Southern Black-Eyed Peas, or Hoppin’ John, is a hearty, soul-warming delicacy. This black-eyed peas recipe is smokey, spicy, and pure satisfaction with a deep yet not overwhelming bacon flavor. And it’s a traditional Southern dish served on New Year’s Day to bring good luck!
I love anything with beans! Perhaps it started back in grade school when my Auntie cooked beans for dinner in its modest rusticity – onions, salt, and oil, nothing fancy. That simple recipe made all my troubles go away like magic.
And now, this Southern black-eyed peas recipe is the perfect comfort food with soul-satisfying goodness any time of year. It warms us up even in the coldest weather and graces the best cookouts in the heat of summer. This dish will remind you of home and nostalgic, happy memories. ❤️
Content…For More Than New Year’s |
Black-Eyed Peas for More Than New Year’s Good Luck
Black-eyed peas are from my native Africa, and they’re so delicious they became popular worldwide. After arriving in the southern U.S. in the 17th century, they became a symbol of prosperity because they resemble pennies and coins. They grow exceptionally well in the heat and so gave birth to a delicious Southern tradition.
People believe eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings good luck and a slew of other beautiful things. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy this heartwarming dish all year round.
Recipe Ingredients
- Black-Eyed Peas offer a slightly smoky flavor and high protein and fiber content, making them nutritious and delicious.
- Meat – Bacon and smoked sausage add flavor and more meaty goodness. Ham hock or leftover smoked turkey are also excellent additions.
- Seasonings – Caramelized onion, garlic, thyme, celery, bay leaf, jalapenos, Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper deliver fantastic smells and flavors. You can kick up the heat more with a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Chicken Broth is the essential liquid bursting with chicken essence and rich umami flavors to simmer the black-eyed peas.
- Collard Greens – Black-eyed beans symbolize pennies. Collard greens, on the other hand, represent bills in this lucky dish. Plus, adding greens makes it more nourishing.
How to Make Southern Black-Eyed Peas
Prep
- Soak – Rinse dry black-eyed pea beans and pick through and discard any foreign object. Add beans to a large pot, covering them with 3-4 inches of cold water. Let sit for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- Cook the Meat – In a large, heavy sauté pan, fry the chopped bacon until brown and crispy (4-5 minutes). Add sausage and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the bacon and sausage mixture and set aside. (Photo 1)
- Saute – Add the onions, celery, garlic, jalapenos, thyme, and bay leaf, and saute for 5 minutes or so until the onions become translucent and the seasonings release their fragrance. (Photos 2-3)
Cook
- Add Liquid – Then pour in the chicken broth or water. (Photo 4)
- Season – Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place the beans in the pot—season with Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Mix and bring to a boil.
- Simmer – Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. (Photos 5-7)
- Assemble– Toss in the collard greens, bacon, and sausage into the pot, and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or more, stirring occasionally, or until beans are tender and slightly thickened to your desire. (Photo 8)
- Final Touch – Add more stock or water if the mixture becomes dry and thick. The texture of the beans should be thick and somewhat creamy but not watery. Remove the bay leaves.
- Serve – Taste and adjust for seasonings with pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt if needed. Serve over cooked rice and garnish with green onion.
Flavor Variations
- Vegan – Omit the meat and replace the rendered fat with olive oil; then vegetable broth can replace the chicken broth for a vegan version. And to make this dish more nutritious, you can add collard greens, carrots, and bell peppers.
- Crockpot Southern Black-Eyed Peas – This one is more effortless but equally delicious. Put everything in the crockpot, and you’ll have your dinner ready in 5-6 hours on high and about 9-10 hours on low. Imagine the things you can accomplish in those waiting hours. 😉
- Tropical Twist – Make these black-eyed peas with bacon and pork creamy and interestingly yummy with coconut milk. And I bet you’ll love this dish even more.
- Tomato – Fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce will also add a nice variation to this Hoppin John recipe. The kick of tangy goodness will surely make your tastebuds happy.
Recipe Notes
- You can substitute the dried black-eyed peas with canned ones. However, add them 10 minutes before the dish finishes cooking so they have time to heat through because they’re already cooked.
- For a thicker consistency, I suggest mashing a few softened beans against the side of the pot with the back of your spoon. The mashed beans will make a creamier and thicker broth. Or remove about a cup, puree them in a blender or food processor, and then pour the puree back into the pot and give it a good stir.
Making-Ahead and Storage
Surprisingly, this bean stew freezes well. So go for it and make a large batch. It’ll come in handy when a soul-food craving hits.❤️ Transfer the black-eyed peas stew into a clean, airtight container or heavy-duty freezer-safe ziplock bags once cooled.
Refrigerate for 3-5 days or freeze for 6 months. Pack them in a freezer bag, either the whole thing or in single-serving sizes, for easy thawing and reheating. Thaw overnight in the fridge when ready to serve. Reheat in a pan on medium-low heat or in a microwave. You may add more chicken broth or water as needed.
FAQs
Technically, you don’t need to soak black-eyed peas. However, soaking them for a few hours or overnight shortens the cooking time. It’s totally up to you.
Adding bacon, sausage, and seasonings intensifies this dish’s flavor. But to take this dish to another level, add tomato sauce or coconut milk.
As a tradition, Southerners put clean pennies and dimes into their pot of black-eyed peas, believing they’ll bring luck and prosperity. They believe the one who gets the most coins in their bowl is the luckiest.
What to Serve With Black-Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day
Double your luck by serving this black-eyed peas recipe with collard greens (representing money) and cornbread (for gold). Pork (because it roots forward) will complete a traditional New Year’s dinner. No lobster or chicken if you’re going for good luck. Oven-baked pork chops, smoked bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, or fried pork chops are all good.
More Traditional Southern Dishes to Try
- Southern Mac and Cheese
- Butter Biscuits
- Southern Fried Cabbage
- New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
- Southern Deviled Eggs
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”8AgprXDl” upload-date=”2019-04-01T07:08:53.000Z” name=”Black Eyed Peas Recipe” description=”Southern Black Eyed Peas Recipe or Hoppin’ John is a hearty, warm and soulful food. This black eyed peas recipe is smokey, spicy with a deep yet not too overwhelming bacon flavor. A Southern traditional dish served on New Year’s Day to bring good luck charm!”]
This blog post was originally published in December 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Southern Black-Eyed Peas Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound (453g) black-eyed peas
- 4-5 thick slices bacon, chopped
- 5 ounces smoked sausage or turkey, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2-3 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 optional jalapeno, minced (can replace with ¼ teaspoon cayenne)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
- 7-8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups (or more) collard greens (or you can use kale)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse dry black-eyed pea beans, pick through, and discard any foreign objects. Add beans to a large pot and cover with 3-4 inches of cold water. Let sit for 2-3 hours (or overnight).
- In a large, heavy sauté pan, saute chopped bacon until brown and crispy (4-5 minutes), then add sausage and saute for 2-3 more minutes. Remove bacon and sausage mixture, and set aside.
- Throw in the onions, celery, garlic, jalapenos, thyme, and bay leaf, and saute for 3-5 minutes until the onions are wilted and aromatic.
- Then pour in the chicken broth or water.
- Drain the soaked beans, rinse, and place them in the pot. Season with Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Stir and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for about 20 minutes.
- Toss the collard greens, bacon, and sausage into the pot, and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or more, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and the broth thickens to your desired texture.
- Add more stock or water if the mixture becomes dry and thick. The texture of the beans should be thick and somewhat creamy but not watery.
- Remove the bay leaf.
- Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning if needed. Serve over rice and garnish with chopped green onion.
Dina Westcott says
Excited to try this recipe today. I accidentally bought frozen, fresh black-eyed peas rather then dried peas. I assume I can just omit the soaking step and go from there. Happy New Year’s!
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, skip the the soaking part and proceed with the next steps.Wishing you all the best this New Year!!!
Dina Westcott says
This was so good! We also made the skillet cornbread. Thanks for sharing recipes!
Foodman says
Amazing recipe I’ve cooked black eyed peas many times but adding the slight additions you listed they turned out perfect! I don’t care for celery though so I left that out, and added okra.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! So happy to hear it worked out well for you . Cheers to 2020!!!!
Ofelia says
Have you tried Kale instead of collard greens?
ImmaculateBites says
Kale would do just fine here.
Leslie Johnson says
Kale is actually a type of Collard, so why not?
Tay says
How can this recipe be adjusted to use with a pressure cooker? It sounds so delicious!
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry , I haven’t tired it in a pressure cooker.
Cathy says
Can this recipe be made a day ahead?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes it can. It tastes even better the next day.
Lynette says
May be a dumb question… I’m using “fresh shelled peas” from the grocery store….. not dry or canned or frozen…… does that change the cooking time??? I wouldn’t need to soak them, right?
Please reply.
Lynette
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Lynette,
No dumb question here . No you wouldn’t need to soak them, and it would cook much faster , adjust cooking times as needed.
Kourtney Johnson says
I’m making this tomorrow for New Years but doing my greens separate
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Happy New year to you! Wishing you all the best of 2020
Karen says
if I use canned black eyed peas how many cans do I use I wanted to half a recipe the sounds delicious
imma africanbites says
Hi Karen. That’d be around 1 (14.5 oz) can of canned black-eyed peas.
Jackie says
Oh Em Geeeee! This turned out fantastically delicious! I didn’t grow up with black eyed peas on the menu (Panamanian background, grew up with kidney beans and pigeon peas). Made it minus jalapeños but still turned out great. The creole seasoning gave it enough kick for me. I’d give this a ten stars if I could. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
ImmaculateBites says
Yay! So happy to hear it was a hit. Happy New year!!!!
Ramona says
I made this recipe with canned organic black eyed peas. I replaced the greens with home made stewed tomatoes. They were absolutely wonderful. Have also made with turkey sausage and added a little more spice and the dish was equally as good. Will be making over and over again.
Charles A Austin says
Can’t wait to try this for New Year’s Eve! Sound good!
imma africanbites says
Yes, it is. Have an awesome celebration!
Rob says
Excellent
Tammy says
I’m from Louisiana (live in Colorado now) and am making this for New Years Day! I love black eyed peas anyway, but introducing them to my Chicano family here! I know this recipe will totally wow them! Thanks for posting!
imma africanbites says
Happy cooking, Tammy! And happy new year to you and your family!
Docleia Gibson says
I do not like blackened peas, bit this receive made all the difference. Thanks for sharing.
ImmaculateBites says
My pleasure! So happy to hear that . Happy New year to you and yours.
Merene says
I have made these peas so many times and every time I present them, they’re always a hit!!! I love this website!!!
ImmaculateBites says
Thank you Merene.
Jennifer Grace says
I made this tonight, exactly as directed. Minus the Jalapeno but added some red people flakes in its place. Pure perfection. Absolutely delicious. I did use canned greens, wish I would’ve used fresh greens but it was still pure perfection. Thank you for the recipe. This will always be my New Years Day dish moving forward.
imma africanbites says
Awesome! Thank you for trying it out. I will be making this one, too, for tomorrow. Happy New Year!
Sonia Ochoa says
My friend and I are making this (vegan) in a pressure cooker as I type- I will report back with results
ImmaculateBites says
Can’t wait Sonia.
Reva says
Can you post the recipe you used? I’m vegetarian and definitely want to use my pressure cooker
Heather says
Sonia I’d love to know your times for the pressure cooker!
Lisa Rogers says
I’m going to cook this today. Peas are soaking now. I was reading all the comments and I think I will add a can of rotel tomatoes. Some thick cut pork chops and cornbread to go with it. Sounds good to me!
imma africanbites says
Hope you enjoy it, Lisa! Happy weekend. =)
Bonnie says
This is my new FAVORTE black-eyed pea recipe. I like doing recipes that have multiple ingredients and this one did not disappoint. It was so good, my son was eating with his face nearly in his bowl. I added some “already cooked” collard greens and that put that little “umph” to the recipe. Also substituted crushed red peppers for the jalapeño . I gave some away to a couple I love and they couldn’t say enough about it, so I have promised to make it again. This is going to be my NY tradition for the future.
imma africanbites says
Yaaay! Thank you for the awesome feedback, Bonnie! I’m so glad you like it.
Teresa says
This is so yummy and simple to make. Thank you for my new go to black eyed pea recipe!!