Texas Caviar Recipe

Name: Texas Caviar
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 4 cups of cooked black-eyed peas (2 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained); 8 green onions, just the green parts thinly sliced; 1/2 cup chopped cilantro; 3 jalapeño chile peppers, stems and seeds removed (wear gloves! do not touch your eyes after handling them!), finely chopped; 2 plum tomatoes, diced, or 1/2 cup of canned diced tomatoes, drained; 1 yellow bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, diced; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons lime juice; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Texas caviar, what a name! Credited with its invention is the legendary Austin-based Neiman-Marcus chef Helen Corbitt, who popularized this bean dip in the 1940s.

What Is Texas Caviar?

Texas caviar (also called "cowboy caviar") is a cold black-eyed pea salad, with chiles, onions, and bell peppers that doubles as a dip for tortilla chips.

This particular version of the recipe comes from my friend Lisa Fain, food blogger extraordinaire, and author of the Homesick Texan Cookbook.

Now most of the food we make around here gets shared among many—parents, boyfriend, friends, brothers, neighbors. But this one? I did not share. Mine. All. Mine.

It's that good.

How To Serve Texas Caviar

Texas caviar can be served either as a little side salad, perhaps on some butter lettuce if you like, or it can be used as a dip, like salsa, for tortilla chips.

You will find that if you make it as a dip, well, it takes a steady hand to keep the beans from falling of the chips. But, it's well worth it. Enjoy!

More Summery Party Dips and Salsas!

Texas Caviar

Prep Time 15 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Servings 4 to 6 servings

Recipe by Lisa Fain, the Homesick Texan. Republished with permission of author.

4 cups cooked black-eyed peas (2 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)
8 green onions, just the green parts thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 jalapeño peppers, stems and seeds removed (wear gloves! do not touch your eyes after handling them!), finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes, diced, or 1/2 cup of canned diced tomatoes, drained
1 yellow bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Stir together the caviar ingredients:

In a medium bowl, stir together the black-eyed peas, green onion greens, cilantro, chopped jalapeño, tomatoes, bell pepper, and garlic.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients:

In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, and cumin.
Combine caviar and dressing, then season:

Pour over the the black-eyed pea mixture. Stir to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Best chilled for several hours. Serve cold as a side salad or with tortilla chips.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
232	Calories
6g	Fat
36g	Carbs
12g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories	232
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g	7%
Saturated Fat 1g	4%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 84mg	4%
Total Carbohydrate 36g	13%
Dietary Fiber 11g	39%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 69mg	344%
Calcium 73mg	6%
Iron 5mg	25%
Potassium 605mg	13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.