This ginger peach crisp recipe is made with a warm ginger-vanilla peach filling and topped with a crispy almond oat topping. Does it get much better than a hot bowl of peach crisp and a melty scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on a summer day? ♡ My go-to ginger peach crisp recipe is one […]
This ginger peach crisp recipe is made with a warm ginger-vanilla peach filling and topped with a crispy almond oat topping.
Does it get much better than a hot bowl of peach crisp and a melty scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on a summer day? ♡
My go-to ginger peach crisp recipe is one of those summertime faves I look forward to all year long. The moment that fresh, ripe, juicy peaches finally arrive on the scene, we turn on the oven (ever so briefly) to bake up a hot and bubbly pan to serve after dinner as the evening sunshine lingers. Then any leftovers are — of course — absolutely happening for breakfast the next morning. But once you finish up one pan, somehow another gathering always has a way of popping up that calls for one more batch, followed by more peachy breakfasts, followed by one more batch…and the delicious cycle keeps going. I mean, once you get going with this ginger peach crisp, why stop?
I’m especially partial to this particular recipe because it’s quick and easy to prep, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and the addition of fresh ginger makes all of the flavors here absolutely shine. It’s also a very flexible recipe, so feel free to sub in different kinds of fruit, nuts or seasonings that you love best. And if you really want to go decadent, I also sometimes serve this peach crisp drizzled with my favorite bourbon caramel sauce, which our friends and family absolutely adore.
So round up a few pounds of peaches while they’re still in season, and let’s bake up a delicious crisp together tonight!
You should know by now that I love coffee cakes (I mean, any excuse to eat cake for breakfast, right?) and this blueberry cream cheese variation may just be my favorite one yet! With a moist and tender crumb, fresh summer blueberries, and a ribbon of sweetened cream cheese running through the middle, this bold […]
You should know by now that I love coffee cakes (I mean, any excuse to eat cake for breakfast, right?) and this blueberry cream cheese variation may just be my favorite one yet!
With a moist and tender crumb, fresh summer blueberries, and a ribbon of sweetened cream cheese running through the middle, this bold breakfast cake is bound to make your morning better (or your afternoon, for that matter, as it can be enjoyed any time of day!)
This pesky recipe. Considering it’s nearly identical to my other coffee cake recipes (which are all based on my grandma’s recipe for sour cream coffee cake), I didn’t anticipate it needing quite so many tests. But that cream cheese swirl just didn’t want to cooperate. First the cream cheese was too liquidy, making it nearly impossible to spread the final layer of thick cake batter on top. Then my blueberry distribution was off, resulting in a base of blue and barely anything in the top half. A few proportion and process changes improved the process greatly.
The cream cheese layer sunk a little bit in the final version, but I’ve decided I’m ok with that because this coffee cake is amazing and I didn’t want you to have to wait any longer for the recipe.
This stunning peach galette is stupid-easy to make. It’s my favorite way to showcase succulent summer peaches. You can use my simple three-ingredient pie dough recipe for the crust or opt for store-bought pie dough to get this luscious dessert on the table in under an hour.
This stunning peach galette is stupid-easy to make. It’s my favorite way to showcase succulent summer peaches. You can use my simple three-ingredient pie dough recipe for the crust or opt for store-bought pie dough to get this luscious dessert on the table in under an hour.
What is a galette?
Galette is French for a free-form pastry with a sweet or savory filling. It’s baked on a sheet pan, not a pie pan. It’s the perfect way to use a bounty of juicy, ripe peaches. It’s an absolute cinch to put together and looks gorgeous on your table for the three seconds it takes before it gets gobbled up.
How to pick a ripe peach
Skip pale yellow peaches and opt for fruit that has a deep golden color. It should feel heavy for its size, and the flesh should be firm but still have a bit of a give. The skin around the stem should be slightly wrinkled, and the fruit should have a robust honey-like aroma.
Can I use frozen, canned, or jarred peaches?
If prepping fresh peaches seems like too much work, or if you simply don’t have access to them, opt for two pounds of frozen. You can use canned or jarred but opt for ones without added sugar. Drain them and pat them dry. If all you have are peaches packed in syrup, rinse them off, pat them dry, and lower the sugar in the recipe to ¼ cup.
How do I serve a peach galette?
With pride! You can serve it warm or cold, though warm is so much better. I love finishing a peach galette with a pinch of flaky salt. Then I serve the slices with a dollop of homemade whipped cream and a drizzle of honey. It also goes well with a scoop of no-churn strawberry ice cream and chopped pistachios. If you want to get real fancy with it, serve it with a chilled glass of rosé. OH, YOU’RE WELCOME.
How to store leftovers
A galette is best enjoyed the day it’s made, but if you manage some sort of self-control, first email me your secret. Then wrap any leftovers in parchment or wax paper and store them in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to two days. There is NO WAY they will last any longer than that, so stop showing off your superior craving control and don’t even bother asking me about freezing.
Peach Galette
This stunning peach galette is stupid-easy to make. With the help of a pre-made pie crust, you can get it on the table in about an hour.
Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 400°F. Moisten your countertop and place a 15×15-inch sheet of parchment paper on it. Dust the parchment paper lightly with flour.
Place the pie dough on the parchment paper and roll it out to 14 inches in diameter. Use a fork to poke a few holes in the center of the dough.
Transfer the pie dough on the parchment paper to a sheet pan and chill it in the freezer while you prepare the peaches.
Slice the peaches, skin on, into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices in a large bowl and drizzle with vanilla. Mix the sugar and cornstarch, then sprinkle over the peaches.
Toss the peaches gently to cover them in the sugar mixture, then place them in a mesh sieve set over the large bowl. Macerate the peaches until they release their juices, about fifteen minutes.
Add the juices to a small pot set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Do not stir. Swirl the juices. Once the juices thicken, remove them from the heat.
Remove the chilled pie dough from the freezer and layer it with the peach slices, working from the center out. Leave a four-inch border. Top the peaches with the cooled caramel.
Fold the outer lip of the dough over the peaches, pleating it where necessary. Lightly brush a thin layer of heavy cream onto the top of the galette.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and golden.
Cool the galette on the sheet pan for fifteen minutes before serving. Use the edges of the parchment paper to help you lift it off the sheet pan.
Notes
*You can substitute with store-bought pie dough, the kind that comes with two crusts.If using store-bought pie dough:
Roll out two smaller rounds on separate pieces of parchment, each about 9 inches in diameter.
Use a fork to poke holes in the center of each crust, leaving a three-inch border.
Divide the peaches between the two chilled crusts. Leave a three-inch border.
Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 400°F. Moisten your countertop with a sprinkle of water, place a 15×15-inch sheet of parchment paper on it, dust it with flour, and place the pie dough on top. Roll the dough into a 14-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick, and use a fork to poke a few holes in the center. Transfer the pie dough on the parchment paper to a sheet pan and chill it in the freezer.
Cut the peaches with their skin on into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices in a large bowl and drizzle with vanilla. Mix the sugar with the cornstarch, then sprinkle the sugar mixture over the peaches.
Toss the peaches gently to cover them in the sugar mixture. Place the peaches in a mesh sieve and place it over the large bowl. Macerate the peaches for about fifteen minutes until they release their juices.
Take the juices (not the peaches) and simmer them in a small pot. Do not stir, as this will crystallize the caramel. Occasionally pick up the pan to swirl the juices. Once the juices thicken and turn a golden brown, remove them from the heat.
Remove the chilled pie dough from the freezer. Layer the peach slices on the dough, working from the center out. Leave a four-inch border. Top the peaches with the cooled caramel.
Fold the outer lip of the dough over the peaches, pleating it where necessary. You’re not looking for perfection here; that’s the beauty of a galette. Lightly brush a thin layer of heavy cream onto the top of the galette.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and golden. Cool the galette on the sheet pan for fifteen minutes before serving. Use the edges of the parchment paper to help you lift it off the sheet pan.
I mean, is this the prettiest thing you’ve seen all day or what?!?!?!? Eight servings for under $10 and JUST SIX INGREDIENTS. This one’s gonna be on repeat for a while.
How do you feel about white chocolate? I am a fan. I love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, white chocolate pretzels, white chocolate cranberry cookies…and eating a handful of white chocolate chips right out of the bag. I especially love the…
How do you feel about white chocolate? I am a fan. I love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, white chocolate pretzels, white chocolate cranberry cookies…and eating a handful of white chocolate chips right out of the bag. I especially love these White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies. The white chocolate and raspberry combo is perfection. The sweet…
These sweet and salty peanut butter-packed cookies are a peanut butter lover’s dream: soft and chewy and studded with peanut butter chips for an even more intense peanut butter flavor. I think you’ll agree with me that the best cookies consider the texture as well as flavor, and these salted peanut butter cookies don’t disappoint: […]
These sweet and salty peanut butter-packed cookies are a peanut butter lover’s dream: soft and chewy and studded with peanut butter chips for an even more intense peanut butter flavor.
I think you’ll agree with me that the best cookies consider the texture as well as flavor, and these salted peanut butter cookies don’t disappoint: soft and almost cookie dough-like in the middle, crispy on the bottom, with a coating of granulated sugar on the outside for a delicate crunch you’ll adore.
This right here is proof that a cookie doesn’t have to have chocolate to be sinfully good.
For various reasons I had to go chocolate free for a week. Let me tell you… it’s harder than I thought it would be. Even my mid-morning granola bars have chocolate in them.
And of course, the second you tell me I can’t have something, I just want it all the more. Needless to say my sweet cravings were running amok.
I wasn’t just avoiding chocolate either, it was anything acidic really, so I couldn’t even turn to fruit desserts to sate my cravings.
Peanut butter was pretty much my only remaining option for a sweet indulgence. And rather than devouring the bag of peanut butter chips by the handful like a monster (ok, I admit, I may have snuck a few handfuls), I decided to put those chips to good use bake myself some truly extra peanut butter cookies.
The result is quite possible the ultimate peanut butter cookie: sweet and salty with extra peanut butter and peanut butter chips for good measure (because if some is good, more is better, right?) You know me, I’m not one to half ass things, so you certainly can’t say I didn’t go all in on this one.
Looking for an easy, budget-friendly dessert that’ll help you beat the summer heat? This dangerously delicious, no-churn strawberry ice cream recipe is a winner!
What if I told you that you don’t need to buy a fancy appliance to make your own homemade ice cream?? Not only is this simple homemade ice cream delicious, but you can make so many different flavors and it’s just a super fun summer project. This year we took advantage of some of the season’s fresh strawberries to make this dangerously delicious, no-churn strawberry ice cream, and it might be my favorite flavor yet. So make sure to bookmark this recipe for this weekend. You’ll be so happy to have some homemade ice cream stashed away in your freezer later. ;)
What Does No-Churn Mean?
No-churn simply means you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this INSANELY easy dessert. The ice cream base doesn’t need to be continuously stirred as it freezes to stay soft and fluffy, and you don’t need to stand over a stove gently simmering and stirring eggs, cream, and sugar into a smooth custard. Halleloo! Whipping the ingredients together before freezing helps keep the ice crystals small and the ice cream smooth and delicious.
With just five ingredients and a hand mixer, this recipe will give you delectable, velvety results. This ice cream is so good I make a double batch because I know that despite my best efforts, I will devour most of it in one sitting.
How Do You Flavor Ice Cream?
There are two ways to flavor your no-churn ice cream. You can flavor the ice cream base or you can swirl flavorful ingredients into the whipped ice cream just before freezing. To keep this recipe simple, we flavored the base with just a touch of vanilla, then swirled in strawberries and strawberry syrup just before freezing.
If you don’t have fresh strawberries or don’t want to make your own strawberry syrup, you can swirl in a little thinned-out strawberry jam. Simply loosen up the strawberry jam by stirring in a little warm water until it is just loose enough to run off a spoon. Then swirl it in as we did with the strawberry syrup below.
What Keeps No-Churn Ice Cream Soft?
Ice cream made in an ice cream maker is slowly churned as it freezes, which incorporates air into the mixture and keeps the ice crystals really small as they form. With no-churn ice cream, the mixture is whipped before freezing to incorporate the air, and the high fat and sugar content of the base helps prevent large ice crystals from forming as it freezes. It’s so incredibly easy and the results are so fantastic, you’ll be glad you didn’t drop $$$ on that ice cream machine.
Looking for an easy, budget-friendly, dessert to help beat the summer heat? This delicious no-churn strawberry ice cream recipe is a winner!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Total Cost $6.60 recipe / $0.94 serving
Prep Time 10minutes
Cook Time 10minutes
Freeze Time 8hours
Total Time 8hours20minutes
Servings 71 cup each
Calories 471kcal
Author Beth – Budget Bytes
Ingredients
Strawberry Syrup
1lb.fresh strawberries, divided$1.99
1/3cupsugar (granulated)$0.05
1/8tspvanilla extract$0.06
1pinchsalt$0.01
Ice Cream Base
114oz. cansweetened condensed milk$1.59
1pintheavy whipping cream$2.39
1tspvanilla extract$0.50
1pinchsalt$0.01
Instructions
Make the strawberry syrup first. Wash the strawberries and remove the green tops. Dice the strawberries into ¼-inch pieces. Reserve half of the chopped strawberries to fold into the ice cream later.
Add the other half of the diced strawberries to a sauce pot with the sugar. Stir and cook over medium heat until the strawberries release their liquid and form a syrup in the saucepot.
Let the strawberries simmer in the syrup, stirring occasionally until they break down and lose their shape and the syrup has thickened slightly. You'll know it's ready when you drag a wooden spoon across the bottom center of the pot and the syrup stays parted for a few seconds. Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Set the strawberry syrup aside to cool.
While the syrup is cooling, prepare the ice cream base. Add the sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and salt to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip the mixture until it is light and fluffy, and has formed soft peaks.
Fold the reserved chopped fresh strawberries into the ice cream base. Transfer the whipped ice cream base to a freezer-safe container. Drizzle the cooled strawberry syrup over the ice cream and gently swirl it into the mixture.
Cover the ice cream and freeze for eight hours before scooping and serving.
How to Make Strawberry Ice Cream – Step by Step Photos
Make the strawberry syrup first. Wash the strawberries and remove the green tops from one pound of strawberries. Dice the strawberries into ¼-inch pieces. Reserve half of the chopped strawberries to fold into the ice cream later.
Add the other half of the diced strawberries to a sauce pot with ⅓ cup sugar.
Stir and cook over medium heat until the strawberries release their liquid and form a syrup in the saucepot and the mixture comes up to a simmer.
Let the strawberries simmer in the syrup, stirring occasionally until they break down and lose their shape, and the syrup has thickened slightly. You’ll know it’s ready when you drag a wooden spoon across the bottom center of the pot and the syrup stays parted for a few seconds. Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Set the strawberry syrup aside to cool.
While the syrup is cooling, prepare the ice cream base. Add one 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk, one pint of heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt to a bowl.
Use a hand mixer to whip the mixture until it is light and fluffy, and has formed soft peaks (when you lift the beaters out of the mixture it will form a gentle peak that slumps over to the side).
Fold the reserved chopped fresh strawberries into the ice cream base.
Transfer the whipped ice cream base to a freezer-safe container.
Spoon the cooled strawberry syrup over the ice cream and gently swirl it into the mixture. Don’t over mix it! :)
Cover the ice cream and freeze for eight hours before scooping and serving.
You can’t have a summer potluck or BBQ without a big ol’ bowl of macaroni salad. It’s a classic summer comfort food. Cold, creamy, carby, and delicious. And cheap! Which is great because we all need that right now. But macaroni salad isn’t just good for gatherings, it’s also a great side to meal prep for your lunches for the week.
What’s In Macaroni Salad?
Macaroni salad starts with a base of one of our favorite budget-friendly ingredient, macaroni. We add a little celery, bell pepper, and red onion for color and crunch, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs to give the salad more heft. All of this gets finished off with a super creamy dressing made with mayo, Dijon, sweet pickle relish, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Classicly creamy, sweet, tangy, crunchy, and delicious.
Adjust the Sweetness
There are two main camps when it comes to macaroni salad, sweet and not so sweet. I like my macaroni salad with just a touch of sweetness to balance the acidity and creaminess of the dressing, so that’s what you’ll get with the recipe below. If you like a sweet macaroni salad, you can simply add more sugar to taste (up to about ¼ cup sugar).
What Else Can I Add to Macaroni Salad?
Macaroni Salad is another one of those great catch-all recipes. You can add all sorts of ingredients for color, texture, and flavor. Here are some ideas for other ingredients to add to your macaroni salad:
Cheddar cheese cubes
Broccoli florets
Peas
Black olives
Shredded carrots
Diced ham
Chopped parsley
How Long Does Macaroni Salad Stay Good?
Macaroni salad can be kept in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days. The macaroni will continue to absorb moisture as it sits in the refrigerator, so you may find it gets a little drier each day. If taking your macaroni salad to a potluck or BBQ, make sure to not let it sit out at room temperature for more than two hours.
Macaroni Salad
Macaroni Salad is an easy and inexpensive classic for potlucks, summer BBQs, or an easy side dish for dinner.
Chop the salad ingredients first, so they're ready to go. Dice the hard-boiled eggs, bell pepper, onion, and celery.
Boil the macaroni until tender, then drain it in a colander. Briefly rinse the pasta with cool water to cool it off.
While the macaroni is boiling, prepare the dressing. Stir together the mayonnaise, Dijon, relish, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Combine the cooled and drained macaroni, egg, bell pepper, celery, and onion in a bowl. Pour the dressing over top, then stir until everything is well combined and coated in dressing.
Serve the macaroni salad immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Chop the macaroni salad add-ins first. Dice two hard-boiled eggs (here’s a tutorial on how to make hard-boiled eggs, if needed), ½ of a red bell pepper, 2 ribs of celery, and ½ of a red onion.
Next, boil 8oz. elbow macaroni until tender. Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water to cool down the pasta.
While the macaroni is cooking, prepare the dressing. Combine 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp sweet relish, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper.
Add the cooked and cooled macaroni to a large bowl along with the chopped egg, bell pepper, celery, and red onion.
Pour the prepared dressing over the salad in the bowl.
And now your macaroni salad is ready to eat! Make sure to keep it in the refrigerator if you don’t plan to serve it right away, and give it a good stir again just before serving.
With a satisfyingly fudgy texture, these white chocolate blueberry blondies are studded with chunks of white chocolate and pockets of soft, jammy blueberries and finished off with an artistic drizzle of blueberry maple glaze. Blueberry and white chocolate lovers, this one’s for you! These summery blueberry blondies somehow manage to taste like a blueberry muffin […]
With a satisfyingly fudgy texture, these white chocolate blueberry blondies are studded with chunks of white chocolate and pockets of soft, jammy blueberries and finished off with an artistic drizzle of blueberry maple glaze.
Blueberry and white chocolate lovers, this one’s for you! These summery blueberry blondies somehow manage to taste like a blueberry muffin disguised itself as dessert, with a bright and fruity blueberry flavor with just a hint of buttermilk and lemon.
When I first tested these bars, I thought they tasted a bit like blueberry muffins or blueberry pancakes, just slightly sweeter and baked into a bar… which was not what I expected at all, but also kind of… awesome?
So I decided to lean into the pancake idea, adding buttermilk powder and a hint of maple to the glaze. Both are optional, but I personally loved the extra acidity from the buttermilk powder, and felt it helped offset the sweetness of the white chocolate (one of my main complaints with many blondie recipes).
The result is an ultra-fudgy blondie, studded with chunks of white chocolate and jammy pockets of bright blueberry flavor and just a hint of tang from the lemon zest and buttermilk.
Blondies are a hard nut to crack sometimes, at least when it comes to texture.
These blondies are on the fudgier side, dense and almost gooey in the middle with lighter, cakier edges and a paper thin, crackly crust. This kind of blondie is really best after chilling overnight, when the fats solidify and become even more fudge-like.
Strawberry season is so fleeting and I’m always tempted to buy a ton of strawberries when they’re on sale at the height of the season. So I like to make a quick batch of this strawberry syrup to enjoy that fresh strawberry flavor a little longer. You can use it in all sorts of things from strawberry lemonade, to homemade ice cream (recipe coming soon), or just as a topper for your yogurt, ice cream, waffles, and pancakes. Bonus: if you cook it down a little longer it will thicken up even more and make a delicious homemade strawberry jam!
What’s in Strawberry Syrup?
Strawberry syrup, at its most basic, is just fresh strawberries and sugar cooked down until they form a delicious and vibrant syrup. I’ve added a little bit of vanilla extract and salt for depth, which really gives the strawberry syrup more dimension. It’s so good that you’ll want to just eat it by the spoonful!
Make it Chunky or Smooth
I like my strawberry syrup to be a little bit chunky with bits of strawberry still in the syrup, but if you prefer a smooth and clear syrup, simply strain the mixture through a fine wire mesh strainer to remove the remaining strawberry flesh. The total volume of the syrup will be slightly reduced after straining.
How to Use Strawberry Syrup
I love spooning strawberry syrup over pancakes, waffles, French toast, ice cream sundaes, or yogurt parfaits. But you can also use it to make lemonade, mix it into cocktails and homemade popsicles, drizzle it over cakes, or blend it into smoothies.
Make Strawberry Syrup or Strawberry Jam
With this one simple recipe you can make either strawberry syrup or strawberry jam! The only difference is how long you simmer the strawberries. A shorter simmer time will have less evaporation and a more syrupy consistency. Simmer longer to evaporate more water and create a thicker, jam-like consistency. And if you accidentally simmer too long and make the syrup thicker than you’d like, you can simply stir in a bit of water to thin it out again.
How Long Does Strawberry Syrup Last?
You can keep this homemade strawberry syrup in the refrigerator for about three weeks, or freeze it for longer storage.
Strawberry Syrup
Homemade strawberry syrup is so easy to make and it tastes great in and on everything from yogurt and ice cream to waffles and pancakes.
Wash and chop the strawberries into ¼-inch pieces.
Add the chopped strawberries and sugar to a saucepot. Stir and cook over medium heat until the strawberries release their liquid and form a syrup in the saucepot.
Let the strawberries simmer in the syrup, stirring occasionally, until they break down and lose their shape and the syrup has thickened to your desired consistency (5-10 minutes). Keep in mind the syrup will thicken more after cooling.
Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Let the syrup cool. Use the syrup as-is, or strain through a wire mesh strainer for a clear, smooth syrup.
How to Make Strawberry Syrup – Step by Step Photos
Begin by washing and chopping one pound of fresh strawberries into ¼-inch pieces.
Add the chopped strawberries to a medium saucepot along with ¾ cup of sugar.
Begin to stir and cook the strawberries over medium heat. The sugar will immediately start to draw the water out of the strawberries, creating a syrup.
Let the strawberries simmer over medium to medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes, or until the strawberries have broken down and lost their shape, and the syrup has thickened to your desired consistency. Keep in mind that the syrup will thicken further as it cools.
Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/8 tsp salt. You can either use your syrup as-is with the strawberry chunks in it or strain it through a fine wire mesh strainer to make a clear, smooth syrup. I like the bits of strawberry in mine. ;)
Keep your strawberry syrup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. Spoon it over all of your favorite summer foods!
This super fresh and colorful Cowboy Caviar combines two types of beans, delicious summer vegetables, and a sweet and tangy lime dressing to make a bold and versatile dish that you’ll find yourself making over and over. From a party dip to a salad topper, Cowboy Caviar has become a go-to healthy meal prep item in my kitchen. It’s the O.G. refrigerator salad. 😄 Read on for more ideas on how to use this amazing cross between bean salad and salsa!
Originally posted 7-19-2016, updated 6-1-2022.
What is Cowboy Caviar?
Cowboy Caviar, sometimes called Mexican Caviar, is like a cross between a bean salad and a fresh salsa. It combines two types of beans (black beans and black eyed peas) with a colorful medley of fresh vegetables and a tangy balsamic-lime vinaigrette.
Where Do You Find Black Eyed Peas?
If you can’t find black eyed peas in the canned bean aisle, check with the canned vegetables. Because they’re a “pea” they’re sometimes found with the canned vegetables rather than the beans. And if you can’t find black eyed peas, you can substitute pinto beans or navy beans.
How Long Does it Last?
Well, if you don’t eat it all in one sitting (it can happen!), Cowboy Caviar holds up extremely well in the refrigerator and will be just as tasty after about 4-5 days of refrigeration. While the vegetables will let off a little water, most of the ingredients are very sturdy. Just be sure to stir the salad before serving to redistribute the dressing. This salad will probably not freeze well, due to the fresh herbs and vegetables.
How to Serve Cowboy Caviar
There are SO many ways to eat Cowboy Caviar that you’ll probably find yourself adding it to everything you eat. But here are a few ideas anyway:
Serve it as a side dish with dinner
As a chunky dip for chips
As a topping for tacos
Stuffed into a burrito or as part of a burrito bowl
Sprinkled over a green salad
Spooned on top of scrambled eggs
Stuffed into a quesadilla with some cheese
…and so much more. If you have a favorite way to eat your Cowboy Caviar, feel free to share it with the rest of us in the comments below!
Recipe Variations
One of the best things about Cowboy Caviar is that it is extremely versatile. You can customize this recipe to give it your own personal touch. Here are a couple of substitutions and add-ins that will make it your own:
Add avocado for a creamy finish
Skip the jalapeño to make it mild, or keep the jalapeño and add a few dashes of hot sauce to make it extra spicy
Substitute green onion for the red onion to make the salad milder
Add sweet corn for more color and flavor variation
Add ½ tsp smoked paprika to the dressing for a smokier finish
Can you Freeze Cowboy Caviar?
I don’t suggest freezing this dish because it has multiple delicate fresh vegetables that will become limp and soggy upon freezing and reheating. You want those veggies to be fresh, juicy, and crunchy to give the salad its amazing texture! :)
Cowboy Caviar
Cowboy Caviar is a deliciously fresh bean salad with a colorful mix of beans and vegetables, plus a zesty lime dressing.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, 2 Tbsp of juice from the lime, balsamic vinegar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and sugar.
Rinse and drain both cans of beans in a colander. Once well drained, transfer them to a large bowl.
Finely dice the bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño, and red onion. Try to dice the vegetables into pieces that are roughly the same size as the beans. For a less spicy salad, scrape the seeds out of the jalapeño before dicing. Roughly chop the cilantro.
Add the chopped vegetables to the bowl with the beans.
Pour the dressing over the salad, then stir until everything is well coated. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Video
Notes
*This chili powder is a mild blend of chiles and other spices.
Make the dressing first so the flavors have a few minutes to blend. Whisk together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp lime juice, ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp chili powder, ½ tsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt.
Rinse and drain one 15oz. can of black beans and one 15oz. can of black eyed peas in a colander.
Gather one bell pepper (any color), two Roma tomatoes, one jalapeño, 1/4 of a red onion, and 1/4 bunch of cilantro. While any color bell pepper can be used, I like the colorful pop of a yellow or orange bell pepper.
Finely dice the bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeño, and red onion. The idea is to get the pieces close in size to the beans so that you have a “caviar” type appearance in the end. Roughly chop the cilantro leaves. Place the chopped vegetables in the bowl with the rinsed beans.
Pour the prepared dressing over the salad.
Stir the salad until everything is coated in the dressing. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat. This is one of those salads that tastes even better after it has time to chill in the fridge, so it’s great to eat over the course of a few days!
Cowboy Caviar makes a great snack with tortilla chips, a topper for tacos, bowl meals, or salads, or spoon some onto baked or grilled fish for a nice light meal!
How do you feel about white chocolate? I am a fan. I love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, white chocolate pretzels, white chocolate cranberry cookies…and eating a handful of white chocolate chips right out of the bag. I especially love these White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies. The white chocolate and raspberry combo is perfection. The sweet… 
