Texas Caviar is a salad combination of beans with a tangy dressing that is served with tortilla chips for scooping.
Is it a salad or a dip? It’s both! The ingredients combine just like a salad, and it can be served as a salad side dish too. But most people grab tortilla chips and use Texas Caviar as an appetizer dip. It’s delicious either way.
About Texas Caviar:
Texas Caviar was created in Texas in the 1940’s by a woman named Helen Corbitt. She first served it on New Year’s Eve at the Houston Country Club. Later it was served at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, where it was given the name, “Texas Caviar” (meant to be funny as a comparison to the more expensive fish roe caviar). It’s also called, “Cowboy Caviar.”
This dish is anchored by having beans as the main ingredient- most notably black eyed peas as a good luck ingredient for the New Year. Some people like to use black beans in place of black eyed peas. Corn and chiles are also added in. It’s all tossed in a tangy dressing, which gives the dip a sweet “pickled” flavor.
How to make Texas Caviar:
It’s so easy to make Texas Caviar! Simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and stir to combine.
- black eyed peas (or black beans– your preference)
- pinto beans
- corn
- green chiles
- fresh red and green bell peppers
- red onion
- fresh cilantro
The dressing is made next. It’s quickly warmed in a small saucepan to dissolve the sugar in the recipe.
- olive oil
- rice vinegar
- sugar
- garlic powder
Then the dressing is poured over the ingredients in the bowl.
This is a great, make-ahead dish because it’s awfully good when the dip is given time to soak up the tangy dressing.
This Texas Caviar dip recipe makes a lot. You’ll have a big bowl of it, so it’s great to serve at a big party. Leftovers the next day are perfectly awesome. Use tortilla chips for dunking. Serve it as a side salad. And spoonfuls of this are also pretty good when added to tacos too. Enjoy!
Here are a few more dip recipes you might like to try:
- Layered Greek Dip
- Chili Shrimp Dip
- Slow Cooker Mexican Street Corn Dip
- White Queso Dip
- Beer and Bacon Dip
- Curry Dill Dip
- Bacon Cheese Dip
- Hot Reuben Dip
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Texas Caviar
Ingredients
DIP:
- Two 15-ounce cans black eyed peas or black beans, rinsed and drained
- Two 15-ounce cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- Two 15-ounce cans white corn, rinsed and drained
- One 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, undrained
- 1 medium red bell pepper (cored, seeded and finely chopped)
- 1 medium green bell pepper (cored, seeded and finely chopped)
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed and finely chopped
DRESSING:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
ASSEMBLE THE DIP:
- Put all dip ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
PREPARE THE DRESSING:
- In a small saucepan, combine the dressing ingredients. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set it aside to cool. Pour the dressing over the bean mixture, and toss to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss again just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
