Y’all know I’m from Oklahoma, proper? I grew up consuming cowboy caviar, additionally known as Texas caviar. It’s a traditional bean salad recipe common within the South. You possibly can serve it as a aspect salad or as salsa. Both manner, folks go loopy for cowboy caviar at potlucks.
Cowboy caviar is made with black-eyed peas and black beans, chopped tomatoes, corn, bell pepper, onion and cilantro tossed in tangy Italian dressing. I sometimes consider cowboy caviar as a heat climate salad, however it’s made with substances which are available year-round.
Cowboy caviar is definitely excellent for New 12 months’s in the event you’re craving one thing recent but hearty, and making an attempt to hit your black-eyed pea quota!
I’ve one difficulty with most cowboy caviar recipes—they’re typically swimming in store-bought Italian salad dressing. As such, they are often manner too oily and include some pointless preservatives. As a substitute, I whisked collectively a easy, selfmade Italian dressing from scratch. It’s straightforward to do and tastes implausible.
This recipe yields an enormous bowl of dip, however I don’t assume you’ll have any hassle sprucing it off. I hope you get pleasure from this cheekily titled delight!
Cowboy Caviar Substances
You’ll discover the complete recipe under. The Italian dressing is made with pantry substances. Right here’s what you have to know in regards to the recent substances:
Black-Eyed Peas and Black Beans
Beans kind the spine of this wholesome salad. Canned beans are tremendous to make use of, or you possibly can cook dinner your individual in the event you’d like. One can is equal to at least one and a half cups cooked beans.
Tip: Drain your beans and corn very nicely earlier than including them to the bowl. In the event that they’re watery, they’ll dilute the flavour of the French dressing.
Corn
Relying on the season and availability, you may want to shuck recent corn, or use frozen corn (merely soak it in cool water till absolutely defrosted), or open a can of corn.
Tomatoes
Ripe pink tomatoes are perfect. When tomatoes aren’t in season, I attain for Roma tomatoes (three to 4 of them) or cherry tomatoes (one pint can be excellent for this recipe). You can use canned tomatoes, however it’s going to change the flavour and the vibe a bit. Contemporary is greatest.
Bell Pepper and Jalapeño
Purple, orange or yellow bell pepper will do. When you can tolerate a bit warmth, you’ll love the jalapeños. When you’re nervous in regards to the jalapeño, you possibly can cut back the spiciness through the use of simply one in every of them, and being certain to take away the seeds and membranes earlier than chopping.
Purple Onion and Cilantro
I do know these substances may be polarizing and I promise there’s not an excessive amount of of both in them on this recipe. Don’t skip them!
Tip: Take care to cut your substances small to maintain with the “caviar” textural theme.
Non-compulsory Avocado
Whereas untraditional, ripe avocado is a welcome addition to this bean salad. Wait so as to add avocado simply earlier than serving so it doesn’t brown, or serve particular person parts with just a few strips of avocado on high.
Watch Tips on how to Make Cowboy Caviar
Tips on how to Serve Texas Caviar
Serve your cowboy caviar as a bean salad or as a dip with sturdy tortilla chips. This recipe occurs to be vegan and gluten free, so it’s going to please everybody at a celebration. It’s additionally a fantastic wholesome snack to maintain within the fridge and retains nicely for a number of days.
Cowboy caviar is gorgeous for lunch with a sandwich or quesadilla, and even for breakfast with scrambled or fried eggs and a heat tortilla.
You too can flip this dip right into a inexperienced salad by serving it on lettuce. Add a squeeze of lime, some crumbled feta and a sprinkle of crushed corn chips or toasted pepitas (inexperienced pumpkin seeds).
Extra Contemporary Bean Salads to Make
Love this cowboy caviar? You’ll additionally get pleasure from these vibrant bean salads.
Please let me understand how your cowboy caviar seems within the feedback! I really like listening to from you.
Wholesome Cowboy Caviar
- Creator:
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Complete Time: half-hour
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Class: Appetizer
- Methodology: By hand
- Delicacies: Southern
- Weight-reduction plan: Vegan
This cowboy caviar recipe (also referred to as Texas caviar) is comprised of scratch with all-natural substances! Serve it as a dip, salsa or salad—it’ll be successful at your subsequent social gathering. Recipe yields numerous “caviar,” about 8 cups.
Scale
Substances
Cowboy caviar
- 2 cans (14 ounces every) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained, or 3 cups cooked black-eyed peas
- 1 can (14 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
- 1 ½ cups recent or defrosted frozen corn kernels (about 2 ears of corn), or 1 can (14 ounces) corn, drained
- 1 ½ cups chopped ripe tomatoes (about ¾ pound)
- 1 medium pink, orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped
- ¾ cup chopped pink onion (about ½ small pink onion)
- ½ cup chopped cilantro, leaves and stems
- 1 to 2 jalapeños, ribs eliminated, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 avocado (non-compulsory)
Italian dressing
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons pink wine vinegar or lime juice
- 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons salt, to style
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- ⅛ teaspoon pink pepper flakes
- Freshly floor black pepper, to style
Directions
- In a big serving bowl, mix the drained black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, cilantro and jalapeño. When you’ll be together with avocado, wait to cube it till you’re able to serve the dip, so it doesn’t flip brown within the meantime.
- In a cup, whisk collectively the dressing substances till nicely blended. Drizzle the dressing over the serving bowl and toss till nicely combined. Season to style with further salt and pepper. When you’d just like the salad to have extra of a pickled taste, add one other tablespoon of vinegar, or for extra richness, add one other tablespoon or two of olive oil.
- For greatest taste, let the combination marinate for at the very least 20 minutes earlier than serving. When you’re including avocado, combine it in simply earlier than serving.
Notes
Serving strategies: Don’t neglect the chips! I additionally like to show this dip right into a inexperienced salad by serving it on lettuce with a squeeze of lime, some crumbled feta and a sprinkle of crushed corn chips or toasted pepitas.
Storage strategies: This dip retains nicely within the fridge, lined, for as much as 4 days.
▸ Diet Data
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