Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (2024)

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This easy Cowboy Caviar dip is a colorful blend of fresh ingredients and mild spices with a touch of lime juice. It’s a wonderful appetizer to serve with your favorite tortilla chips and quick to make in less than 15 minutes.

Love easy Mexican dip recipes? This Rotel Dip and this Layered Taco Dip are both absolute favorites too!

Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (1)

I was first introduced to cowboy caviar at dinner with my mother-in-law a few years ago. Some people refer to it as Texas Caviar or Mexican Caviar. It’s a very popular, simple dip that is to made up of fresh ingredients – black beans, black-eyed peas, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado and more!

Some versions are made with added sugar for a sweeter taste. Add a little diced jalapeno peppers for a spicy version.

It can also be eaten as a salad or even as a fabulous Tex-Mex topping to fish, chicken and evenRice Bowls or this easy Salsa Verde Chicken.

How to Make this Easy Cowboy Caviar Dip

Cowboy Caviar is one of the easiest appetizer recipes to make. It’s perfect for larger gatherings.

In a large bowl, blend the olive oil, white wine vinegar, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, and salt together.

Add the tomatoes, black-eyed peas, beans, corn, red onion, bell peppers, and cilantro.

Cover and chill for at least an hour for flavors to blend.

Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (2)

Since it is made with beans and vegetables, Cowboy Caviar is gluten-free. Be sure to choose a gluten-free chip, like tortillas chips to dip with. It is also vegan!

Variations

You can always change up the extra ingredients in Cowboy Caviar if you prefer.

Try adding minced garlic, green bell peppers instead of red, feta cheese and/or black olives too.

You can also substitute green onions for the red onions. If you would like to make it without cilantro, feel free to do that as well if you prefer.

Tips

Mix up the Cowboy Caviar aheadof time (at least 3-4 hours) to allow the flavors to blend well together.

Serve with your favorite chips and be ready to hand out the recipe when you make it for a crowd.

You can store Cowboy Caviar in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days.

Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (3)

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Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (4)

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar is a colorful blend of fresh ingredients, beans, and mild spices with a touch of lime juice. Serve with your favorite chips for a fabulous, healthy appetizer.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 182kcal

Author: Sherri Hagymas

Ingredients

  • cup olive oil
  • cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • Juice of ½ a lime
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
  • 15 ounces 15 ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
  • 15 ounces 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 11 ounces 11 ounce can super sweet corn, drained
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 1 cup red bell pepper diced
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sugar optional (up to ¼ cup if preferred)

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, blend the olive oil, white wine vinegar, chili powder, cumin, lime juice and salt together.

  • Add the tomatoes, black-eyed peas, beans, corn, red onion, bell peppers and cilantro.

  • Cover and chill for at least 1 hour for flavors to blend.

  • Serve with your favorite chips, as a side dish or as a topping for fish or chicken

  • ENJOY!!

Notes

If possible, make it 3-4 hours before serving to let the flavors blend together even more.

Substitute fresh corn off the cob, or frozen corn instead of the canned corn.

Substitute green onions for red onion if you prefer.

Use red wine vinegar or apple cidar vinegar is that’s what you have on hand.

Add up to ¼ cup of sugar if you prefer a sweeter variety. I wouls start with one Tablespoon and test your preference.

Nutrition

Calories: 182kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 423mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 915IU | Vitamin C: 23.7mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2.2mg

Nutritional Disclosure

Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is cowboy caviar made of? ›

Cowboy Caviar (or Cowboy Salsa) is a popular chip dip that originated out of Texas. It's also sometimes called Texas Caviar and it's made with simple, healthy ingredients including: beans, corn, bell pepper, avocado, and tomato. It is the perfect appetizer for parties, potlucks, or game day!

How long will cowboy caviar last in the refrigerator? ›

How long can you keep Cowboy Caviar in the fridge? If stored in an airtight container this dip can be kept in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Keep in mind, the longer your dip sits in the fridge the more excess liquid that will accumulate. Just drain off excess juices and enjoy!

What is in Trader Joe's cowboy caviar? ›

Ingredients. CORN, BLACK BEANS, RED BELL PEPPERS, ONIONS, JALAPENO PEPPERS, CANE SUGAR, LIME JUICE CONCENTRATE, CHIPOTLES IN ADOBO (CHIPOTLE PEPPER, WATER, TOMATO PUREE, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, ONION, GARLIC, PAPRIKA), SPICES, SEA SALT, CHIPOTLE PEPPER, GUAR GUM.

What is the original name for cowboy caviar? ›

First served at the Houston Country Club on New Year's Eve in the early 1940s, this bean salad was dubbed “Texas Caviar” in a humorous comparison to true caviar. Today it's more commonly known as Cowboy Caviar and it's a popular dish to serve as at picnics and tailgate parties, often with tortilla chips.

What is the controversy with cowboy caviar? ›

After Bria's recipe got popular on TikTok, several people called her out for cultural appropriation, claiming that cowboy caviar was a white-washed version of the popular Mexican salsa, pico de gallo, which is traditionally made with chopped tomato, onion, serrano peppers, and cilantro.

Why is cowboy caviar so good? ›

It is loaded with beans, veggies, corn, mango, feta and an amazing vinaigrette. Give a big bowl and some chips to scoop it up and I will happily watch football all day! If you didn't catch it, cowboy caviar was social media trending quite a bit this year.

Can you eat cowboy caviar by itself? ›

Cowboy caviar is an easy-to-prepare and versatile dish. I particularly like that it is vegetarian. It stands on its own as a great alternative to ceviche or pico de gallo. Serve it simply with your favorite tortilla chips, or use it as a topping for your main course.

Why is it called cowboy caviar? ›

Neiman Marcus food director Helen Corbitt introduced this dish at the party as a simple pickled black-eyed pea salad, but the combination of the buttery legumes and vinegary dressing became such a hit that guests dubbed it "cowboy caviar" (because of its "humble" ingredients and luxe flavor dynamics) and started ...

Who invented cowboy caviar? ›

Invented in the 1950s by Helen Corbitt, famed 1950s Neiman Marcus food director, it was first served as "pickled black-eyed peas" on New Year's Eve at the Houston Country Club. Soon after, it was dubbed "Texas caviar."

What is the meaning of cowboy caviar? ›

Texas caviar, also called cowboy caviar, is a bean salad consisting of black-eyed peas lightly pickled in a vinaigrette-style dressing, often eaten as a dip accompaniment to tortilla chips. Texas caviar. Dish of Texas caviar, served with basket of tortilla chips. Type.

What is Texas caviar made of? ›

Cowboy caviar is made with black-eyed peas and black beans, chopped tomatoes, corn, bell pepper, onion and cilantro tossed in tangy Italian dressing. I typically think of cowboy caviar as a warm weather salad, but it's made with ingredients that are readily available year-round.

What does caviar cowboy mean on Tiktok? ›

the term was appropriated in 1940. but how old it is does not change the fact that it was actually appropriated. if you look at the screen you will see cowboy caviar. also known as Texas caviar is a salsa appetizer.

Who created Texas caviar? ›

The name Cowboy Caviar — also known as Texas Caviar — actually has some Dallas history. It was created by Helen Corbitt, the legendary culinary director at Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas, in the 1940s.

Is caviar sturgeon sperm? ›

Traditionally, caviar comes from the eggs of the female Sturgeon fish. The types of sturgeon that the eggs are harvested from are Beluga, Osetra and Sevruga. Purists will refer only to the roe from wild sturgeon from the Caspian and Black Sea.

Why do they call it cowboy caviar? ›

Neiman Marcus food director Helen Corbitt introduced this dish at the party as a simple pickled black-eyed pea salad, but the combination of the buttery legumes and vinegary dressing became such a hit that guests dubbed it "cowboy caviar" (because of its "humble" ingredients and luxe flavor dynamics) and started ...

Is caviar just sturgeon eggs? ›

Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea (beluga, ossetra and sevruga caviars). The term caviar can also describe the roe of other species of sturgeon or other fish such as paddlefish, salmon, steelhead, trout, lumpfish, whitefish, or carp.

Is caviar a crab egg? ›

Known to the world as a delicacy, caviar is unfertilized fish eggs with a salty taste. The eggs come from wild sturgeon, a fish in the Acipenseridae family that is found most often near Russia, Ukraine and North America.

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