This Tropical Black Bean Rice Bowl is light, easy, and vegan. A perfect summer side or main dish. Full of black beans, pineapple, red onion and cilantro, it's a treat for all your senses!
This Tropical Black Bean Rice Bowl is light and easy, a perfect summer side or main dish. It would be great to take to a barbeque, or just to eat for a quick Tuesday night dinner.
Technically I guess you could call this a rice salad, but I prefer “bowl meal” because let’s face it – bowl meals are just fun. Take all the things you love, and toss them in a bowl with some dressing, and call it day. Couldn’t be easier.
This rice bowl definitely couldn’t be easier. The only cooking you have to do for this dish is the rice, and if you have a rice cooker (which you definitely should) that takes all the guess work out of it. If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can use the standard stovetop method for cooking rice, or you could even use microwave or boil-in-a-bag rice.
If you’re looking to lighten things up a bit, you could sub quinoa or barley or any other whole grain for the rice, and that’s just the start of the alterations and substitutions you can make with this dish.
Shopping List for Tropical Black Bean Rice Bowls
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Rice
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Pineapple
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Black Beans
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Peanuts
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Red Onion
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Lime
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Cilantro
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Olive Oil
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Salt and Pepper
Tips and Tricks
Because the only thing that requires cooking is the rice, this dish comes together really quickly once the rice is ready. Use the rice cooking time to prep everything else.
I normally recommend heating up black beans before using them because I think it gives them a better texture, but you’re tossing the beans with hot rice, which has the same effect.
Like any salad, a mixture of textures is the key to a great dish, so don’t skip the peanuts – the crunch they give is vital to the overall experience. If you, or someone you’re cooking for is allergic, you could substitute pepitas or sunflower seeds instead.
Alterations and Substitutions:
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I personally don’t love mango, but I imagine it would be great in this dish, either as a swap for the pineapple or an addition.
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If you don’t love cilantro, you could replace it with parsley. If you’re using cilantro, you can definitely use the stems as well as the leaves. They’re tender and delicious.
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Soak the red onion in ice water for 10-15 minutes before adding to the bowl to mellow out their bite.
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Some creamy avocado would be an awesome addition.
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The lime juice and olive oil come together to make a sort of on-the-fly dressing for this bowl, but if you want something more substantial, might I recommend this Lime Chipotle Sauce?
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Feel free to add things as well – if you like things a little spicier, some diced jalapenos would be fantastic.
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As it stands, this recipe is vegan, but you could add grilled chicken or shrimp to make a more substantial dinner.
Don’t forget to season – the ingredients in this dish are all on the bland side, and require plenty of salt and pepper. Taste and season as you mix the salad together, but keep in mind that while you can always add more salt, you cant take it away once it’s in there, so start slow and go from there.
4 Bowls
Sara Rauckhorst
5 Min
35 Min
40 Min
Tropical Black Bean Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- ½ cup of uncooked rice or the equivalent of microwaveable rice.
- 5 ounces pineapple, diced small
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
- Cook your rice according to package directions.
- Prep your other ingredients while rice is cooking.
- Once rice is cooked, pour it into a large bowl, and add pineapple, beans, onion and cilantro and stir together.
- Squeeze fresh lime juice over the bowl, and drizzle the olive oil over as well, then stir to combine.
- Taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as needed.
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