This Cowboy Caviar is a wonderfully fresh, healthy, and easy-to-make dip. It’s loaded with tomatoes, avocado, beans, corn, and the best dressing infusing every bite. This recipe is popular for good reason and we make this salsa all year long.
Just like classic Pico de Gallo and Guacamole, this is one of those appetizers you’ll make over and over. Watch the video tutorial and you’ll be craving this ‘Texas Caviar’ until you finally make it.
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Cowboy Caviar
If you are looking to spice up your ordinary summer cookout, you have to add this to your menu. Serve it as a side dish with crispy tortilla chips or Scoops corn chips, or pair it as a side with Hamburgers and Homemade Lemonade.
This cowboy caviar is a crowd-pleaser and always disappears fast! There are many recipes for cowboy caviar, but we really love this delicious version that my classmate, Annie from nursing school, shared with me years ago. It makes a big batch so it is an ideal potluck or party appetizer; right up there with Spinach Artichoke Dip and Ceviche!
Cowboy Caviar Video Tutorial
Watch the video tutorial and see just how easy it is to make this Cowboy Caviar. If you enjoy our videos, subscribe to our and click the bell icon so you will be the first to know when we post a new video!
What is Cowboy Caviar?
According to the stories, in the 1950’s Neiman Marcus’ food director, Helen Corbitt, introduced this dish at a party in Houston, Texas. Because of its “humble” ingredients, guests dubbed it “Cowboy Caviar”.
Is it a salsa? A dip? Or is it a black bean salad? Call it what you will, I call it delicious. Cowboy Caviar, also known as “Texas Caviar,” is a beefed-up Pico De Gallo type salsa, but unique because it’s loaded with beans, avocado, and corn and is dressed with our special ingredient, Italian dressing.
It’s so colorful with all of the fresh vegetables and those black beans add a great source of protein. Today, stores such as Costco and Trader Joe’s sell packaged versions of this popular dish, but we, of course, think fresh is best.
Time-Saving Tip: Save time by using our favorite food chopper for cutting up the tomatoes, jalapeños, avocado, onion, and bell pepper.
Ingredients
This cowboy caviar salsa is so colorful, loaded, and satisfying. This salsa tastes best in Summer when you can get fresh and garden-grown veggies but it’s delicious with store-bought ingredients as well.
- Tomatoes – Fresh tomatoes are the tastiest in season, but the beauty of this salsa is it can be made all year long.
- Beans – We love home-cooked beans or canned black beans or black-eyed peas. Be sure they are rinsed and well-drained. We often interchange these two beans based on what we have on hand and either one works great.
- Corn – During the winter months, we use canned or frozen corn and in the summer months, we add freshly cooked Corn on the Cob.
- Avocado – Adds an irresistible creaminess. I’ve been known to sneak in extra avocado.
- Bell Pepper – We have used red, orange, yellow, and even green bell pepper. Any kind will work.
- Onion – Adds great flavor and crunch to every bite.
- Jalapeños – Don’t be intimidated by the jalapeños – the Italian dressing mellows it out and even the kids love it!
- Italian Salad Dressing – This surprising ingredient infuses every bite with incredible flavor. We love Newman’s Own brand, but you can use your favorite one or try our Homemade Italian Dressing.
- Limes, garlic, and salt – Use fresh lime juice and garlic for the best flavor.
- Cilantro – salsa would not be complete without it!
Pro Tip: Wear a glove when handling the jalapeño, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon to reduce the heat.
How to Make Cowboy Caviar
- Chop the fresh ingredients – tomatoes, avocados, onion, jalapeños, bell pepper, cilantro, fresh corn. Mince the garlic and add everything to a large bowl.
- Rinse and Drain – Black beans (and corn if using canned corn). Add to the bowl.
- Combine – Add Italian dressing, lime juice, and salt. Stir to combine and enjoy!
It really is that easy. You can make it several hours ahead and the leftovers are still great the next day.
Pro Tip: Make this side dish a complete meal by adding shredded chicken and/or cooked pasta such as penne, macaroni, or fusilli just before you mix all of the ingredients together. To make it a totally simple, no-cooking-required meal, purchase a rotisserie chicken from the deli and omit the pasta.
Common Questions
A bowl of fresh vegetables surely has great nutritional value. With black beans and/or black-eyed peas, this recipe is a great source of fiber and protein. Of course, you could choose a healthier option than tortilla chips for scooping, but I am not judging.
This recipe is so versatile and modifications based on personal preference or which ingredients you have on hand are so simple to make. Want to add red onion instead of white onion? Chili powder instead of jalapenos for an extra kick? Canned corn kernels instead of fresh corn on the cob? By all means… substitute. It is so simple and you really cannot go wrong.
Texas Caviar can easily be prepared up to two days ahead of time and be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Longer than two days, and the vegetables will start to lose their crispness. This recipe is also easily doubled or tripled for your party crowd.
How to Serve Cowboy Caviar
- Appetizer – We always serve Cowboy Caviar with tortilla chips as an appetizer. It’s perfect for parties because it makes a big batch. My husband and I often skip dinner and just make a big batch of this black bean salad in the evening with crunchy tortilla chips.
- Topping – If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, it can be served as a topping for Beef Tacos, burritos, Nachos, or over Pan-Seared Steak.
- Side Dish – You can serve this as a salad or side dish for a potluck. It is definitely a crowd-pleaser.
This recipe for Cowboy Caviar is a keeper. Make this once and you will make it again and again.
More Party Appetizers
These are our best appetizers, from salsas to dips and small bites. These are the top-rated recipes that always get rave reviews:
Cowboy Caviar Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and diced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely diced
- 1 large avocado , peeled, pitted and diced
- 15 oz can corn, drained (or from 1 cooked cob of corn)
- 15 oz can black beans, well rinsed and drained (or make your own)
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro, About 1/2 cup chopped
- 3-4 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 cup light Italian Dressing, *
- 4 medium garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tsp sea salt or to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine diced tomatoes, chopped onion and bell pepper, seeded and diced jalapeño, sliced avocado, fresh (or drained canned) corn, rinsed and drained black beans, and chopped cilantro.
- Stir in 3-4 Tbsp of lime juice, 1/2 cup of Italian dressing, 4 pressed garlic cloves, and 1 tsp of salt or season to taste. Mix everything together and serve with tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I just made this it is delicious, but then again you have never disappointed me. I am one of the people that cilantro tastes like soap,I used parsley. I also wasn’t sure about avocado,but should have trusted the recipe.I bought some guacamole and added that. So so good,thank you!
Hi Marisa! Thank you for the feedback. I’m glad you love the recipe. 🙂
Hi Natasia!,
Wondering if I leave the corn out, if it will cut the carbs. Like you, I could eat the whole bowl, but being diabetic, I have to watch the carbs.
Thanks so much!
Hi Cheryl! Yes, you can modify this recipe if you’d like 🙂
Hello Natasha
Thank you for sharing the yummy recipes I make the cowboy caviar at every gathering it’s always a winner but because it becomes very watery I added a small twist instead of six tomatoes I use only two and one red bell pepper and one green pepper it worked very well ❤️
Sounds good and thanks for sharing! I’m glad that worked out just fine.
Hey Mira. If you remove the internal seeded part of the tomatoes and use just the flesh, it helps a lot! I do the same for chopped salads and bruschetta, etc, to prevent them from getting watery/soggy 🙂
Hi Natasha! I am curious if you have tried using your Italian dressing recipe with this? If you haven’t, how do you think it would be?
Hi Brooke, I always use Italian dressing. You could make a homemade one (we have one on our site HERE), or use more lemon or lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Italian dressing has the best flavor.
Do you typically use your Italian dressing recipe or store bought? I love your Italian dressing, but it has mayonnaise and I know you said not to use a creamy Italian dressing. Thanks in advance for you help! Can’t wait to make this!
Hi Brooke! We love Newman’s Own brand of Italian dressing.
I hope you love this recipe! 🙂
Oh my Natasha where are those Black Eyed Peas! Gotta hav’em in there. LOL (1 can drained)
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes. Keeps me busy.
Hi BJ! You’re so very welcome for the recipes. I’m glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂
I made the Cowboy salsa, it was wonderful! I love your receipes, keep sending them.
Hi Sherrie! I’m so glad you love my recipes. Thank you for sharing.
So good, I had it at a friend’s house on Christmas and now I’m making it for New Years Eve!
Isn’t it so fresh and delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Gracias por todas sus recetas me gustan mucho oero me puede dar ka receta de los mini pecan pies por favor grscias
Hi Maria, I don’t have a mini pecan pie recipe; we do have a Mini Baklava Cups recipe or a Mini Pumpkin Pie recipe HERE. I appreciate your request and have added it to my list!
Made this as an appetizer for a recent potluck and it was gone in a flash!. Will make it as a side dish for a 4th of July bbq.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Dennis!
I can’t be the only one that dreads recipes calling for avocado. Its not that I don’t know how to pick out a ripe avocado, but rather the stores simply do not have them. I have never had an avocado ripen on the day I needed it, so no game day salsa for us. That being said, I made this recipe, not for company, but for whenever the avocado was ready. It spent four days in a paper bag, and then we were on! All in all, a great recipe, we liked it. Next time more jalapeno and a switch to slivered red onion for us.
Thank you for the feedback! I’m glad it was enjoyed. 🙂
I eat avacados almost daily. If you buy the ones that are hard, let them ripen a couple of days with some bananas, then put the avacados in the refrigerator. They will be ready when you are and will last for days and days.
I do this too, it has been such a treat to have avocados ready when we want tnem. We usually have 3 or4 in the fridge at a time. Wonderful when you want avocado toast or to make a great salad.
Not big fans of cilantro…can I substitute parsley? Please recommend something that will go well. This recipe looks really yummy and I look forward to giving it a try. (We love Newman’s dressings, too!)
Yes, that would be fine! 🙂
I am also anti cilantro and parsley works well in this recipe!
Did you use a white onion or sweet onion? Looks so good can’t wait to make this.
Thank you,
Jan
Hi Jan, I used a yellow onion for this recipe. 🙂 I hope you try it and love it!
Easy, fresh and tasty. Thank you for YET ANOTHER FANTASTIC recipe =) !!
Quick ” cheat” prep tip: buy some fresh pico ( tomatoes, jalapeños, onions & cilantro) and add remaining
Thanks for sharing, glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I absolutely love your recipes! I cook them all the time and my husband loves my cooking! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing recipes ♥️♥️♥️
You’re so nice! Thank you for that great feedback, Angeline!
This recipe is so delicious and so flexible! I made it as written – a big hit! Next time I omitted the cilantro – a big hit! I made it without jalapeno peppers – a big hit! Then I made it without onions – still a big hit! All of these changes were for people with different food preferences. You simply cannot go wrong on this recipe! Try it – you’ll like it!
Thank you for the wonderful feedback, Sharon! So glad it was a hit.
Just made my personalized batch and will be calling it “Golfer Garden Salad” due to the fact that I am not a cowboy.
PS-I eliminated the avocado since it spoils too fast and used anaheim peppers in lieu of jalapeno.
Sound good, I hope you still liked it without the avocado!
Hi Natasha,
Is possible to make cowboy caviar a day before? I know that advocato has to be added before to serve, but the other ingredients are ok to mix time ahead?
Hi Otilia, It will keep well for a few days in the refrigerator.
Hi Natasha,
Thank you so much for the recipe. We had a bbq past weekend, and everybody loved the Cowboy Caviar. It was a success !!
I’m so happy it was a success, Otilia! That’s just awesome!
Thank you for the great recipes and videos. I enjoy each and every one, and so does my family.
So glad to hear that, Rose! 🙂
My family loves this. It’s a nice change from our regular salsa.
That’s so great! Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Sue!
I made this today and I really enjoyed it! I also like that it’s a budget friendly recipe. I would love to see more like it.
Thank you for that feedback, Irina! We will definitely keep that in mind!
Why did I wait so long to make this recipe? The flavors were perfect and it is so delicious! I will be making it a second time later this week. I want to serve on beef and steak tacos.
Question: I did prepare this six hours ahead of time. The dish had a lot of liquid from the tomatoes. Should I pour off the liquids? I did not want to lose the flavors from the dressing and the lime juice.
I’m so glad this recipe was a hit Destiny! This recipe keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator. It sounds like you had some really juicy tomatoes. If it’s a ton of liquid, I would pour some off.