Description
This Cowboy Rice Salad (also known as Cowboy Caviar Rice Salad) is a fiesta in a bowl! It’s a robust, satisfying dish that perfectly balances smoky, spicy, and sweet flavors by combining hearty brown rice, sweet corn, creamy black beans, and crisp peppers with a lime-chipotle dressing. Perfect for meal prep or potlucks!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Salad:
- 4 1/2 cups Cooked Brown Rice, cold or room temp
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
- 1 small Red Onion, chopped
- 1 can (14oz/400g) Corn Kernels, drained
- 1 can (14oz/400g) Black Beans, drained and rinsed well
- 3 Tomatoes, diced (seeds removed)
- 1 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped
For the Zesty Lime Dressing:
- 1/3 cup Fresh Lime Juice (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp Honey
- 1/2 tsp Chipotle Powder
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- To taste Black Pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the Rice: Ensure your brown rice is cooked and cooled. Spread it out on a baking sheet to cool quickly if freshly cooked. (Cold or room temp rice prevents wilting).
- Make the Dressing: In a small jar with a tight lid, combine the lime juice, olive oil, honey, chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Shake vigorously until the honey dissolves and the dressing emulsifies. Taste and adjust if needed.
- Chop and Prep Veggies: Dice the bell peppers, red onion, and tomatoes (remove seeds to prevent wateriness). Drain and rinse the black beans and corn. Roughly chop the cilantro.
- Assemble the Salad: In a very large mixing bowl, combine the cooled brown rice, diced peppers, onion, corn, black beans, tomatoes, and cilantro.
- Toss and Serve: Pour the dressing over the salad mixture. Toss gently but thoroughly until every grain of rice and vegetable is coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate to let flavors marinate.
Notes
- Rice Temp: Cold or room temperature rice is best for salads so it doesn’t wilt the fresh vegetables or absorb the dressing too quickly and become mushy.
- Flavor Tip: This salad tastes fantastic straight away, but it’s even better after sitting for an hour or two in the fridge, allowing the flavors to marry.
- Dressing Punch: The dressing should taste punchy and strong on its own because it will mellow out once tossed with the starchy rice and veggies.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Salad, Side Dish, Lunch
- Method: Mixing, Chopping
- Cuisine: Southwestern, American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 325 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 13.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
