The other day my son came home from preschool and proudly proclaimed, “I love jicama!” “Umm, excuse me?” I asked. This was coming from the kid who’s just starting to warm up to carrots. Plus, I’d never brought a jicama into the house so I was a bit confused. Pleasantly surprised, but confused. “I really love jicama sticks!” he shouted.
What do you know? He’d been enjoying jicama sticks for an afternoon snack at preschool. I never even thought to give him jicama, but you better believe after this proclamation of jicama love, I headed to the grocery store stat and bought two of them. While my son was happily crunching on his sticks, I got busy in the kitchen with my own jicama concoction.
Before I talk about this Jicama Black Bean Salsa, let’s figure out what jicama is. I found an excellent article on The Kitchn where they liken the taste and texture to a savory apple with a slightly sweet flavor. In addition to making salsas and cutting it into sticks for dipping, did you know you can make jicama chips, slaws, and spiralize them into noodles?!
But for today, we’ll stick to an easy one: salsa. This Jicama Black Bean salsa is full of unexpected crunch and a velvety creaminess from the avocado and black beans. Also to the mix, I added chopped jalapeno pepper, onion, and garlic. And as with any salsa recipe you see around here, we round it off with a few squeezes of fresh lime juice and chopped fresh cilantro.
Get your tortilla chips ready because this Jicama Black Bean Salsa will have your friends and family intrigued and coming back for more! And if you run out of chips, just grab a spoon and eat it like a salad (speaking from experience here). Or even better, use it as a relish to top your grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, or salmon!
This is the salsa of the summer, friends! It takes about 10 minutes to make and the recipe is highly customizable.
Big shout out to Noah for bringing jicama into my life!
- 1 jicama ( ounces), peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) black beans, drained
- 4 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed and finely chopped
- 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Juice of 2 limes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
Nutrition Information (per serving) from Caloriecount.about.com
Calories: 69.9 Fat: 2.2g Carb: 10.4g Fiber: 5.1g Protein: 2.5g Sugar 1.2g Sodium: 135.5mg
Hi! I'm Krista, a self-proclaimed vegetable lover who likes to put a creative spin on healthy cooking. Here you'll find a variety of lightened up recipes using fresh and wholesome ingredients! 
i have jicama in my fridge right now! i am wanting to make a salsa without onions or beans (they upset my tummy). I can have green onions though. Any ideas on what combo would work to make a salsa sub? i was thinking jicama, tomatoes, green onions, maybe cilantro, mango, or pineapple?
Your substitutions sound perfect, actually! Maybe choose one fruit and nix the tomatoes. Or use tomatoes and no fruit. That’s just my personal preference though. Or use it all to make it extra sweet and fruity. Definitely add cilantro and lime juice!
Would I be able to can this?
Hi Cheri, I have not tried canning this salsa so I can’t say for sure. Sorry about that!