Cowboy Caviar
This homemade cowboy caviar recipe is made with all-natural ingredients! Serve it as salad or dip—it'll be a hit at your next party. Vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
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Y’all know I’m from Oklahoma, right? I grew up eating cowboy caviar, also called Texas caviar. It’s a classic bean salad recipe popular in the South. You can serve it as a side salad or as salsa. Either way, people go crazy for cowboy caviar at potlucks.
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.
Cowboy caviar is actually perfect for New Year’s if you’re craving something fresh yet hearty, and trying to hit your black-eyed pea quota!
I have one issue with most cowboy caviar recipes—they’re often swimming in store-bought Italian salad dressing. As such, they can be way too oily and contain some unnecessary preservatives. Instead, I whisked together a simple, homemade Italian dressing from scratch. It’s easy to do and tastes fantastic.
This recipe yields a big bowl of dip, but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble polishing it off. I hope you enjoy this cheekily titled delight!
Cowboy Caviar Ingredients
You’ll find the full recipe below. The Italian dressing is made with pantry ingredients. Here’s what you need to know about the fresh ingredients:
Black-Eyed Peas and Black Beans
Beans form the backbone of this healthy salad. Canned beans are fine to use, or you can cook your own if you’d like. One can is equivalent to one and a half cups cooked beans.
Tip: Drain your beans and corn very well before adding them to the bowl. If they’re watery, they’ll dilute the flavor of the vinaigrette.
Corn
Depending on the season and availability, you might prefer to shuck fresh corn, or use frozen corn (simply soak it in cool water until fully defrosted), or open a can of corn.
Tomatoes
Ripe red tomatoes are ideal. When tomatoes aren’t in season, I reach for Roma tomatoes (three to four of them) or cherry tomatoes (one pint would be perfect for this recipe). You could use canned tomatoes, but it will change the flavor and the vibe a bit. Fresh is best.
Bell Pepper and Jalapeño
Red, orange or yellow bell pepper will do. If you can tolerate a little heat, you’ll love the jalapeños. If you’re nervous about the jalapeño, you can reduce the spiciness by using just one of them, and being sure to remove the seeds and membranes before chopping.
Red Onion and Cilantro
I know these ingredients can be polarizing and I promise there’s not too much of either in them in this recipe. Don’t skip them!
Tip: Take care to chop your ingredients small to keep with the “caviar” textural theme.
Optional Avocado
While untraditional, ripe avocado is a welcome addition to this bean salad. Wait to add avocado just before serving so it doesn’t brown, or serve individual portions with a few strips of avocado on top.
Watch How to Make Cowboy Caviar
How to Serve Texas Caviar
Serve your cowboy caviar as a bean salad or as a dip with sturdy tortilla chips. This recipe happens to be vegan and gluten free, so it will please everyone at a party. It’s also a great healthy snack to keep in the fridge and keeps well for several days.
Cowboy caviar is lovely for lunch with a sandwich or quesadilla, or even for breakfast with scrambled or fried eggs and a warm tortilla.
You can also turn this dip into a green salad by serving it on lettuce. Add a squeeze of lime, some crumbled feta and a sprinkle of crushed corn chips or toasted pepitas (green pumpkin seeds).
More Fresh Bean Salads to Make
Love this cowboy caviar? You’ll also enjoy these vibrant bean salads.
- Favorite Chickpea Salad
- Fresh Black Bean Salad
- Greek Lentil Salad
- Lemon-Parsley Bean Salad
- Lemony Lentil and Chickpea Salad with Radish and Herbs
Please let me know how your cowboy caviar turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Healthy Cowboy Caviar
This cowboy caviar recipe (also known as Texas caviar) is made from scratch with all-natural ingredients! Serve it as a dip, salsa or salad—it’ll be a hit at your next party. Recipe yields a lot of “caviar,” about 8 cups.
Ingredients
Cowboy caviar
- 2 cans (14 ounces each) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, or 3 cups cooked black-eyed peas
- 1 can (14 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
- 1 ½ cups fresh or defrosted frozen corn kernels (about 2 ears of corn), or 1 can (14 ounces) corn, drained
- 1 ½ cups chopped ripe tomatoes (about ¾ pound)
- 1 medium red, orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
- ¾ cup chopped red onion (about ½ small red onion)
- ½ cup chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
- 1 to 2 jalapeños, ribs removed, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 avocado (optional)
Italian dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or lime juice
- 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large serving bowl, combine the drained black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, cilantro and jalapeño. If you’ll be including avocado, wait to dice it until you’re ready to serve the dip, so it doesn’t turn brown in the meantime.
- In a cup, whisk together the dressing ingredients until well blended. Drizzle the dressing over the serving bowl and toss until well mixed. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. If you’d like the salad to have more of a pickled flavor, add another tablespoon of vinegar, or for more richness, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil.
- For best flavor, let the mixture marinate for at least 20 minutes before serving. If you’re adding avocado, mix it in just before serving.
Notes
Serving suggestions: Don’t forget the chips! I also like to turn this dip into a green salad by serving it on lettuce with a squeeze of lime, some crumbled feta and a sprinkle of crushed corn chips or toasted pepitas.
Storage suggestions: This dip keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I’m sad I waited so long to try this recipe! It is DELICIOUS. So flavorful, easy, and perfect to make ahead. Followed your suggestion to serve it as a salad, and it was perfection. Looking forward to using it as a topper for some baked potatoes.
I’m so glad you finally did, Hilary! I appreciate your review.
Thanks for the recipe, was a bit of a mission finding black eyed peas here in NZ but I managed (and cooked dried beans for the first time). It was really good, I did use some fresh basil not dried as I had some.
One question – doe the nutrition info for the recipe include the avocado or not?
Hi! It includes everything that is listed in the ingredients and show in the image. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it!
Keen to know where you got the black eyed peas from, Katherine, as I too am in NZ!?
I brought this to work (I’m an ER nurse) and it was gone in less than an hour! I’m making it now to bring to work tomorrow. Fantastic with corn chips!
Btw…My Dad grew up in Georgia and it was tradition to have black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day!
Hooray! I’m glad it was a hit, Susan.
My vegetarian son and his girlfriend were visiting for the holidays and needed a dish for a pot luck New Year’s Eve party. I pulled out your recipe for Cowboy Caviar. They made it. Brought it. Loved it. One of the first dishes to disappear!
That’s great to hear, Jeanne! I appreciate you sharing.
I made this for my hiking buddies. It was fantastic. It made A LOT. There was hardly any left though. A real hit. Definitely making this again. It would be a very good summer pot luck dish.
Hello there. I just have a question. I saw a recipe you sent out recently. It was a marinated salmon rice bowl with avocado and cucumber. I thought I saved it on my Pinterest account but I only saved the salmon marinate recipe. Do you happen to know the name of the recipe? Thanks a bunch. My husband and I loved the salmon.
Hi, This is a vegetarian blog so the salmon recipe wouldn’t have been mine. Sorry!
I made this for a friend get together and it was delicious! It was a hit and it makes a lot! It tastes so fresh and it’s filling. I’ve eaten it for lunch.
That’s great to hear, Meredith! Thank you for your review.
This is a great recipe and easy to customize to your preference. Just a great combination of healthy ingredients. The avocado works so well in this dish.
I’m glad to hear that, Matt! Thank you for your review.
Love Cowboy Caviar!
Great to hear, Rae!
do you drain before serving?
No need to drain. I hope you enjoy it!
I was worried about too much liquid too so I didn’t use the watery part of the tomato where the seeds are and after rinsing my beans I spread them out on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels to dry some of the water from the beans created by rinsing. Can’t wait to make this with those wonderful summer tomatoes.
I made this for a summer block party and it was fantastic. Used corn off the cob, cherry tomatoes out of the garden. Only thing I added differently was a little more vinegar and lime at the end. Should not have mixed as much after adding the avo. They got a little smushed. Surprise black eyed peas were in the canned pea area not in the bean area. Never used them before so had to search for them. I live in the PNW. Love your recipes!
Great for a gathering! Thank you for sharing, Donna.
This recipe is GREAT!!
I omitted avocado and tomato (forgot to buy tomatoes at the store) and added some feta cheese. It was delicious with hot sauce too!!!
DAMN!
Great to hear, Nadia!
made the healthy cowboy caviar and it’s so fresh, I love it! Now I have a giant bowl of it and am taking it round to some friends to eat tonight whilst we watch the Masked Singer on the tv. Thank you Kate!
Hope they read the next text which told them to bring along nachos and crispy crisps to dig in!!
You’re welcome, Cidney!
This was a big hit at my winefinders get together. Very flavorful and I love black eye peas. If I had made this for myself I would have used 2 jalapenos as I like it spicy. The avocado was a good addition. I also used fresh taqueria chips with minimal salt for a healthier version.
Fresh corn is much better than canned! I don’t even cook it, just cut it off the cob
This is so good! My husband could not stop saying how delicious it was! Thank You for the great recipe.
You’re welcome, Jean!
When I tasted this after I put it all together I thought it was really healthy but bland. Give it several hours. It’s great and would make a a wonderful burrito filling with rice and some cheese added. Had some as a side to scrambled eggs this morning. It does make a lot so I would hold back the avocado until you’re ready to eat even if it’s the leftovers. It still tastes good as a leftover but the avocado gets mushy. I used frozen grilled street corn instead of plain corn. I used the lime juice option to keep the avocados from turning black and it worked. I will make this again and probably again. Friends were quick to say yes when I offered to share the leftovers.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy it, Patricia! I appreciate your review.
Loved this recipe for an afternoon cookout. Made one addition, right before I served I took about 8 ounces of Cojita Cheese and sprinkled on top. This was the finishing touch making this a perfect summer afternoon dish.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Pete.
Honestly did not expect this salad to be sooooo delicious!!! I made the recipe as written using the lime juice option. It makes a large batch so I’ve been eating it for lunch with leftover grilled chicken. OMG! So good! I’m always on the lookout for a good vegetarian recipe and this one is definitely that.
I’m glad you tried it and loved it, Julie!
Is cowboy caviar gluten free
I made this for lunch today, it was colorful & tasty. Everything melded together. I love Cookie & Kate recipes!!
Great to hear, Yvonne!
Can I add dill ? I’m no cook but I love dill!!
I prefer this best as written, but you could try it.
Superb! So fresh and good!!
LOVE this dish. I flash-fried the onion and bell pepper in Calabrian pepper olive oil (to take a little bit of the bite off the fresh veggies and add some heat), and added a pint of Perline fresh mozzarella for added protein (we eat this as a main dish). I also use a store-bought cilantro-lime dressing. It’s a hit with my family (as are all of your recipes) – thanks!
I make so many of your recipes and just love them!
I am planning on making this salad but want to know if there is a substitution for black eyed peas. Thank you!
Helaine
I’m excited you are enjoying my recipes! You can omit them and add more black beans or a different bean like pinto beans.
Love this recipe! I’m making it tomorrow for a 4th of July potluck for 250 people! My husband and I have been cutting things for hours! We are currently deciding if we need to refrigerate the dressing. Thoughts? (I thought I’d wait until tomorrow morning to mix it in a few hours before the party.)
I hope it was a hit! What did you decide to do?
I read online somewhere that if you are adding things to the oil to go ahead and refrigerate and just take it out about 30 minutes prior so that is what we did. It worked well.
Excellent recipe, thank you.
You’re welcome, Herbie! Thank you for your review.
This is delicious! I made it with 1 can white beans instead of black eyed peas and no avocado. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!
Great to hear, Ann!
OMG! This stuff is so, so good!
I can’t find black-eyed peas where I live, so I just use more of the black beans, and I like lots of corn, so I adjust that. Of course, a person can adjust the proportions of the ingredients according to taste or what you have available, so it’s very flexible.
This makes an awesome work-lunch – I got compliments on the smell alone.
This one is a real keeper, thank you!
You’re welcome, Violet!
I made this for a luncheon just to make sure there was something healthy to eat there. It was so beautiful and delicious! Several people had seconds. It’s my new favorite and I’ll definitely make it again. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Vanessa!
This was great, but I amended it to avoid going to the store; I had reasonable equivalents, but added pickled bees,so good. Had it for dinner, crumbling the chips over all. Can’t wait to try the recipe as is…
Love the avocado in this one, I started out looking for recipes that use canned corn as I had a bunch of it somehow. Did this recipe exactly once, then started just using produce that needed to get used and have tried a number of variations from Extremely spicy to very mild and more sweet, added diced cucumbers up once (Meh). Fresh cilantro is the way to go. Dried Cilantro pretty much ruined it. This is a great recipe!
Thanks for putting this out here!
I’m going camping and want to make this ahead of time. Do you recommend putting the dressing on the day that I make it or the day I serve it (probably day 3)? Thanks!
This can be great leftover as the salad has time to marinate. I hope you love it!
I’m a big fan of Cowboy Caviar, it was my daughter’s favorite after school snack. However, I always used bottled Italian dressing. Changing to your homemade Italian dressing made all the difference. Thank you!
This is my first time commenting, but I have loved so many of your recipes. Including this one! I used the quest chili lime protein chips for dipping, and it was such a filling (and easy!!) meal prep for lunches.
That’s great to hear, Rebekah!
question – what could you switch the black eyed peas for in this recipe? thanks ps love your recipes
You could add beans if you prefer.
Do I cook the corn if I am going to use corn on the cob?
No need. Fresh raw corn is delicious! I hope you try it.