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Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe

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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!

cowboy caviar on large cracker

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Have you heard of Cowboy Caviar? It seems to me that it goes by a ton of different names: Black Bean & Corn Salad, 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!

A close up of cowboy caviar

I love keeping some yummy Cowboy Caviar at the ready in my fridge this summer. It’s a filling, tasty, and healthy no-guilt snack!

Ingredients

  • corn
  • black beans
  • cherry tomatoes
  • red onion
  • green onion
  • lime juice
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • cilantro
  • avocado
  • jalapeño

Step by step

This recipe is a breeze!

  1. Drain and rinse your beans. If you are using freshly cooked beans instead of canned you can skip this step.
  2. Combine beans, corn, onions, and jalapeño in a bowl and mix.
  3. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper, and cilantro and stir to make sure the vegetables are coated.
  4. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
  5. 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, 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.

Variations

  • Dried black beans – if using dried beans, cook in advance
  • Onion – substitute yellow onion if needed
  • Black Eyed Peas – many versions of cowboy caviar include a can of black eyed peas
  • Meat – Stir in cubed chicken breast or chopped bacon
  • Cheese – stir in crumbled cotija cheese

Serving suggestions

You can eat it by itself, on top of salad, or with crackers or tortilla chips, and it’s great as a potluck or party appetizer too!

Like I mentioned I usually have a container of the Cowboy Caviar made up in the fridge-it lasts about three days (if it doesn’t get eaten up first!) and tastes delicious cold so it’s a great snack. It’s also a HUGE hit when entertaining and can be prepped ahead of time.

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close up of cowboy caviar

Easy Cowboy Caviar Recipe


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4.6 from 14 reviews

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

Units Scale
  • 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

  1. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients except avocado.
  2. Stir to coat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Add avocado and serve.

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:

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78 Comments

  1. 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!

  2. 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!

  3. What a great and healthy looking snack. I’m going to have to try it. The WASA crackers are great!

  4. 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!

  5. 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!

  6. 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!






  7. 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!

  8. Your Cowboy Cavier looks so delicious – perfect for a summer BBQ side. Thanks for the giveaway!

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