Carolina Caviar is a great bean salad for a potluck or backyard barbecue. For more side salads, check out all of our Easy Side Salad Recipes.

Carolina Caviar Recipe

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Carolina Caviar Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the printable recipe card below.

• Black-eyed peas – The canned black-eyed peas are much easier for this. You can just open and use them rather than needing to rehydrate dried peas overnight.
• Corn – We use canned corn in this recipe because it’s easier, but you could use fresh, grilled corn on the cob if you want to add a little more flavor.
• Roma tomatoes – Roma tomatoes are less watery than other tomatoes, so they work best. You don’t want one that will add a lot of liquid to your recipe.
• Green bell pepper – Using a green pepper adds more color to this dish, but you could use a red or orange bell pepper if you prefer.
• Red onion – This adds color and sweetness to the recipe.
• Jalapeno pepper – This adds a little heat to balance out the sweetness of the corn.
• Fresh garlic – Fresh garlic adds more flavor than minced garlic.
• Olive oil – This is the base of your dressing.
• Apple cider vinegar – This cuts through the oil and adds a little sweetness to the dressing.
• Brown sugar – This is to balance the seasoning in the dressing.
• Salt – This is to enhance the flavors of the dressing, plus you add a little at the end to bring out all the flavors.
• Lemon pepper seasoning – This adds a lot of flavor to the seasoning.

How To Make Carolina Caviar:

Drain and rinse the black-eyed peas, then add them to a large bowl.

Quick note: If the beans are wet, the dressing will slide off them and accumulate on the bottom of the bowl. So, your best bet is to pat them dry with a paper towel.

If you’re making the entire Carolina Caviar recipe in the same container that you’re going to serve it in, you don’t have to worry about drying them.

Drain and rinse the corn and add it to the bowl with the black-eyed peas.

Also, same thing. If you’re going to transfer the caviar when it’s done, pat these dry. If you’re not, you can skip that.

Chop the Roma tomato and add it to the bowl.

You want the tomato pieces to be roughly the same size as the beans and corn because it’s easier to eat that way.

Chop the green bell pepper and add it to the bowl.

Again, you want the pepper pieces to be roughly the same size as the beans and corn.

Finely dice the red onion and add it to the bowl.

You don’t want to cut this too large because, honestly, no one wants a mouth full of onion.

Cut the jalapeno pepper finely and add it to the bowl.

Quick note: The heat of the jalapeno pepper is in the ribs, not the seeds. So, if you are worried about it being too hot, remove some of the ribs before chopping.

What I do is chop the jalapeno pepper, then look for any pieces that are just ribs. I’ll remove those because no one wants a bite of just the rib. But, if the rib is attached to a piece of pepper, I’ll leave it.

Grate the garlic into the bowl.

Quick note: You can chop it and add it in, but then you risk someone getting a large bit of garlic. Grating it brings out the flavor but makes it very small.

Gently stir everything to make sure everything is combined and evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, lemon pepper seasoning, and half of the salt.

Stir until combined.

Pour the dressing over Carolina Caviar ingredients.

Gently stir until combined.

Cover the bowl with an airtight lid and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, sprinkle the remaining salt over the top and give everything a good stir.

There will be liquid that settled at the bottom of the bowl. You want to make sure to scoop up that liquid and pour it over the top of the ingredients while you’re stirring.

Just be careful, though, because the black-eyed peas will soften overnight and you will mash them with the spoon if you stir too vigorously.

Serve cold with salted tortilla chips.

Carolina Caviar: Frequently Asked Questions

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Yield: 20 Servings

Carolina Caviar

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Carolina Caviar is a bean salad with a black-eyed peas base, plus fresh vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and onion and canned corn, dressed in a homemade vinaigrette.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cans black-eyed peas
• 2 cans of corn
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1/3 medium-sized red onion
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse the black-eyed peas, then add them to a large bowl.
2. Drain and rinse the corn and add it to the bowl with the black-eyed peas.
3. Chop the Roma tomato and add it to the bowl.
4. Chop the green bell pepper and add it to the bowl.
5. Finely dice the red onion and add it to the bowl.
6. Cut the jalapeno pepper finely and add it to the bowl.
7. Gently stir everything to make sure everything is combined and evenly distributed.
8. Grate the garlic into the bowl.
9. In a small bowl, add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, lemon pepper seasoning, and half of the salt.
10. Stir until combined.
11. Pour the dressing over Carolina Caviar ingredients.
12. Gently stir until combined.
13. Cover the bowl with an airtight lid and put it in the fridge overnight.
14. The next day, sprinkle the remaining salt over the top and give everything a good stir.

Notes

Nutrition Information

Yield

20

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 83Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 0mgSodium 130mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 2gSugar 2gProtein 2g

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