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Easy Cowboy Caviar

This cowboy caviar recipe (also known as Texas caviar) is what I make when I want a batch of something incredibly delicious, fun to eat, and super-nutritious. Because it is both and it will definitely make you feel good! It’s vibrant, fresh, and always a crowd-pleaser. Made with colorful bell peppers, corn, tomatoes, black beans, black-eyed peas, and a tangy dressing, this no-cook dish is as easy as it is delicious. Serve with chips, as a taco topping, or even as a salad, you’ll love it for everything from summer cookouts to game day dips to healthy meal prep salads.

If you’re on TikTok, you may have seen the popularity of the “dense bean salad” and while it’s having a moment right now, the original Texas caviar dip was introduced in 1940, almost 85 years ago! I like to think of it as the original dense bean salad and every day that I have it ready-to-eat in the fridge is a happy lunch day! I like to add some extra veggies and chop up cucumbers to mix into the bean and veggie salad and I’ll eat with some tortilla chips on the side for scooping.

Bowl of cowboy caviar with chips on the side

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

What You’ll Love About Cowboy Caviar

  • Delicious with chips or served over veggies
  • Filling and satisfying
  • Nutritious snack or light meal
  • Great source of protein (13 g) and fiber (10 g)
  • Made with wholesome and fresh ingredients
  • Quick and easy to make, just 15 minutes total time
  • Easy to prep ahead and no cooking required
  • Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free

Ingredients

  • Oil – You can use any fairly neutral vegetable oil like olive oil, avocado oil, or canola oil.
  • Lime – Use fresh lime juice for the best flavor. If you prefer to use shortcut jarred lime juice, you do you!
  • Vinegar – I like using red wine vinegar, but you could also use white balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even white wine vinegar.
  • Honey – The honey adds a great sweet flavor, but you could also use your favorite granulated sweetener or sweetener alternative. You can also use maple syrup as a vegan option.
  • Garlic powder, sea salt
  • Black-eyed peas – This is the star of most (if not all) Texas caviar recipes! Black-eyed peas are a must and are not only delicious, but a good source of protein, fiber, and iron.
  • Black beans – Black beans aren’t a traditional addition to cowboy caviar recipes, but we love black beans in our house so much that we wanted to include them. You could use all black-eyed peas or a combination of beans, pinto beans would also be delicious.
  • Corn – We used frozen corn for a convenient shortcut, but you could use fresh corn or canned corn. Rinse the canned corn first if using and if using fresh, cook or grill as you normally would and then cut kernels off the cobb.
  • Bell pepper – Diced bell pepper is another opportunity to add in vegetables, color, flavor, and crunch to the dip, but you can skip if preferred. I like to use orange, yellow, or red bell pepper but you can also add in green bell pepper if you prefer. All are delicious options.
  • Tomato – Just like the bell pepper, I love the flavor that fresh tomatoes add, but you can skip it if you don’t. Use a high-quality tomato. In tomato season you can use anything like Roma tomatoes or a slicing tomato. In winter months I might use grape or cherry tomatoes as they’ll have better flavor and texture.
  • Onion – We’ve used red onion, but you can use yellow or white onion as well. If you don’t love the sharp onion flavor, you can soak the diced onions in cold water for 5-10 minutes to mellow them out a bit.
  • Cilantro – The cilantro adds such a delicious bright and fresh flavor to the bean salad. Adjust the amount (more or less) if desired.
  • Extras – If you want to add in some extra veggies or flavor, try some of these: jalapeno pepper, green onions, minced fresh garlic, avocado, or a splash of hot sauce.

Shortcut Idea

While this homemade dressing takes just a minute or two, I know that sometimes you don’t have an extra minute or two! You can easily use a premade Italian salad dressing or an oil and vinegar dressing to make this easy recipe come together even quicker.

Ingredients to make cowboy caviar recipe

How to Make Cowboy Caviar

This is an overview, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.

  1. Mix cowboy caviar dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, honey, garlic powder, and sea salt.
  2. Mix ingredients. To the bowl with dressing, add in beans, corn, bell pepper, tomato, red onion, and cilantro. Toss together until combined.
Cowboy caviar dressing in a bowl with whisk
Texas caviar beans and veggies in a bowl before mixing

Emily’s Tip

I love this delicious dip served with diced cucumber for extra veggies and with a handful of salty tortilla chips on the side. It makes a great lunch that comes together in minutes once the salad is made. Add rotisserie chicken salad on the side for extra protein.

Bowl of Texas caviar with chips on the side

FAQs

Why do they call it Texas caviar?

This was so fun to learn so I had to share! The Texas caviar dish was originally served on New Year’s Eve at the Houston Country Club by Helen Corbitt, as a nod to the good luck ingredient black-eyed peas. In the South, black-eyed peas are traditionally eaten in on New Year’s Eve or Day to bring good luck and prosperity in the new year.

The dish must have been a hit as she later served it at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas and it was here that it was given the name Texas Caviar, as a funny comparison. Both the name and dish stuck as it’s still popular today, nearly 85 years later!

Can I add diced avocado?

Absolutely! You can really add any additions that you think will be delicious. I skipped the avocado as I wanted to be able to store it in the refrigerator for a few days and I don’t love avocado if it isn’t fresh. Toss diced avocado in lime juice and add it right before serving if using it!

What can I use instead of black-eyed peas?

If you can’t find black-eyed peas or prefer to use something else, pinto beans are a pretty similar alternative. You can also use all black beans and turn this into a black bean salad – I’ve done this before and can confirm that it’s delicious.

Can I adjust the spice level?

Absolutely! To give this some spice, add jalapeรฑos (including the seeds if you really want some spice), red pepper flakes, hot sauce, or a bit of cayenne pepper.

Storage

Store the bean salsa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It will keep for a few days beyond that, but the texture is best within 3 days.

How to prep ahead

This is a great salad and hearty dip to make ahead as it stores really well in the refrigerator. Mix up a day in advance if desired. You could also prep the dressing and chop fresh veggies and combine everything the day of.

Close up of cowboy caviar

What to Serve with Cowboy Caviar Dip

I like to serve this a few ways – as a flavorful dip and as a salad! Here are ideas for both:

  • Tortilla chips
  • Corn chips
  • Pita crackers
  • Mini bell peppers for scooping
  • Cucumber slices for scooping
  • Diced cucumbers
  • Chopped romaine
  • Shredded cabbage
  • As a turkey taco topping
Bowl of Texas caviar dip with a spoon

More Easy Dip Recipes

If you like this easy cowboy caviar recipe, you might also like some of these other easy appetizers:

Want More?

Follow Emily on Instagram or TikTok for family dinner recipe videos and tips for feeding kids.

Bowl of Texas caviar with tortilla chips
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Bowl of Texas caviar with tortilla chips

Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
  • Author: Emily Dingmann of myeverydaytable.com
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 6 cups 1x
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: No Cook
  • Cuisine: Tex Mex
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This cowboy caviar recipe is simple, delicious, and nutritious! It’s easy (prep in just 15 minutes!), and can be eaten as a dip or salad.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp. lime juice (about 1 lime)
  • 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups corn (canned, 12 oz. bag frozen – thaw if using frozen)
  • 1 cup diced bell pepper (about 1 medium bell pepper)
  • 1 cup diced tomato (~2 Roma tomatoes)
  • 1/2 cup minced red onion
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro


Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, honey, garlic powder, and sea salt until emulsified.
    Cowboy caviar dressing in a bowl with whisk
  2. Add black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro to the dressing. Stir until everything is coated with dressing.ย 
    Texas caviar beans and veggies in a bowl before mixing
YouTube video

Notes

  • If you’re adding avocado, toss diced avocado in lime juice and add right before serving so it doesn’t brown.
  • See the ingredient list above for ingredient substitutions or swaps, but this recipe is very flexible.
  • Nutrition facts are calculated with a serving size of about 1 cup of the salad, not including any chips or other ingredients.

This post may contain affiliate links. They do not add any charge to you, but I will make a very small commission from them. I only link to products I use and recommend. Thank you for your support!

Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.

 

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5 Comments

  1. This looks terrific Glad I found this website, always looking for non-fattening, healthful dishes, especially with summer and all the entertaining coming on.

  2. This is absolutely delicious, and so easy to make.
    I’ve made many of Emily’s recipes, never disappointed with any of them. Keep sharing Emily, it’s nice to have healthy, and delicious recipes.

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