This cowboy caviar recipe is packed with taste and nutrients

Cowboy caviar is the budget salad we’ll all be eating this party season. Here’s everything you need to know about this amazing dish including how to make it.

Yeehaw, salad!

Tis the season for… salad! As the weather gets warmer and entertaining becomes an every-weekend occurrence, we start our quest for the greatest salads to serve to our guests.

Lettuce, cucumber and tomato can’t cut it every time – salads now have become creative and extremely bougie (if burrata is not in the salad, we don’t want it).

But if being truly bougie is a bit difficult in the current climate, we want to introduce you to the perfect salad for warmer weather that won’t break the bank – we’re all about bougie on a budget.

Cowboy caviar is made using beans and other veggies chopped to the size of the beans.

Say howdy to cowboy caviar

Hailing from Texas and certified TikTok famous, cowboy caviar is a dip (but really a salad) made using beans and other veggies chopped to the size of the beans, which makes each bite satisfying and interesting (rather than just getting big chunks of bland lettuce like in a passé salad).

The salad is traditionally eaten with corn chips as the scooping utensil.

And in case you’re wondering, no there’s no actual caviar in this salad (remember: this is bougie on a budget).

Our Nutrition Editor Chrissy Freer has taken this salad and amped it up to be an eye-catching centrepiece for your next event. This cowboy caviar salad is perfect as a side, but if you’ve got any vegan guests it makes for the perfect main meal due to the protein content from all the delish beans. It’s also gluten-free, high in dietary fibre and low in saturated fat so it’ll make anyone happy!

And if you don’t happen to be hosting any events soon but still want to try out cowboy caviar, it stores well in the fridge and makes for a great work lunch.

You can check out the recipe for cowboy caviar HERE.

Marinated Dijon rice salad is also a perfect summer dish.

Another budget-friendly salad

If you’re after another salad that also doubles up as a complete meal on its own, then this marinated Dijon rice salad is the perfect summer dish that’ll keep you going for hours. It’s made with mostly canned and dried ingredients so it’s friendly on the wallet while still tasting delectable thanks to the lemon juice, white balsamic and Dijon dressing.

Like cowboy caviar it’s packed with protein (thanks to lentils and beans this time), so it’s great as a side or meal in one.

You can find the recipe HERE.

More summertime salads

Quick Thai noodle salad

Curtis Stone’s charred corn salad with fetta-coriander crema

Mixed potato salad with pickled onion dressing

For more recipe ideas, go to taste.com.au or check out the Taste Test Kitchen now.

Originally published as This cowboy caviar recipe is packed with taste and nutrients