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There are endless ways to make Cowboy Caviar, but I’ve got the most popular recipe around. I grew up eating this tried-and-true version in the Midwest, and now I’m sharing the secret ingredients with you.
Meggan’s notes
In the Midwest, we make our Cowboy Caviar with a hint of sugar in the chili dressing, and in my opinion, that makes all the difference. That’s just how we like it! But for everyone else, feel free to omit the sugar and enjoy your Tex-Mex style fresh bean salsa with all the tortilla chips you can scoop.
With almost 600 5-star ratings and hundreds of comments on the post, Cowboy Caviar remains one of the most popular recipes on Culinary Hill. And with good reason! This version is easy to make, fully customizable, and ready fast. Make it today and thank me later.
Table of Contents
Cowboy Caviar ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Olive oil
- 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.
- White wine vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, or even lime juice.
- Chili powder: To set your face on fire, substitute Chipotle chili powder.
- Salt
- Tomatoes
- Black-eyed peas
- Black beans
- Corn: Regular canned sweet corn or frozen corn may be substituted for the extra sweet “shoepeg” corn. The closest measurement for either option is ¾ cup, but feel free to use the whole 15-ounce can of corn.
- Onion: I love the color of red onion, but any kind of onion works.
- Green and red bell peppers: You just need 2 peppers total, whatever color you want.
- Cilantro: Leave this out if you hate cilantro or substitute minced fresh parsley.
How to make Cowboy Caviar Dip
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, sugar, white wine vinegar, chili powder, and salt to taste (I like 1 teaspoon).
- In a large bowl, add tomatoes, black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, red onion, bell peppers, and cilantro.
- Drizzle with the dressing and stir to combine. Cover and chill until serving time.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 cups of Cowboy Caviar (more or less depending on the size of your bell peppers). It’s enough for 24 servings, ½ cup each.
- Make ahead: You can make the dressing up to 3 days in advance. You can assemble the full recipe a day in advance too, but the bell peppers might soften a bit in the dressing.
- Avocado: Avocado is good with everything. The avocados may darken over time, so the salad may not last as long in the refrigerator.
- Italian dressing: Many readers like to use a store-bought or homemade Italian dressing in Cowboy Caviar. Start with about 1 cup of dressing, taste it, and see if you want more.
How to serve this Recipe for Cowboy Caviar
The spicy-sweet dressing in Cowboy Caviar pairs perfectly with crunchy, salty tortilla chips. Or enjoy it as a salad on the side of your favorite grilled proteins like fish, chicken, pork, and shrimp. It’s also delicious stirred it into cooked rice for an impromptu side dish packed with color and flavor.
Storing Texas Caviar
This recipe keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Add a few chopped seeded jalapeños or serrano chiles to the salad for a little kick. Cayenne pepper or Chipotle chili powder will do the job, too!
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Cowboy Caviar Recipe
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar or to taste (see note 1)
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt
For the vegetables:
- 1 pound Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
- 1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (11-ounce) can sweet corn drained (see note 3)
- 1 red onion peeled and diced
- 1 green bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro or fresh parsley, from 1 bunch
Instructions
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, sugar, white wine vinegar, chili powder, and salt to taste (I like 1 teaspoon).
- In a large bowl, add tomatoes, black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, red onion, bell peppers, and cilantro. Drizzle with the dressing and stir to combine. Cover and chill until serving time.
Recipe Video
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.
- White wine vinegar: Or substitute apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, or even lime juice.
- Corn: Regular canned sweet corn or frozen corn may be substituted for the extra sweet “shoepeg” corn. The closest measurement for either option is ¾ c., but feel free to use the whole 15-oz. can of corn.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 c. of Cowboy Caviar (more or less depending on the size of your bell peppers). It’s enough for 24 servings, ½ c. each.
- Storage: This recipe keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
The first list confused me. It read 1 3 cup cup sugar. Luckily I read through the entire blog and saw the 1/3 cup cup sugar. Might want to proof read before sending. I have the same problem with Indy correct. Drives me nuts! I can hardly wait to make this. Sounds delicious. Thanks. ?
Oh my gosh, I would never be offended by your proof-reading comment… LOL! Guilty as charged. I appreciate you pointing that out to me so I can correct it… last thing I need is someone using the wrong number of cups of sugar!!! I hope you feel better soon and get out of the hospital!!! xoxo
This sounds amazing! I am currently preparing meals with as little sodium as possible. Do you believe cooking dry beans and then cooling them would yield the same results?
Hi Leah, yes absolutely. I think the beans usually aren’t quite as mushy, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 🙂 Thank you for your question!
This looks delicious! Other than as a dip, what would you recommend to eat this with?
Hi Sylvia, thank you! 🙂 I personally like to eat it with grilled chicken or any kind of grilled meat. It’s also really good on tacos/burritos if you’re in to that sort of thing. I hope you enjoy it!
Since a serving size is a cup, it’s already “dressed,” and it has 5 grams of protein, I would chop a bowl of romaine lettuce, throw a cup of the “caviar” into the bowl, mix it up, and enjoy my super-healthy lunch … or dinner! Yum!
It’s so delicious! I love eating it with scoops tortilla chips.
This is a beauty and props to Aunt Tammy! I for one LOVE cilantro so that stays, this is happening this weekend. Thanks and Happy Birthday Meggan! 🙂
Cook time of 1 hours minutes is posted with the recipe. What is cooked?
The “cook time” is actually the “chill time.” You need to have this sit in the refrigerator for an hour so the flavors blend. There isn’t really a way to call it “chill time,” it’s just “cook time.” Sorry for the confusion. Basically I wouldn’t want to say this recipe takes 5 minutes to make and then have someone be upset that I didn’t account for flavor-blending time!
This looks so tasty I can hardly stand not having some to eat right now. I can see hogging the whole bowl all to myself. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Wow, this dip is making me feel good and bad at the same time, Meggan! Good because it looks so darn colourful and healthy. Bad because I just ate loads of junk food and am now wishing I’d seen this recipe beforehand to steer me away from the junk. 🙁
Really nice party recipe staple!
You are too sweet, Helen! Don’t feel bad, tomorrow is always the best day to start a diet anyway. 😉 Miss you! xoxo
FINALLY! After teasing us with pictures of your adorable baby eating this, I finally get to try it myself. 😉 If it’ good enough for her, it’s good enough for me!
This is delicious and I don’t know anybody who does not like it. Last timber made it, it was a casserole. Not all hat great. But as a dip oh yeah!
I’ll make mine drenched in good seasons Italian dressing because that’s what I love. This Is a versatile mix with endless possibilities.
Thanks Megan and Aunt Tammy
Hi Dave!!! You know, on Facebook someone else mentioned they use Italian dressing on theirs. So clearly I’m missing out and need to investigate that immediately. Thanks for visiting the ol’ blog. 😀 xoxo
if you use italian dressing then what do you omit? and how much dressing do you use?
Hi Chastity! Thanks for the question. If you want to use Italian dressing, you omit the olive oil, sugar, white wine vinegar, chili powder, and salt. I would start with about 1 cup of dressing and see if you think you need more. What you should do is add the dressing and then taste the salad to see if you like it. Cowboy Caviar has a sweetness to it, so if you use Italian dressing you won’t have that (but it will still be delicious). You could try adding 1 tablespoon of sugar to the bowl and see if you like that, and add more if it tastes good to you that way. With a salad like this, it’s okay for you to change it and make it taste the way you want it to! I hope this is helpful. Take care and thanks again!
I just use any kind of Italian dressing but I also add in those baby pepperoni’s you can get in a package. Makes it taste even better!
Hi Meggan. This is delicious! I used green onion because that is what I had. It was really good before I got it into the fridge to meld the flavors. Can’t stop picking at it. Hope there is some left to go with dinner. Another keeper. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Julie! Really, any kind of onion tastes great in this. And I really prefer chopping green onions vs. other onions, so good call there! Everything else makes me cry. 😀 I have been eating this for breakfast all week. Is that weird? Like you say, can’t stop picking at it. My 1-year-old is also addicted. So glad you loved it. Take care!