Nothing says Happy New Years better than a pot of soulful black-eyed eyed peas & soul food collard greens! Whether you buy into the hype that eating these dishes will bring wealth & a slew of other good things, just enjoying them with family and being thankful that I’ve made it into another year is MORE THAN ENOUGH for me!
This is my grandmothers soul food recipe (that I’ve tweaked a bit). It’s a basic recipe for a pot of good ol, southern black eyed peas. She blesses us with these throughout the year but on New Years they tend to taste a bit better. Talk about flavorful!!! Forget the bland, mushy black eyed peas you may have tasted in the past. This recipe always gets a “wow, these are some good black eyed peas!” from newbies that have never tasted hers before. Like always my grandmother just smiles and say “well…it could be better” lol (she’s adorable!)
This recipe could easily be turned into vegetarian-friendly black eyed peas by omitting the meat and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. You can even get all fancy smancy and throw in some chopped tomatoes, celery and all that other jazz.
Either way, they taste fabulous! Pour on some hot sauce and give me a fat piece of cornbread on the side and I’m a happy gal!
Watch me make these black eyed peas from start to finish!
The Recipe
Southern Black Eyed Peas
By Divas Can Cook
Ingredients
- 4-5 green onions, chopped (or 1 medium
- white onion, chopped)
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 (16 oz) bag of dry black eyed peas
- Smoked Turkey (as much as you
- desire. I used half of a fully cooked, smoked turkey leg. Just chopped the meat up into bits. You can leave it whole if you do not like meat in your black eyed peas but like the flavor)
- 6-8 cups of chicken broth (or enough to cover the beans)
- Red pepper flakes,
- black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Sort & wash the black eyed peas. Set aside.
- Chop onions & garlic.
- In a large pot, add in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until tender.
- Add in the chopped meat, black eye peas, & chicken broth
- Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until black eyed peas are tender.
- Remove from heat and let sit covered for about 10-15 minutes.
- Season with red pepper & black pepper if desired.
I first came upon your sight at Christmas time 2018. Thank you for such wonderful recipes. This black eyed pea one is excellent! However, I multi-tasked and did a double dish, one with fish and one with bovine meat. Soaked black eyed peas overnight as you suggested. Then, sauteed onions and garlic in a mixture of palm and olive oil until onion transparency, added chopped cherry tomatoes, spices turmeric, curry, garam masala, 1/2 bouillon cube, stirred, then added chopped red peppers, diced ginger, and finally added 2 cups of bouillon until all was enveloped. Afterwards, I added three chunky pieces of bovine meat. I let this simmer for about 10 ms. In separate pan, I again sautéed onions and garlic in palm oil and olive oil mixture until transparent, added same spices as before but tweeked with fish oil. Then, I borrowed a bit of the simmering bovine fluid, added to newly sautéed onions and garlics, then placed a mildly salted piece of flounder in the middle. Continuously covering the fish with the simmering liquid, I then added the pre-cooked black-eyed peas to both simmering pots. To the simmering bovine and black eyed peas pot, I added kale, cabbage, and two sliced potatoes. Wow! Both excellent! I wish I could send you photos. Thank you for your ideas. Makes me feel like I’m at home in North Carolina. Blessings!
I will be making this dish this coming weekend. Do you prepare the black eyed peas by soaking them or do you use dried black eyed peas in your recipe? I will also try to make corn bread from scratch too.
Hi, I just made these Black eyed peas and they came out great!! I made a half recipe and put it in the Instant Pot for 25 minutes and it came out excellent!
Thanks for providing a basic Black Eyed Pea recipe. I am from the South and this was a staple in both sides of our family so far back nobody remembers. Great basic recipe which encourages the younger ones to eat it w/out it being too spicy or convoluted! Growing up pepper flakes, hot sauce, etc was almost sacrilegious. If you wanted it hot add more raw onion and grains pepper, just not to the pot! Your grandmother story reminded me of mine, and she was divine. Thanks again I will bookmark this recipe and use it often.
Can I use bacon?
I find myself coming back to your site often for recipes for food that I grew up on. You never disappoint! This recipe is another winner!