Quick and Easy Cowboy Caviar

A crowd-pleasing salad, Quick and Easy Cowboy Caviar is ready in less than 20 minutes. This salad combines beans with vegetables for a quick and easy side dish that is perfect for a picnic, potluck or backyard BBQ.  

The medley of beans, peppers, and corn makes this salad a colourful side dish that brightens a buffet table. And the simple dressing for Cowboy Caviar is bursting with flavour. 

Ingredients For Cowboy Caviar

This dish is made in two parts:

The Dressing:

• Extra-virgin olive oil.
• Lime juice.
• Apple cider vinegar.
• White sugar.
• Garlic powder.
• Onion powder.
• Salt.
• Pepper.

The Salad:

• Cherry or grape tomatoes.
• Avocados.
• White onion.
• Black beans.
• Corn.
• Green bell pepper.
• Red bell pepper.
• Jalapeno pepper.
• Cilantro.

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Substitutions For Cowboy Caviar

Many recipes for this dish use a combination of black beans and black eyes peas. An equal amount of both beans can be used in place of only black beans.

We like to use white onion in this recipe. Red onion can be used instead. 

The bell peppers can be any colour of your choice. In the summer, we use the peppers we grow in our garden, and whatever colour is ready to pick is the ones we use in this salad.

We use cherry or grape tomatoes in this recipe because they tend to have less seeds than regular tomatoes. But you can substitute regular sized tomatoes in their place. 

Variations For This Dish

We usually serve this dish with a BBQ feast, so while we have the BBQ lit, we quickly grill corn on the cob for this recipe. 

The same can be done with the avocados. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and brush lightly with olive oil or avocado oil. Grill the cut side for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool before dicing it. 

The char on the corn and avocado gives the dish a touch of smoky flavour that pairs nicely with grilled chicken or steaks. 

Tips For Making This Side Dish

Although this is one of the easiest recipes and takes less than 20 minutes to make, these tips are to make sure you achieve the best results.

• The seeds should be removed form the tomatoes as much as possible. This is especially important if you are using full sized tomatoes. The seeds will add liquid to the salad that makes the beans mushy.
• The dressing can be made in advance and stored in a mason jar. The flavours will come together as it sits.
• The corn in the recipe can be frozen, canned or fresh. We typically use fresh because it has the least amount of water content. If using canned, make sure to drain the water. Thaw frozen corn first and drain well. For draining corn, we like to use a colander with a bowl under it to let it  drain fully.
• Don’t skip rinsing the beans. The aquafaba that is in the canned beans needs to be rinsed off otherwise your salad’s taste will be affected. Rinsing the beans removes the tinny flavour that comes with the aquafaba.
• If you are not serving the salad immediately, don’t add the avocado until it is time to serve. The avocado may turn brown as it sits. 

Is Cowboy Caviar Vegan?

Yes! This salad uses only vegan ingredients, making it a perfect dish to have on hand at a potluck or backyard BBQ if you have guests who are vegetarian or vegan. 

When making this salad, the only ingredient that may not be vegan is the sugar because of the processing method.

In Canada, Redpath sugar is processed without the use on bone char. (As per a Google search for sugar not processed with bone char.)

If in doubt, it is best to choose a certified organic sugar with a vegan symbol on the packaging. 

Can This Dish Be Made Ahead?

Yes, the dish can be made the night before and stored covered in the fridge. 

Sometimes, we prepare all the ingredients the night before and toss them together with the dressing just before serving.

The dressing can be made hours ahead of time and poured over the salad just before serving. Letting the dressing sit for some time allows the flavours to come together. 

If you like this recipe, you may also like our Cowboy Caviar Pasta Salad.

Serving Cowboy Caviar

There are many ways to serve this dish:

• On its own as a side dish. Serve with grilled chicken or smoked ribs. It also pairs well with burgers, hot dogs, and just about every BBQ dish. 
• Use as a dip for corn chips or tortilla chips.
• As a topping. Add this salad to tacos in place of salsa. 
• Top a garden salad. This dish is perfect for topping a salad for weekday lunches. It adds flavour, and texture. Ans the beans are a source of protein. 
• Walking tacos topping. This dish is a must for our backyard BBQs when we serve pulled pork walking tacos. The flavours pair well with the pork and Doritos for this dish.
• Picnics. Cowboy Caviar is easy to pack up and take on a picnic. Stored in an airtight, leak-proof container in a cooler, this salad will keep well while you travel.
• Side dish for fajitas. We like to serve Cowboy Caviar with fajitas, especially when we make flank steak marinated in our Flank Steak Marinade.

Storing This Dish

Leftovers should be kept covered in the fridge and used within 2 days. The beans will start to soak up the liquids from the vegetables and become mushy as it sits. 

Have you tried this side dish? We would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below telling us how you served this dish.