This amazing Texas Caviar is the perfect appetizer. It’s super easy to make and insanely delicious. Black-eyed peas and colorful vegetables blended together in an Italian dressing make an awesome dip.
Ingredients for Texas Caviar
I used the following ingredients to make this ever popular appetizer: Black-eyed peas, golden hominy, green onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, onions, jalapeño peppers, parsley, garlic, and zesty Italian dressing.
What is Hominy Anyway?
You may be wondering what hominy is. Well, it’s dried corn that has been soaked in a dilute alkaline solution such as lime water. This causes the hulls to loosen from the kernels and the corn to soften and plump up. In Mexican cooking, hominy is finely ground to make masa. In Southern cooking, it is used to make grits. If you’re a grits fan, you’ll probably like hominy. However, regular corn can definitely be used in place of hominy in this Texas Caviar.
Making Texas Caviar
Texas Caviar is super simple to make. I added the black-eyed peas, hominy, green onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, onions, jalapeño peppers, parsley, and garlic in a large bowl. Then, I poured on the Italian dressing. I carefully tossed the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. That was it!
The Texas Caviar is best when it’s chilled and the flavors have time to meld together. Therefore, I covered the bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
After several hours, the Texas Caviar was ready to be devoured. I served it with tortilla chips for an insanely delicious appetizer. Yum!
- 15 1/2 ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained (See Note 1)
- 15 1/2 ounce can golden hominy, rinsed and drained (See Note 2)
- 3 green onions, chopped with 1 Tablespoon reserved for garnish
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced, about 1/4 cup
- 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced, about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, about 1/4 cup
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup zesty Italian Dressing
Combine all ingredients except for the Italian dressing in a large bowl.
Pour Italian dressing over vegetables; toss gently to combine.
Cover and chill thoroughly.
Toss again before serving. Garnish with reserved green onions. Serve with tortilla chips.
Yield: 8 servings. (See Note 3)
Recipe Video
- It's important to rinse the black-eyed peas well. When you do, you'll notice that they become sudsy looking. The rinsed and drained black-eyed peas measure about 1 1/2 cups.
- It's also important to rinse the hominy for the same reason. The rinsed and drained hominy measures about 1 1/2 cups. If you can't find hominy or would rather not use it, you can substitute 1 1/2 cups of corn.
- The longer the Texas Caviar marinates, the better it tastes!
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