Cowboy Caviar Recipe

Cowboy Caviar is a Southern Dip and Side Dish that is made with fresh vegetables & a delicious vinegar dressing. Black-Eyed Peas & Black Beans are tossed with fresh summer tomatoes, peppers, and corn to make a simple dip, and you won’t be able to resist scooping a chip in this dip!

This Cowboy Caviar Recipe is a great dish to bring to a summer bbq alongside a big bowl of potato salad or Southern coleslaw because it serves a lot of people, and it can sit out at room temperature (at least for a little while) for a while without spoiling. The flavors meld together the longer it sits as well, so it gets better with time.

Cowboy Caviar Dip is also known as Redneck Caviar, and in true redneck fashion, when we make this side dish, we tend to use whatever we have on hand. Sometimes I use canned beans – sometimes, I cook dried beans in the Instant Pot and use those. Sometimes I use fresh lime juice, and sometimes, I just use the stuff in the bottle. Sometimes I grill corn, sometimes, I cook corn on the cob in my Instant Pot, and sometimes we use corn kernels in the can. It honestly comes out great every time.

Cowboy Caviar (or redneck caviar) is the perfect summer appetizer because we always have a surplus of fresh veggies – fresh tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs, and corn just begging to be used. (Sometimes, I even roast some squash and throw it in.) I always plant way too many cherry tomato plants, so this is a great way to use a lot of tomatoes.

❓What is Cowboy Caviar?

Colorful Cowboy Caviar is a fun southern side dish that goes by many names – Redneck Caviar, Carolina Caviar, Hillbilly Caviar, Cowboy Salsa, Georgia Caviar, Texas Caviar, and sometimes even Black-Eyed Pea Relish. I often just refer to it as “Black-Eyed Pea Salad.” Whatever you call it, it’s always a big hit.

It is a really colorful salad and perfect dip fusion that can be eaten as an appetizer with chips or as a side dish with fried fish, grilled steak, or burgers in the summer. This easy cowboy caviar recipe combines tomatoes, black-eyed peas, peppers, black beans, and corn with a tangy lime dressing to make such an irresistible and flavorful dip.

It was first served by Helen Corbitt on New Year’s Eve at the Houston Country Club and later served at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, where it was given the name “Texas Caviar.” This was supposed to be a joke – comparing it to actual caviar. It got the name “Cowboy Caviar” after being served to cowboys in Texas. (You can read more about the story of Cowboy Caviar here.)

🥘 Ingredients Needed

Dressing Ingredients

• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Red Wine Vinegar – If you don’t have red wine vinegar, you can use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• Chili Powder
• Cumin
• Juice of One lime
• Kosher Salt

Bean Salad Ingredients 

• Jalapeño Pepper, diced
• Fresh Tomatoes – I use whatever we have, cherry tomatoes, sun gold tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, etc.
• Canned Sweet Corn – You can use canned corn, frozen corn, or fresh corn that is cooked and cut off the cobs. Roasted or grilled corn adds a nice layer of flavor to this dip, just let it cool before cutting it up.
• Canned Black-Eyed Peas, drained & rinsed – If you don’t have canned black-eyed peas, you can use cooked dry beans. (Drained and cooled.) Use 1 cup of dried beans, which will give you 1.5-2 cups of cooked beans. 
• (If you can’t find black-eyed peas where you live or if you don’t like them, you can substitute pinto beans, navy beans, garbanzo beans, or use extra black beans.)
• Canned Black Beans, drained & rinsed – If you don’t have canned beans, you can use freshly cooked dried beans. Use 1 cup of dried beans, which will give you 1.5 – 2 cups of cooked beans.
• Red Onion – We don’t love the taste of raw onion, so we use about half of a small red onion. You can use more if you like the taste of raw onion more than we do. If you don’t like the taste of raw red onions, you can substitute green onions. Their taste is not as strong.
• Red Bell Pepper
• Fresh Cilantro
• Optional – You can also add a diced avocado but do not add it until you are ready to serve the dish to prevent browning.

For Serving

• Chips – This caviar dip is best served with chips that are shaped like scoops so that they can scoop up all of the beans and the delicious juices. Corn chips like Frito Scoops or Tostitos Scoops Tortilla Chips will be best.

🍽 Equipment Needed

• Knife & Cutting Board
• A Large Mixing Bowl
• Measuring Cups & Spoons

🥣 How to Make Cowboy Caviar

There are two ways to make this easy recipe.

The first method: In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, and kosher salt together.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, black-eyed peas, beans, corn, red onion, bell peppers, jalapeño pepper, and cilantro, and toss gently to combine. Pour dressing over the salad, then toss to combine.

Give it a quick taste and adjust the salt – you might need to add more – then cover and chill for at least one hour.

Serve the caviar with your favorite tortilla chips.

Or, if you want to be totally lazy like me, you can just mix everything all together; you will just have to stir a little more. Try your best not to stir too hard because you can accidentally squish the beans! Put the corn, beans, and veggies in the bowl and gently toss – then add oil, vinegar, spices, lime, then cilantro – then toss again. (This easy method is pictured below!)

It looks perfect!

🍱 Recipe Yield

This redneck caviar recipe will serve 10-12 people and can easily be doubled or tripled to make a big batch.

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

🫙How to Store Cowboy Caviar

Store your chip dip in the fridge in an airtight container. It will keep for about 5 days. To freshen it up before serving, you can sprinkle it with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of fresh lime. Do not freeze this dip.

How Long Can You Keep Cowboy Caviar in the Fridge?

If properly stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, this salad will keep for up to five days.

✏️ Helpful Tips

• For the best possible cowboy caviar, mix the ingredients up at least 3 hours ahead of time possible to allow the flavors to really develop. 
• Serve this dip with your favorite tortilla chips – it works best with chips that have a scoop, so you can get some of the spicy dressing in each scoop.

⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions

One of the best things about this tasty side dish is that it can easily be prepared in advance. You can make the dressing up to 3 days ahead of time, then store the dressing in a mason jar or airtight container in the refrigerator. 

You can also cut up the onions, tomatoes, and peppers the night before you plan on putting the salad together. The next day, drain and rinse the canned beans and corn, then dice up the cilantro and put everything together. (Without the dressing, the black beans will stain the colorful veggies, so it is best to wait to assemble the salad.)

🤠 Cowboy Caviar Variations & Substitutions

• We like to take “redneck” seriously and use what we have – dice up leftover random halves of bell peppers from the fridge, use any variety of tomato, roast the corn – you can really get creative with the salad ingredients – just keep the dressing the same.  
• Make it Sweet – If you like your cowboy caviar to be on the sweet side, you can add sugar – start with a teaspoon and increase until it is your desired sweetness.
• Change the Beans – If you don’t like black-eyed peas, you can substitute pinto beans or double up the black beans.
• Change the Tomatoes – If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilies – though it will alter the flavor quite a bit. (There are variations of this dish that use Rotel and Zesty Italian Salad Dressing. We prefer the version with more fresh ingredients.)
• Italian Dressing – Short on Time? Use Italian dressing in place of the homemade lime dressing.
• Add Protein – Mix in 1 1/2 cups of cooked or grilled chicken that is diced up, grilled shrimp, or 1/3 cup of cooked diced bacon, then serve it all over lettuce to make a light dinner or easy lunch.
• Make It Spicy – Leave some of the seeds and ribs in the jalapeño (or add extra!) or add a splash of hot sauce to the dressing.
• Add Cheese – Add 1/3 cup of crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese and avocado to make a Mexican Caviar for Cinco de Mayo.

🍤 What to Serve with Cowboy Caviar

We like to serve this easy recipe as a side salad or as an easy appetizer. It is easy to make a complete meal by serving a protein with it, and it is a great side dish for a fish fry. It is so flavorful that it goes with so many things:

• Fried Catfish
• Grilled Burgers
• Grilled Steak
• Fried Shrimp

Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!