Southern Black Eyed Peas
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 grandmother’s soul food recipe (that I’ve tweaked a bit). It’s a basic recipe for a pot of good ol, southern black-eyed peas. Â She blesses us with these throughout the year but on New Years’ they tend to taste a bit better. Â 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. Â Like always my grandmother just smiles and says “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-schmancy 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!
- 4-5 green onions, chopped (or 1 medium
- white onion, chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 (16 oz) bag 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)
- 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’m making this over the weekend! We are expecting snow! How to get this to a thicker consistency?
I put a package of brown gravy in it
use less water and when its done allow it to stand 10 mins.
To make my black eyed peas thicker i make a slurry. 1 cup of ciold water maker sure its vdry cold then add corn starch to the water stir untill dissolved. The more starch you add the thicker the less starch the thinner. Pour into brans stir an keep stirring. Sometime you have to add a lil more starch. But atleast you want have watery beans
I take some of the cooked peas out of the pot, maybe a cup or so, then mash them up and put them back in the pot! Adds thickness
You could always remove a portion of the cooked beans, puree it, and add back to the pot.
I have never liked BEPs but my husband wanted them for New Year’s dinner. This recipe was right on time. Not only did he love them, but I did as well. I quick soaked them following the package directions prior to following your recipe. Simply delicious. Pored the beans with sweet corn bread and cabbage for a great meal. Txs!
Really a good recipe. I did use a ham hock as Brow we prefer ham to turkey. Corn beef cabbage and blackeyed peas, is starting our New Year off right.
I just want to know if I can use salt pork and if I use 2 16 ounce bags of beans do I double up my ingredients?
Yes you can use salt pork, ham hocks or neck bones.
Turned out great!
I didn’t see the part where you soak the beans overnight. Does this mean you cook them right out of the package and don’t soak your dried beans, or did you just assume we’ve already done that step? I want to make sure I do this right.
Hi. IMHO I do not recommend soaking black-eyed peas because they are not very dense like pintos or other long cooking beans. Usually soaking peas overnight leaves one with a pot of mush or busted peas in the end. Blackeyes cook rather fast to begin. I treat them like lentils… skip the soaking and get straight to cooking.
This is my experience also. Whenever I’ve I soaked they become mushy & burst open #disappointing So just clean rinse and cook. Great recipe, I’m making this today.
I made this for my family and the absolutely loved it…..Thanks Diva!