Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe
Create a delicious and colorful snack by throwing together an easy bowl of Cowboy Caviar – a black bean and corn salad perfectly flavored with cilantro and lime!
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Have you heard of Cowboy Caviar? It seems to me that it goes by a ton of different names: Black Bean & Corn Salad, Texas Caviar, Cowboy Salsa, Black Bean Salsa, the list goes on! No matter what you call it, this delicious dish of black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, and other goodies is always a crowd pleaser!
Why I love this recipe
I love keeping some yummy Cowboy Caviar at the ready in my fridge all summer long. It’s easy to make and it is a filling, tasty, and healthy no-guilt snack and easy way to get your veggies in!
I mostly eat it as a snack but it is a delicious addition to Mexican dishes like spicy slow cooker chicken tacos, Instant Pot carnitas, or oven baked soft tacos.
Ingredients
- canned, frozen, or fresh corn
- black beans
- cherry tomatoes
- red onion
- green onion
- bottled or fresh lime juice
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper
- cilantro
- avocado
- jalapeño pepper
Step by step
This recipe is a breeze!
- Drain and rinse your beans. If you are using freshly cooked beans instead of canned you can skip this step.
- Combine beans, corn, onions, and jalapeño in a large bowl and mix.
- Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper, and cilantro and stir to make sure the vegetables are coated.
- Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Stir in avocado and serve!
Tips for best results
- Experiment with the recipe to make it your own! Fell free to substitute the black beans for another kind-kidney beans, pinto beans, and lima beans all work in this recipe!
- Leftovers are delicious in eggs, on salad, or served over baked chicken or steak.
Variations
- Dried black beans – if using dried beans, soak and cook in advance
- Onion – substitute yellow onion if needed
- Bell Pepper – add in chopped bell peppers for a little sweetness and crunch
- Black Eyed Peas – many versions of cowboy caviar include a can of black eyed peas
- Meat – Stir in cubed chicken breast or chopped bacon to amp up the protein
- Cheese – stir in crumbled cotija cheese
Serving suggestions
You can eat it as a side dish, by itself, on top of salad, as a quesadilla or taco topping, or with crackers or tortilla chips, and it’s great as a potluck or party appetizer too!
Storage
Store cowboy caviar in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It is best to store it without the avocado, as it will brown over time.
I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll love my free 5-Ingredient Dinner Challenge.
I’ll send you super simple meals that use just five ingredients and come together fast — perfect for busy weeknights when you don’t want to overthink dinner.
Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe
- Total Time: 10 min
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Create a delicious and colorful snack by throwing together an easy bowl of Cowboy Caviar – a black bean and corn salad perfectly flavored with cilantro and lime!
Ingredients
- 15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup red onion, diced
- 1 green onion, diced
- juice of two limes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 medium avocado, diced
- 1 tablespoon diced jalapeño
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine all ingredients except avocado.
- Stir to coat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Add avocado just before serving.
Notes
- Can be kept in the refrigerator up to three days
- Experiment with the recipe to make it your own! Fell free to substitute the black beans for another kind-kidney, pinto, and lima beans all work in this recipe!
- Do not make this more than one day in advance to avoid the vegetables getting too soft.
- Do not freeze this recipe.
- Leftovers are delicious in eggs, on salad, or served over baked chicken or steak.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: none
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 88
- Sugar: 2.5 g
- Sodium: 122.1 mg
- Fat: 3.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.3 g
- Protein: 2.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
You might also like these appetizer recipes:
Want more great recipes?
Join our community of over 20,000 everyday cooks and I'll send you an eCookbook with 13 of my favorite desserts as a welcome gift!
i’m a big fan of Wasa crackers. They’re so versatile!
Cowboy caviar is one of my favorite summertime foods! I haven’t tried it with Wasa crackers though so I will have to do that thiss ummer!
I haven’t tried Wasa yet but this looks DELICIOUS! Thanks for the giveaway!
Perfect summer dish! Very colorful! Thanks for the chance!
This looks a lot like a “salsa” we used to make to take to my grandparents cottage! But we didn’t add the cilantro- my husband would LOVE this recipe!
Looks good and I will try it.
i like the Rye Wasa crackers! So tarty! i also like to crush these up in my mac and cheese!
That recipe looks fantastic. Great idea for an appetizer.
I’ve never tried Wasa but this looks delicious!
What a great and healthy looking snack. I’m going to have to try it. The WASA crackers are great!
I have never actually tried Wasa crackers before but they sound delicious! I will definitely have to look for them during my next grocery shopping trip!
This recipe would be great for summer entertaining!
I have not tried them yet but they sound great.
I have yet to try wasa crackers. They look like a delicious party cracker for dips and such.
I’ve never heard it called Cowboy Caviar before, but it is similar to a delicious recipe that I love. I’ll have to pick up some crackers and try this one!
I used to eat Wasa crackers as a kid, and I loved them! They’re delicious with peanut butter.
I’ve always seen these on the shelf but never really knew what they were! They sound great and the fact that there are only 3 ingredients is amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Now I want to go grab some Wasa cracker! Never tried them before! I love that they don’t have a bunch of junk in them. We’re trying to eat better, so this would help!
Your Cowboy Cavier looks so delicious – perfect for a summer BBQ side. Thanks for the giveaway!
Can’t wait to try these with this wonderful recipe. Thank you for sharing!