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Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe – fresh and delicious dip, made with canned beans, corn, peppers, cilantro and a tangy and flavorful dressing.
Perfect as a salad or side dish, for parties, potlucks or celebrations. Easy to make and customize.
A colorful combination of beans, veggies and herbs.
What is cowboy caviar?
Have you ever tried cowboy caviar? I resisted trying and then making it myself for the longest time. But my family loves beans and fresh dips so this Easy Cowboy Caviar has turned into a staple in my house.
This dip is also called “Texas Caviar” or “Mexican Caviar”.
It is a popular, simple dip that is to made with fresh and canned ingredients – black beans, black-eyed peas, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado (optional) and more.
How to make this easy cowboy caviar recipe?
Ingredients:
Veggies and Beans
-
black beans
-
black eyed peas (Lima or Pinto beans can be substituted)
-
corn
-
cherry tomatoes, chopped
-
red pepper, chopped
-
green pepper, chopped
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red onion (or less), chopped
-
chopped parsley
Cowboy Caviar Dressing:
A simple dressing made with extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, black pepper, ground cumin, garlic powder (optional), chili powder (optional) and sugar.
Sugar (sweetener) in the dressing is optional. It makes the salad sweeter and balances the flavors, but it can be omitted, if you are on a sugar-free diet or have other concerns.
Directions:
Mix all ingredients for the dressing in a bowl.
Place the chopped peppers, tomatoes, onions, parley, corn and the beans in a bowl. Pour the dressing on top. Stir to coat the vegetables and beans in dressing.
Storing Cowboy Caviar
Make up to 2 hours in advance (store at room temperature and serve) or refrigerate in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
* Some recipes suggest making the Cowboy Caviar 4 hours before serving. This is fine, but make sure you add more salt, olive oil and vinegar if deeded, because the ingredients absorb them easily.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe is made with canned beans. Make sure you use good quality beans (even though they are canned). You can always soak and boil your own beans, but I usually don’t have the time to boil beans at home, although it is perfect and budget friendly for meal planning.
- Cowboy caviar tastes best 30 minutes to 3 hours, after it was made. This way it is fresh and the dressing is still tangy and flavorful. After this time, the ingredients start to absorb the dressing, may get slightly soggy (the peppers) and you may need to add more salt or (and) vinegar to adjust the flavors.
- Add avocado, if you’d like. If will add healthy fatty acids to the salad and also make it creamy and more filling. I recommend adding it right before serving, so it doesn’t soften and turn brown.
- You can also customize this Cowboy Caviar to your taste. Add olives, feta cheese, garlic or green onions.
What to serve with?
This cowboy caviar is great to serve as an appetizer with chips (low carb chips is also an option), as a side dish with grilled steak, fish or chicken.
You can use homemade or store bought regular or gluten-free chips or crackers.
Here are some pairing suggestions:
More recipes with beans:
Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe
Ingredients
Salad:
- 15 oz black beans
- 15 oz black eyed peas
- 1 1/2 cups corn
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large red pepper, chopped
- 1 large green pepper, chopped
- 1 small red onion, or less, chopped
- 1.3 cup chopped parsley
Dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp sweetener, sugar, honey or agave nectar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin, optional
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder, optional
- 1/4 tsp chili powder, optional
Instructions
Salad:
- In a large bowl combine the black beans, black eyed peas, corn, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, green pepper, red pepper and parsley.
Dressing:
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Pour on top of the salad. Toss to incorporate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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