The Best Texas Caviar is one-hundred percent delicious, fresh, and flavorful! In this recipe, the vegetables and beans are marinated in an apple cider vinegar and sugar liquid that adds the most delicious flavor to all the ingredients! Even if you don’t normally care for beans, or raw vegetables, this Texas Caviar will become you new favorite cookout side! Marinating the beans and vegetables for 12-24 hours prior to serving adds the most amazing, zippy flavor! All of the fiber filled beans and vegetables make this an extremely healthy option too. It is delicious with any type of tortilla chip, or tastes amazing on its own!
You can easily customize this Texas Caviar to your liking:
- Make it more spicy by adding the jalapeno seeds or another finely diced jalapeno
- Substitute the Rotel with diced tomatoes
- Use any color bell pepper
- Substitute pinto beans or black eyed peas with a can of black beans
- Use red onion instead of yellow onion
The first time I made this, my husband took one look and refused to try it. Once I convinced him to actually taste it, he became a true convert. Even if you don’t like some of the ingredients, the marinade will make the flavor of everything in the bowl taste amazing, while still maintaining the beautiful, fresh color. This is a great alternate for salsa or other dips!
Making the Texas Caviar Marinade
To begin, simply add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar sugar, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and water into a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Boil for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sugar completely dissolves. Let the marinade cool completely. Don’t mind the smell in your kitchen, vinegar is potent! Well worth it for the end result!
Dice and finely chop all of the vegetables. Open the cans of pinto beans, white corn, and black eyed peas and drain completely. Add to a large bowl with the other vegetables, stirring to combine. I ran out of Rotel at this step, so actually substituted some diced tomatoes since that is what I had! Once again, substitutions are welcome!
Stir all of the beans and vegetables together, then pour the cooled marinade over the top and stir again to submerge as much of the ingredients as possible!
Let everything marinate for 12-24 hours, or overnight. Drain the marinade into a separate, seal-able container and store in the fridge for up to 2 months. Use the marinade again and again for future batches!
Serve with your favorite tortilla chips! Texas Caviar stays fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days, not that it will last that long!
This is the perfect side dish for Spring and Summer potlucks, picnics, and cookouts! So flavorful, refreshing, and healthy!
The Best Texas Caviar
Ingredients
Vegetables and Beans
- 1 15oz can Pinto Beans, drained well
- 1 15oz can Black Eyed Peas, drained well
- 1 14oz can White Corn, drained well
- 1 10oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies , with juice
- 1 cup Celery, finely diced
- 1 small Yellow Onion, finely diced
- 1 cup Bell Pepper, finely chopped any color
- 1 4oz jar Pimento with juice
- 1 medium Jalapeno Pepper, finely diced remove seeds
Vinegar Marinade
- 1 Tbsp Water
- 3/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Bring all Vinegar Marinade ingredients to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Boil until sugar dissolves completely, stirring constantly, about 4-5 minutes. Cool Completely.
- While the Vinegar Marinade is cooling, chop and dice all the fresh vegetables and add them to a large bowl. Open and drain the cans of pinto beans, black eyed peas, and white corn, then add them to the bowl with the other vegetables.
- Stir all of the prepared vegetables and beans together. Pour cooled marinade over all of the ingredients, let everything marinate for 12-24 hours (or overnight).
- Drain the marinade from the bowl and refrigerate the juice for up to 2 months (use it again for future batches). Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.
Notes
Like this light and refreshing recipe? Try my delicious Garden Fresh Bruschetta Next!