Texas Caviar

Name: Texas Caviar
Prep time: PT0D0H0M
Cook time: PT0D0H10M
Total time: PT0D0H10M
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Two 15-oz. cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed; 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves; ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil; ¼ cup red wine vinegar; 1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped; ½ red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped; ¼ red onion, thinly sliced; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; Lettuce leaves, for serving

There’s nothing fishy about these marinated black-eyed peas, which make a satisfying salad or dip.

Serves
6
Time
10 minutes, plus chilling

PHOTO: MURRAY HALL • FOOD STYLING: THU BUSER

By Helen Corbitt

Updated on July 30, 2025

If we had to pick one food that sums up everything we love about Texas, it would be the elegant yet simple salad known as Texas caviar: black-eyed peas, minced onion, and garlic marinated with oil and vinegar. Invented in 1940 by chef Helen Corbitt, the dish evokes a significant moment in Texas cooking, when cooks helped usher the state into the gourmet era—not by imitating the ways of cities in the North but by using the ingredients at hand. Like “Texas tea,” as crude oil has been called, the salad’s name evokes a symbol of sophistication but with a wink that seems to say, “We do things differently here.”

Oddly enough, Corbitt wasn’t a Texan. She was a New Yorker who moved to Austin in 1931 to take a position as an instructor in restaurant management at the University of Texas. Two weeks into the job, Corbitt was asked to cater a dinner using only local ingredients. The high-end staples she had long relied on—caviar, hearts of palm, and so on—were nowhere to be found in Austin at the time, so she made do with what she had, including those sensational black-eyed peas. —Cheryl and Bill Jamison

Featured in “Caviar and Pearls” by Cheryl and Bill Jamison in the June/July 2009 issue.

Ingredients

Two 15-oz. cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
½ red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lettuce leaves, for serving

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Instructions

Step 1

In a large bowl, stir together the black-eyed peas, cilantro, oil, vinegar, serrano, bell pepper, and onion and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 12.

Step 2

To serve, toss well and arrange on a bed of lettuce leaves.

In a large bowl, stir together the black-eyed peas, cilantro, oil, vinegar, serrano, bell pepper, and onion and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 12.
To serve, toss well and arrange on a bed of lettuce leaves.