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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!
Cowboy Caviar
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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Love the recipe! Is the serving size information correct though? 214 calories for 1/4 of a cup seems a bit high. Considering if I add the calories of all the ingredients in the recipe it comes out to a total of 2,365 calories for the whole bowl. Also I feel like the recipe made more than 12 servings if each serving is supposed to be 1/4 of a cup. But otherwise love the taste.
Serving size and nutritional information are both estimates and can vary based on the ingredients you use. Our recipe came out to approximately 3 cups which makes each serving roughly 0.25 cups.I hope that helps!
absolutely delicious recipe
Excellent dip! It’s been called many names.. Mississippi Caviar, Redneck Caviar etc. But YOURS is THE BEST!!
Very bland. I ended up doing atleast 4x the amount of vinegar (maybe more), way more salt and pep, the juice of 2 whole limes, a bit of extra sugar and garlic powder. Also added feta which was great!
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that Hannah. This is usually a reader favorite!
I made this once for a tailgate and it was such a hit that everyone demands I make it for every occasion. It’s great for dipping but it’s even better as a side dish. This is one of those recipes that are better after it’s been in the fridge for a couple hours and just put the avocado in before you serve it and mix it in. The only problem is there’s rarely any leftovers!
I get begged to make this at every BBQ..I always make double and eat the leftovers with a spoon..it’s so good you don’t even need the tortilla chips!
I have not found one person who doesn’t love this! Where ever I bring this dish, it’s a hit!!
does the avocado go brown and make the dip less fresh?
Hi Sarah, the avocado will start to brown over time. If making it ahead I like to combine everything except the avocado and add it just before serving. Enjoy!
My family loves this recipe. I toss my diced avacado in lemon juice before adding and it never turns brown on me. We like a little more dressing than the recipe, so I make a little more.
I followed the recipe except I didn’t have avocado, and I substituted white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar since I didn’t have that either. It’s delicious!
This is SO delicious! It’s fresh and healthy and I just love to make this and then devour it! The only modification I make is to leave out the jalapeño peppers because personally, they are a little hot for me. I can’t imagine anyone not liking this.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it many times and generally return to it as the weather starts to warm up. Did the dressing recipe change? I thought it had either cumin or chili powder in it before.
So glad you love it! This recipe has not changed from the original publish date.
yummy!!!
Good! I really like how fresh this is!
But what size is a serving? 12 servings doesn’t help those ugly us watching our intake! Please update the recipe to include this!
Each serving would be approximately ¼ cup.
DELICIOUS. No modifications.
this was amazing
so simple and fun to make!!
and everyone I served it to is begging for the recipe!!
10 out of 10
I recently made this and took it to a family hockey party. It was a huge hit, we did use the lime tortillas chips to accompany it.
I also made a tweek to the dressing by adding lemon and lime zest and also the juice of two lemons and one lime and dijon mustard as i felt it needed a more zip. It was almost devoured and we used the rest on our eggs the next morning and was fantastic….
INCREDIBLE! The best recipe. I have made this regularly as a salad with meals.
Got so many compliments on this from friends. I doubled the recipe and gave jars to a few friends to celebrate New Years (black eyed peas for luck). I followed the recipe exactly except doubled the lime juice and did not include avocados. It was very well received by all – including asking for the recipe.
This is the recipe I always use for Cowboy Caviar. The only changes I make are use honey instead of sugar in the dressing, and mix everything up before adding avocado – then you only have to mix lightly again and don’t damage the avocado too much. One time I accidentally used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine and it was completely fine! Not better so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but it still worked. We make a big batch of this often and my boyfriend takes it to work with some tortilla chips for lunches. It’s so healthy and has just about everything nutritionally, plus it’s DELICIOUS! Also you can add more or less of what you like and don’t, for example sometimes we add extra avocado or cilantro just for fun. Added bonus that it’s vegan (if you don’t use honey like I do) and gluten free.
Wasn’t as good as other recipes I’ve tried. Kinda bland