Cowboy Caviar is one recipe everyone raves about!
A fresh, simple dip that can be thrown together in under 15 minutes!
This Cowboy Caviar makes a great side dish for any picnic, potluck, or party, and is a great way to use up your summer produce!
I tried cowboy caviar for the first time at a potluck last summer and was instantly obsessed
I didn’t expect it from this unassuming, summery dip that at first glance I confused with chunky salsa or pico de gallo, but one bite and I knew that I was hooked for life.
The saltiness of the chips combined with the freshness of the tomatoes, the crispness of the pepper, the subtle heat of the jalapeno, the faint hint of lime and garlic…. It was heaven.
A replication of the highest order was necessary, and since that first fateful bite last year, I have perfected my own recipe for cowboy caviar and I am so excited to share it with you today.
I made this cowboy caviar for my family last weekend for Easter, and after baking both my signature carrot cake and coffee cake for brunch, I wanted something a little less sweet, and definitely something that wouldn’t require turning on the oven.
This cowboy caviar is easy to make, just a matter of chopping your veggies and tossing everything together.
If you ask me, the trick to the best possible cowboy caviar is to dice the ingredients that need dicing (the tomatoes, onion, pepper, etc — not the beans!) very small, the smaller the better. Try to keep your tomato and avocado pieces petite rather than big and chunky (about bean-sized works great!). An easy way to do this is with my favorite chopper, including for the tomatoes!
To easily cut my avocado, I like to slice it in half and then score it into small pieces using my knife, then just scoop everything out into the bowl with a large spoon!
Everyone who tried this cowboy caviar loved it and the bowl was scraped clean in record time.
P.S. As you can see in the pictures, I love serving these with tortilla chips, but cowboy caviar also tastes amazing eaten straight by the spoon!
Ingredients
- 3 Roma tomatoes seeds removed, diced
- 2 avocados diced
- ⅓ cup diced red onion
- 15 ounces canned black beans 1 can, rinsed and drained
- 15 ounces canned black eyed peas 1 can, rinsed and drained
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels thawed
- 1 bell pepper diced, any color
- 1 jalapeño seeds removed, finely diced
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Tortilla chips for serving
DRESSING
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Combine tomatoes, avocado, onion, black beans, black eyed peas, corn, pepper, jalapeno pepper, and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss/stir well so that ingredients are well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Pour dressing over other ingredients and stir/toss very well.
- Keep refrigerated. If not serving immediately, be sure to toss/stir well before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Loved it! I didn’t add the Jalapeño or black eyed peas simply because I misread the ingredients so I didn’t have them but this is so fresh and yummy! The cilantro is a must.
They sell cowboy caviar at our deli counter for $5.99 lb. Ouch. enjoy!
This was really awesome!! I did put a little cayenne pepper in the dressing mix and extra lime juice. Soooo yummy!!!!
I made this yesterday and my husband and I ended up eating it for dinner. I left out the salt and sugar. Will be making it all summer it’s so delicious. Thank you.
I’m so glad you loved it!
What would be good in place of the avocados? I don’t like them :(
You can leave them out if you don’t like them.
This looks delicious! Anyone know how many calories per serving?
I made this with the addition of toasted cumin seed. It. Is. So. GOOD! My family horked so much down they weren’t hungry when dinner was ready.
I literally just finished a bowl of “Cowboy Caviar”. It was absolutely delicious with my favorite tortilla chips. The only thing I tweaked was the sauce because I used too much olive oil. I didn’t have red wine vinegar but I used some balsalmic vinaigrete dressing and it was soooooo delicious.
I just came across your site yesterday for the first time and tried your Cowboy Caviar last night – ohhhh woowwww do I LOVE this stuff. Thank you. We now have a new “staple” in the house!
Thank you! We’re so glad you enjoyed the caviar! Yum!
You mention a chopper in your blog for the cowboy caviar. The link takes you to a page full of different choppers. Which one do you use? Having arthritis in my hands I’d like a chopper that dices like this.
Sorry about that, I’ve updated the link. This is the exact one I use.
I wish I knew which of the many choppers that showed up when I clicked that link the author means when it says “favorite.”
Sorry about that Cynthia, I’ve updated the link. This is the exact one I use.
Am I blind, or is there no avocado in the recipe itself?
The second ingredient is 2 ripe avocados :)
The cowboy caviar is great! we’re obsessed with the product of the same name sold at Trader Joes. You can’t beat making it fresh like this though.
We agree! Homemade is always the best!
I have eaten this many times and made it a few times. Your recipe is very similar to mine, though I thought I would share of couple of things I do differently. Reduce the salt by 1/2 and double the garlic. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper and 2 tsp of raw honey. The red wine vinegar is delicious, but if it is unavailable, I have had great success with raw apple cider vinegar. In any case, I am pleased you published this and will be making very soon. Oh, by the way, this is delicious served on a hot baked potato as a main course.
Hi Laura, your recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
do you use the same dressing recipe and just substitute apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, sticking with the 2 Tablespoons? thanks!
Great comments! The idea of serving this warm over a baked potato rocks! Thanks for your suggestions! I haven’t made this in a while but I will be certainly making it to serve over a baked potato for my husband and I! I am so glad that I signed up for this newsletter! How fun!
Love all of the flavors and the ingredients in this! Definitely perfect for summer. I actually never cook with black eyes peas but this has given me a fantastic idea for how to incorporate them into a dish!
I have heard of cowboy caviar, and knew it was veggie, but I didn’t know quite what it was. It looks and sounds sooo good! I love all of the ingredients and your tips for keeping everything small certainly makes it more of a dip than a salad (which would be great too of course). Great recipe :-)
It’s delicious either way! Thank you :)
We call this Texas cavier. It is one of the best things on a chip you will ever want to eat. I like it with the little bowl shaped chips. Get more dip in your mouth with them.
This is amazing! It is/was called Georgia caviar years ago! Maybe it has moved around the states some. It really is yummy. I did want to mention, although in the video, in this recipe listing the ingredients, nothing is mentioned about the lime….
Although I have always just included never really measured, but you still may want to include as one of the ingredients!
Thanks for the recipe!
I love how easy this is to throw together, it sounds delicious!
This dip looks so simple and delicious. I need to try this one out. Thanks for sharing the recipe..!
This sounds really great, perfect for BBQ season!
This looks so flipping good! Love all the colors and crunch!