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Texas Caviar

December 31, 2019

Texas Caviar is a salad combination of beans with a tangy dressing that is served with tortilla chips for scooping.

texas caviar served with tortilla chips

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.

combining ingredients to make texas caviar

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

adding dressing to texas caviar

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.

preparing texas caviar

This is a great, make-ahead dish because it’s awfully good when the dip is given time to soak up the tangy dressing.

Bowl of Texas Caviar served with tortilla chips

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:

Texas Caviar

Easy dip recipe for a party!

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:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

ASSEMBLE THE DIP:

  1. Put all dip ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

PREPARE THE DRESSING:

  1. 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.

  2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss again just before serving. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping.

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