
Yum!
This looks amazing & beautiful colored christy…and this is fabulous salad till now, i will definitely try to making this from your recipe…Thanks for sharing…!
Going to make it for 4th of July party
I made this as a side dish. Left the avocado out. The main that went with this is tuna salad stuffed avocados. Served it all nice and cold. As the texture ingredient for the meal, I prepped some garlic bread. Nice lite and cool lunch/dinner for summertime eats.
Its really good as is, but I did add a couple chopped cloves of garlic too. My vegetarian dd adds black beans and calls it a meal. Thank you for a winner recipe.
You are welcome!
I’ve made this numerous times and it’s so delicious! I specifically buy extra local fresh corn just to make this salad 😆
Sounds delicious!
Great. And easy.
Thank you!
This salad (doubled the ingredients) was such a hit at my spousal unit’s 70th birthday party that it was all gone before I got any AND at least half the guests asked for the recipe before they left our house. Amazing. Lots of these people are high-end foodies, so this one was a WIN-WIN-WIN and it’s now saved in 3 places and backed up on the Cloud. 😀
Oh awesome to hear that! Great job!
I served this along with some grilled chipotle seasoned, tilapia. What a nice light meal.
I’m so glad you loved it!
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This is a wonderful summer salad. We grew a lot of sweet cherry tomatoes, and the combination with the corn, avocado and lime flavors made it an excellent choice.
Thank yoU!
This was a delicious corn salad. We had a lot of fresh cherry tomatoes that we grew ourselves. I may have used more fresh lime than the recipe called for, and fresh white corn. We loved it.
I made for a pool party and it was Delicious! Dressing would be great on other salads!
Thank you!!
It is a great salad. Everyone loves it. I recommend you make up the dressing then put the avocado in it and carefully mix to coat the avocado and it stopa it from going brown.
I agree!
Perfection! This takes fresh and lite to a new level! Great for summer evening with a side of grilled shrimp!
Thanks! It’s one of my favorites.
We love this salad, the kids actually use it as a dip. I have added fresh cold boiled shrimp to this and it is delicious!!!!
I forgot to say that I have also added some chopped jalapeños and it is very good as well.
I bet that was great!
Made this yesterday and it was delicious! My avocados weren’t quite ripe but I think that made it better from a texture standpoint. This was so good, I just made another batch today. Thanks for sharing this recipe, it is definitely a keeper in my Paleo diet world.
You’re welcome! I’m actually making it tomorrow for Father’s Day.
How many ears of corn would you say you need
Ooh. Great question. I would say about 4-5
So glad you reposted this, Christy! It looks like just exactly what we need on our Easter dinner table after a (too) long winter up here in Northern Minnesota. Happy Easter!
Susan,
I was asking about you when I went to General Mills last month! Miss you!
Looks delicious!!!!
Thank you!
I’ve been makin a similar dish with plenty of cilantro and black beans and all I add is fresh lime juice. It doesn’t discolor and lasts several days.
Thanks for the tip!
My husband is a fickle eater. I love when I can get him to devour an entire bowl of “salad.” Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
I want to try this salad right now.
I see cilantro popping up in recipes everywhere but I don’t like the taste of it; is there something I can substitute? Otherwise, I will just leave it out
I would just leave it out!
Sounds like a great salad and can’t wait to make it for a covered dish game night with neighbors. I have a question–some people have issues with onions. I like the red onion but is there anything to substitute or do you think it will be fine without any?
I love onions. I think you might miss the bite of the onion. You could cut the onions big so people can take them out.
Just made this salad. I’m devouring it right now! Yum! Thank you for the recipe.
This sounds so refreshing I can’t wait to try it My daughter taught her kids the ice cream truck only plays the music when all the ice cream has been sold out…problem solved LOL
I have made this recipe many times, in many variations. I love your site, but have to say “ick” on your corn prep….throw it on the grill or at the very least, cook on the cob, then cut it off. So much more flavor!
This looks really yummy and I want to try it this weekend. Does the avocado turn brown if you cut it up and add to salad to sit in fridge for a few hours??
Mine didn’t. And the lime juice helps prevent that.
Sounds great! Can I make this the night before and refrigerate?
Yes, should be fine!
Thank you for this great recipe. My family loves this salad. I keep making it over and over again.
I saw this recipe on Pinterest and stopped by to check out the recipe. Can’t wait to give it a try. It’ll be a perfect side with grilled chicken!
It’s so fresh!
I made it only once and immediately I put it on my favorites list. I cut the recipe in half because I knew I would be the only one eating g it. I’m glad I did because I certainly didn’t share any of it after my first bite.
Tasty recipe – we used this as a salad one night and as a chip dip the next. Very versatile and easy. I posted a link on my site to yours to share the blog love. 🙂 (http://genkikitty.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/fresh-produce) Hope you don’t mind.
Glad you liked it!
This has become a new summer staple in our household. Both my husband and I absolutely love it! Thanks so much for sharing@
Just made this corn salad, omit the avocado used cucumbers instead! Sooo Good!
The corn, avocado and tomato salad looks delicious! It sounds perfect for this hot summer weather! I can’t wait to try it!
Almost everything displayed on your website gives me a great need to taste the dish. I so much enjoy your recipes and ideas. Keep them coming.
I’m worried about the avacado turning brown if it sits for an hour…anyone had problems with that?
Thanks!
The lime juice helps prevent that. Mine didn’t turn brown until the next day…
Nope. i worried about the same thing when I ran out of tupperware and had to use regular ol’ saran wrap on a bowl over night in the fridge- 1. It lasted until the next day without browning- but someone ate the rest of it, so we’ll never knooooow….. ( :
This looks delicious, and easy! Pretty pictures – I want to dive right in!
Can’t wait to make this! I LOVE everything in this salad. Thanks for posting!
yummexperience.blogspot.com
-michaela
I made this for a 4th of July potluck and it was a big hit! So light and fresh! Thanks! I’ll be making this again!
I made this tonight and it is AMAZING. thanks for posting it.
Love that combination! I add cucumber and shredded spinach leaves, so fresh and tasty.
Made this today and it was so good. I did add alittle sugar to the dressing to cut some of the acid but followed the recipe as written. Will be making this again and again. Thank you for a great recipe.
Never mind the “sounds good”, “looks divine”, etc. It is out of this world!!! I made it for supper.tonight. My honey doesn’t eat avocodo, or tomatoes! More for me!!
Oh good!
I have honestly never seen an ice cream truck in person.
My aunt tricked my cousin into thinking that the music only plays when they’re out of ice cream in order to save some money.
Salad looks great 🙂
Hmm. I might have to adopt that.
Smart idea, thats pretty good lol!
I just realized how old these comments are that I have been replying to.. 🙁
I just realized how old these comments are that I have been replying to.. 🙁 But thats really sad that you have never seen or heard an ice cream truck!
refreshing and colorful
hahah creepy ice cream guy…we don’t have one by us but when we went on vacation there was and I was a sucker every time…sometimes twice and that was just for me before kids..now I would be the grumpy mom saying NO. however totally saying yes to this salad.
Lol, in 7th grade (circa 1992), the ice cream man would sell us single cigarettes for a quarter.
Elementary school (circa 1980’s) pretty sure th ice cream truck shuttled crack vials.
Looks divine. Will be making this for the 4th of July!!!
I found a recipe similar to this on another blog not too long ago. Try making it with a cup of cooked orzo, and adding some chili powder to the dressing. It’s pretty amazing. 🙂
Corn, avocado, and tomatoes were meant for one another. Such a good summer combination!
I’m the weirdo mom that loves the ice cream truck! It just doesn’t come around very often, so when it does I’m all CHILDHOOD MEMORIES! YOU WILL HAVE SOME! 😉
This salad sounds amazing! So fresh and summery!
perfect summer salad!
The colors in this salad looks amazing! Looks simple to whip up. Probably I’ll have an idea what to bring for my next party. Thanks for the share 😉
I was looking for a good healthy recipe to make this week! Thanks for posting!
Julie @ http://www.tastesoflizzyt.com
This is one of my favourte summer salad combos!
This looks incredible! This would be perfect for a barbecue with friends!
I wish I had a big bowl of that right in front of my face right now!
I just cut the corn off the ear and toss it in the salad. My mother and sister always did this. It is ok to eat raw corn????
Yes, I love it raw. I’m not sure everyone else does but I feel like it gives it a good crunch.
Presenting El Aguacate loco! How loco is el aguacate ju as? El aguacate he is so loco, he say he not a fruit and he not a vegtable. No he say he is a tornado. Oh quemi he is so loco he say he is a tomato.
He say sometimes he is tuna fish. El Aguacate Loco he tinks hes a bird in desguise snd no one can take hi feathers away.
He tinks he is the whole enchilada. He say “am not just guacamole you know!”
Some times hes ambrosier.
oh today he was cranberry. Yesterday he was grapes. Sometimes he gets so cheesy.
Wow! I don’t know what you’re saying but at first quick read, you made me laugh!
This post cracked me up. I was laughing at your son using sunblock as air freshener…then I realized I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing with tanning oil. Whoops.
Haha. Love you Bridian.
Sounds wonderful and a meal in itself! I’m adding it to our menu for the 4th!
Thanks!