Texas Caviar (Cowboy Caviar)

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

17 Comments

5 from 6 votes
8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
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Texas Caviar (Cowboy Caviar) is a fun side or chip dip made with black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and a cilantro lime dressing.

Texas Caviar, which funnily enough is also called Cowboy Caviar, isn’t exactly authentically Texan or authentically Cowboy, but it is similar to a Corn Salsa like my Chipotle Corn Salsa that is super popular on the site.

Sabrina’s Texas Caviar (Cowboy Caviar)

It’s made of lots of fun Tex-Mex vegetables tossed with a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette and it doesn’t just have to be used as a Texas Caviar dip. Many people like to use this recipe as a topping or side. If you’re making grilled chicken or steak or any other easy proteins for dinner, this would make a great side dish. You can just top your dinner protein directly with the mix, or use in chicken or beef burrito bowls.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Texas Caviar (Cowboy Caviar) Recipe

Texas Caviar (Cowboy Caviar) is a fun side or chip dip made with black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, tomatoes, and a cilantro lime dressing.
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Texas bean and veggie dip 1x1
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 yellow onion , diced
  • 1 green bell pepper , diced
  • 1 jalapeno , deseeded, deveined, and minced
  • 1 bunch green onions , diced
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes , quartered
  • 15 ounces black eyed peas , drained and rinsed
  • 15 ounces black beans , drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup cilantro , chopped
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic

Instructions

  • Add the corn, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, green onions, grape tomatoes, black eyed peas, black beans, and cilantro together in a large bowl.
  • To a food processor add the olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic and process until the garlic is smooth then toss it with the ingredients in the bowl and let sit for at least 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 585mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 685IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 3mg

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About This Recipe

This history of this dish as we know it begins in Texas, of course. It was first created at a Neiman Marcus in Houston, Texas. It was then served at a New Years Eve party at a country club and to be funny, they called it Cowboy Caviar to make it sound like a fancy appetizer with a humorous twist.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

  • Make sure you drain and rinse the beans well to remove the starchy liquid.
  • Remove the seeds and membrane from the jalapeño peppers to reduce the heat in your recipe.
  • If you’d like to add a bit of spice but not heat, add some chili powder, cayenne pepper, or hot sauce.
  • If raw red onion is too strong a flavor for you, soak the red onions in ice water for ten minutes, then dry them off before adding them to your recipe.
  • Allow the salad to sit for at least one hour before serving to let the vegetables marinate in the dressing. Since there is no lettuce in the recipe, there won’t be any wilting.
  • If you want to make a fun and easy salsa recipe for a party you can mix this recipe (minus the tomatoes) with a traditional salsa to make a bean salsa to serve with tortilla chips.
  • Add additional colors of bell peppers to the recipe to increase the fun colors in the recipe. Red, orange and yellow are all sweet bell peppers but remember green ones have a bitter undertone.

What To Pair with Texas Caviar

The most immediate answer would be tortilla chips, my Chipotle Lime Chips (Copycat) would be amazing because they have a lime and salt flavoring that complements this recipe well. Texas Caviar can also be a great side dish for a number of recipes including Quesadillas, Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Fajitas, or Carne Asada.

Frequent Ask Questions

Can you add avocado to this Cowboy Caviar Recipe?

Yes you can add avocados to the recipe even though it isn’t a traditional ingredient. If you’d like to add avocados, chop them into chunks roughly the size of your tomatoes. Toss them gently with the dressing before adding them to the rest of the dip.

Consider Increasing the amount of dressing you create for this dip as well. Avocados as they are added and tossed will naturally create a creamier and denser texture which will make the Cowboy Caviar feel drier even though it has enough dressing.

Can this be made ahead?

This is a great recipe to make the day before you want to use it. As it sits overnight the flavors will marinate and create wonderful flavor. Just prep it, dressing and all, and store it in an airtight container.

More Delicious Vegetable Salads

Easy Texas bean and veggie Dip

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I made this before (another recipe) but I love so many of your recipes so I’m trying yours. Can I make it 2 days in advance? Will is still be fresh tasting?

    Reply

    1. If you decide to put this recipe together 2 days in advance I would recommend adding the dressing and avocado the day off and toss! Please let us know what you decided to do and how your Cowboy Caviar turns out!

      Reply

  2. You mention corn and its pictured in the gorgeous photos but its not on the ingredient list. Think I’ll try using an equal amount as the black beans.
    Looks delicious, can’t wait to make it this weekend!

    Reply

    1. Thanks for catching that! You’ll want to use 1 cup of corn for this recipe. I’ve updated the recipe card.

      Reply

      1. Just made this for a family party. I used great northern beans in lieu of black eyed peas and added some mango and pineapple for an extra pop of flavor. It looks and smells wonderful! Can’t wait for everyone to try it, thanks for the recipe.

        Reply

  5. I make this for all of the potlucks I attend now, and everyone always raves about it! Thank you for the awesome recipe!

    Reply