Cowboy Caviar

This easy recipe for Cowboy Caviar is fun, fresh, colorful, and endlessly adaptable. It makes a great dip, salad, side dish, or even a topping for grilled meats. Always a potluck favorite!

Recipe ingredients:

Ingredient notes:

• Sugar: The recipe reflects how we make it in my family. But YES, it has a lot of sugar. Please feel free to reduce it or omit it entirely. If you want to reduce it, mix the dressing with just a tablespoon of sugar to start, taste it, and go from there.
• Extra sweet “shoepeg” corn: Regular canned sweet corn or frozen corn may be substituted for the extra sweet corn. The closest measurement for either option is ¾ cup, but feel free to use the whole 15-ounce can of corn.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the olive oil, sugar, white wine vinegar, chili powder, and salt in a large bowl (large enough to hold the whole salad, a serving bowl if you want to).
2. Then add the beans and all the vegetables to the bowl and mix everything together. Stir in the cilantro, cover, and chill in the refrigerator until it’s time to party.

Recipe tips:

• Make ahead: If you’re cooking ahead of time, a few of the vegetables might soften a bit in the dressing, but the beans can be dressed ahead of time without a problem. One day in advance should be fine.
• Storage: This recipe keeps about 3-4 days in the refrigerator. It doesn’t freeze well.
• Leftovers: Enjoy the leftovers inside an omelet, spooned over a grilled steak, or tossed with fresh greens for a quick lunch.

Recipe variations and substitutions:

• Dried beans: Dried beans are extremely economical and much lower in sodium. Cook each bean variety separately, as cooking times may vary depending on size and age of the dried bean. How many dried beans makes a can? You need to cook ½ to ¾ cup of dried beans for every 15-ounce can of beans the recipe calls for.
• Vinegar: Use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar if that’s what you have. A splash of fresh lime juice is good too!
• Onions: 1 white, yellow, or sweet onion, or a bunch of green onions may be substituted for the red onion.
• Avocado: Avocado is good with everything. The avocados may darken over time, so the salad may not last as long in the refrigerator.
• Spicy: Add a few chopped seeded jalapeños or serranos to the salad for a little kick.
• Italian dressing: If you want to use Italian dressing (many readers have) just don’t make the vinaigrette in this recipe. Start with using about 1 cup of dressing, taste it, and see if you think you need more.
• Mix with leftover cold cooked rice for a Cowboy Rice Salad.

More delicious salsas and dips:

• Chipotle Copycat corn salsa
• Black Bean salsa
• Pineapple salsa
• Fresh tomato salsa
• Guacamole

Did you enjoy this recipe? Please leave a rating and a comment below!

Cowboy Caviar

This easy recipe for Cowboy Caviar is fun, fresh, colorful, and endlessly adaptable. It makes a great dip, salad, side dish, or even a topping for grilled meats. Always a potluck favorite!

5 from 216 votes

ReviewPrint

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Servings 12 (1 cup) servings

Course Appetizer, Salad

Cuisine American

Calories 185

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1/2 cup olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar or to taste, see notes
• ▢ 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 1 pound Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
• ▢ 1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas drained and rinsed
• ▢ 15 ounces black beans drained and rinsed
• ▢ 11 ounces sweet corn
• ▢ 1 red onion diced
• ▢ 1 green bell pepper diced
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper diced
• ▢ 1 cup fresh cilantro or fresh parsley, chopped, from 1 bunch

Instructions 

• In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sugar, white wine vinegar, chili powder, and salt. 
• Add tomatoes, black-eyed peas, beans, corn, red onion, and bell peppers. Stir to combine.
• Stir in cilantro. Cover and chill until serving time.

Recipe Video

Notes

1. Sugar:  Please feel free to reduce the amount of sugar or omit it entirely. If you want to reduce it, mix the dressing with just a tablespoon of sugar to start, taste it, and go from there.
2. Extra sweet corn: Regular canned sweet corn or frozen corn may be substituted for the extra sweet corn. The closest measurement for either option is ¾ cup, but feel free to use the whole 15-ounce can of corn. If using canned corn, drain and rinse.
3. Dried beans: Cook each bean variety separately, as cooking times may vary depending on size and age of the dried bean. You need to cook ½ to ¾ cup of dried beans for every 15-ounce can of beans the recipe calls for.
4. Vinegar: Use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar if that's what you have.
5. Onions: 1 white, yellow, or sweet onion, or a bunch of green onions may be substituted for the red onion.
6. Avocado: Avocado is good with everything. The avocados may darken over time, so the salad may not last as long in the refrigerator.
7. Spicy: Add a few chopped seeded jalapeños or serranos to the salad for a little kick.
8. Italian dressing: If you want to use Italian dressing (many readers have) just don't make the vinaigrette in this recipe. Start with using about 1 cup of dressing, taste it, and see if you think you need more.

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 5gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 201mgPotassium: 336mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 872IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg

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