Cowboy Caviar
This super fresh and vibrant Cowboy Caviar combines two types of beans, colorful summer vegetables, and a sweet and tangy lime dressing for a bold and versatile dish that you’ll find yourself making over and over. From party dip to a salad topper, Cowboy Caviar has become a go-to healthy meal prep item in my kitchen! Read on for more ideas on how to use this amazing salad/salsa!
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Cowboy Caviar
What is Cowboy Caviar?
Cowboy Caviar, sometimes called Mexican Caviar, is like a cross between a bean salad and a fresh salsa. It combines two types of beans, black beans and black eyed peas, with a colorful medley of fresh vegetables, and a tangy lime-balsamic vinaigrette.
How Long Does Cowboy Caviar Last?
Well, provided you don’t eat it all in one sitting (it can happen!), Cowboy Caviar holds up extremely well in the refrigerator and will be just as tasty after about 4-5 days in the refrigerator. While the vegetables will let off a little water, most of the ingredients are very sturdy. Just be sure to stir the salad before serving to redistribute the dressing. This salad will probably not freeze well, due to the fresh herbs and vegetables.
How Do You Eat Cowboy Caviar?
Honestly, there are too many ways to eat this salad to list, but let’s give it a try… As a side dish, a chunky dip for chips, as a taco topper, stuffed into a burrito or as part of a “burrito bowl”, sprinkled over a green salad, as a topper to scrambled eggs in the morning, stuffed into a quesadilla with some cheese, and so much more. If you have a favorite way to eat your Cowboy Caviar, feel free to share it with the rest of us in the comments below!
Cowboy Caviar
Ingredients
- 15 oz. can black beans ($0.89 )
- 15 oz. can black eyed peas ($1.09)
- 1 bell pepper (any color) ($1.50)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($0.86)
- 1 jalapeño ($0.12)
- 1/4 red onion ($0.20)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.20)
DRESSING
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 fresh lime (2 Tbsp juice) ($0.33)
- 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder* ($0.05)
- 1 tsp cumin ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp sugar ($0.02)
Instructions
- Rinse and drain both cans of beans in a colander. Let the excess water drain as you prepare the vegetables.
- Finely dice the bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño, and red onion. Try to dice the vegetables into pieces that are roughly the same size as the beans. For a less spicy salad, scrape the seeds out of the jalapeño before dicing. Roughly chop the cilantro. Place the drained beans, bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño, onion, and cilantro in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 2 Tbsp of juice from the lime, balsamic vinegar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and sugar. Pour the dressing over the salad, then stir until everything is well coated. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Notes
Step by Step Photos
Rinse and drain one 15oz. can of black beans and one 15oz. can of black eyed peas in a colander. Let the rinse water drain away as you prepare the rest of the vegetables.
Gather one bell pepper (any color), two Roma tomatoes, one jalapeño, 1/4 of a red onion and 1/4 bunch cilantro. While any color bell pepper can be used, I like the colorful pop of a yellow or orange bell pepper. I used the leftover red onion and cilantro from my Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils earlier in the week. :)
Finely dice the bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño, and red onion. The idea is to get the pieces close in size to the beans so that you have a “caviar” type appearance in the end. Roughly chop the cilantro leaves. Place the drained beans and all the vegetables in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp sugar. Pour the dressing over the salad.
Stir the salad until everything is coated in the dressing. Either serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat. This is one of those salads that tastes even better after it has time to chill in the fridge, so it’s great to eat over the course of a few days!
Cowboy Caviar makes a great snack with tortilla chips, or…
You can use it as part of a meal, like this burrito bowl! I combined my Cowboy Caviar with some leftover rice, leftover rotisserie chicken, and a little taco sauce for an AWESOME burrito bowl. You can also scoop some of the Cowboy Caviar over grilled chicken, or baked fish for a nice pop of flavor. Basically, this stuff ROCKS with everything.
Just so you know, this is now a tried and true and dearly loved dinner favorite in my house. Made some very small adjustments according to our tastes… .5T less oil and lime juice, some pepper, and adding the oil in slowly while the rest of the dressing ingredients are blending in a food processor to help it emulsify. Plus subbing a can of corn for one of the cans of beans and skipping the jalapeno…..okay so those aren’t very small adjustments. The point stands- tasty, healthy, and cheap recipe :) If you’re not picky about perfect chopping, you can use a food processor to chop the onion and pepper together, and then use it for the dressing (which I really recommend….hand whisking doesn’t produce as emulsified of a dressing, which definitely tastes better).
Does this freeze well? I’m wondering if I can use it in freezer breakfast burritos :)
I think it would probably do well in a breakfast burrito, because you won’t notice the texture changes as much. I probably wouldn’t want to eat it just like a salad after freezing because the fresh ingredients will be all limp. :)
I made this for New Year’s (black eyed peas) last year and I added a pound of cut up spicy shrimp. It was fabulous!
This is so stunning and delicious! I am making this for a potluck tomorrow, and it is oh my goodness so good. I used 3 cans of tri-bean blend, corn, one avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro, along with the small red onion. I put everything in the sauce that you have listed except the oil. I left out the jalapeno too so pickier palettes can eat it. Absolutely delicious I can’t stop stealing bites from the bowl. Thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes. Your pumpkin lentil curry soup is out of this world good, too, as well as your newer winter veg lentil soup. Your recipes are in our frequent rotation! Thank you!
So you know how many grams is 1/2 cup for the cowboy caviar?
No, I’m sorry, I don’t know the weight.
Can this be made the day before?
Yes, definitely. :) I usually make it and eat it for the next few days.
is there a sbstitute for the cilantro…..my husband hates the flavor of it…
You can either just skip it or add a couple sliced green onions in its place. :)
Hi!
Is there a substitution for the balsamic vinegar? Maybe just normal vinegar?