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If you like to start your new year off with black-eyed peas, this Black-Eyed Pea Soup is the perfect recipe to enjoy as you kick off the new year.
In the south, eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity. Call me superstitious, but I grew up on this tradition and my Mom never missed serving up black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. So, here I am. I always eat my black-eyed peas to ring in the New Year. This year, I am enjoying them in this Black-Eyed Pea Soup!
While some of you may say “YUCK, I hate black-eyed peas,” I think you’re crazy or you’ve only had ones not prepared well because I freaking love me some black-eyed peas. I think this recipe is delicious and I look forward to serving it up every year! I will say, this recipe makes a lot. I always make a ton so that I can spread the love and prosperity to my closest friends by dropping them off a mason jar of this soup. They love it!
Black-Eyed Pea Soup Ingredients:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Red Bell PepperÂ
- CarrotÂ
- Yellow OnionÂ
- Garlic
- JalapenoÂ
- Salt and Black Pepper
- Diced Cooked Ham
- Pre-Soaked Black-Eyed Peas: See Note!
- Chicken Broth
- Chili Powder
- Ground Cumin
- Bay Leaf
- Kale
Black-Eyed Pea Soup Step-by-Step:
Step One: Sauté the Veggies
In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, garlic, jalapeno, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until the veggies are tender.
Step Two: Add the Ham
Next, add in the diced ham and sauté for two more minutes.
Step Three: Add the Black-eye peas, broth, and seasonings
Add the black-eyed peas, broth, chili powder, cumin, and bay leaf to the pot. Stir to combine then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a light simmer and let simmer, covered, until the peas are very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
Step Four: Cook the Kale
Once the peas are tender, add in the kale and stir in until wilted down into the soup. Taste the soup and add additional salt and pepper, if desired (this will depend on how salty your ham is).
Step Five: Serve and Enjoy
Remove the bay leaf then serve and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs:
Pre-soaked black-eyed peas are ideal here! I find mine in the refrigerator section at my grocery store. But if you cannot find pre-soaked black-eyed peas, you can use dried black-eyed peas but you must pre-soak them. You do this by pouring them into a bowl and filling the bowl with water until covered by 2 inches. Let soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight if possible.
Definitely! The peas may soak up some of the broth once stored in the fridge so be sure to add additional broth when reheating on the stove.
So for all of you superstitious Southerners like myself that do this tradition, I hope you try my Black-Eyed Pea Soup recipe this year. It’s a very delicious and healthy soup to make, and I hope you will enjoy it. Wishing you all the prosperity in the New Year!Â
If you like this soup and are looking for others, try these similar recipes:
Hoppin’ Johns (Southern-Style Blacked Eyed Peas)
Easy Chickpea and Kale Tuscan Style Soup
Black-Eyed Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced-small red bell pepper (or 1 medium red bell pepper)
- 1 cup diced small carrot (or 1 large carrot)
- 1 1/2 cups small diced yellow onion (or 1 small onion)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup seeded and finely diced jalapeno (or 1 large jalapeno)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 2 cups diced, cooked ham
- 24 oz pre-soaked black-eyed peas *see note
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups kale removed from stem and loosely chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, garlic, jalapeno and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until tender, 5-7 minutes.
- Add in the diced ham and saute 2 more minutes.
- Add the black-eyed peas, broth, chili powder, cumin, and bay leaf to the pot. Stir to combine then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low (or a light simmer) and let simmer, covered, until the peas are very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
- When the peas are tender, add in the kale and stir in until wilted down into the soup. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper, if desired (this will depend on how salty your ham is).
- Remove the bay leaf. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow! This was delicious🙂. Perfect New Year’s Day lunch. I couldn’t find dried peas so I used 2 cans of black eyed peas that were seasoned with bacon. I subbed smoked sausage for the ham, and threw in a can of Rotel and a small can of diced green chilies. After I sautéed the onions, celery, etc, I added everything to my crockpot and let it cook on low while we were at church. The house smelled wonderful and the soup was a big hit!! Next time I think I’ll add a third can of black eyed peas.
If making with canned black eyed peas, I saw to adjust cooking time but should I adjust the amount of broth used? Thank you!! We love this recipe!!
Hello! If I want to make this recipe for 2-4 people, can I simply reduce the amount of broth and black eyed peas? Or should I cut the recipe in half?
I would cut the recipe in half (and if you look at serving size on my blog posts, you can change the serving sizes and it will recalculate the recipe for you!)
Hey Alex,
Can I used frozen black eyed peas??
Yes you can!! Just keep in mind they cook quickly, so you’ll likely only need it to cook for half the time, to prevent them from getting too softened/mushy.
Can I use canned collard greens?
I’ve never tried canned collard greens to be honest– but I would think it’d work great in a recipe like this soup!
this soup is incredible – my entire family loves it. My eight-year-old had two bowls at dinner tonight, and even willingly slurped up the kale! i like using lacinato (dinosaur) kale, and i pureed a can of diced tomatoes and used in place of two cups of the broth (mostly because i ran out of broth and I love adding extra veggies whenever I can). such a delicious, nutritious soup!
Hi! How much bacon should I use if I don’t have ham? Thank you!
I’d use 6-8 slices and brown it first to get it slightly crisp before adding the Blackeyed peas.
This was excellent! I’ve avoided trying a black-eyed pea recipe for fear of it either tasting too bland, or too ham flavored. But I gave this a try, and it had fantastic, robust flavor. It will now be my go-to black-eyed pea recipe. The whole family, including my kids and my parents who were with us, devoured it. Thank you!
So happy you enjyed it!! Happy New year!
Hi!! Excited to make today but could only find canned peas – suggestions on how to adjust cooking time?
It will only take 20-30 mins with canned!
I’m out of smoked paprika, what can I use?
. Vegetarian so leaving out ham of course. Need flavor.
Hi! When using dried black eyed peas, pre soaked means?
Soaked in water to soften before cooking! If you cannot find pre-soaked black-eyed peas in the fridge section at your local grocery store you can use dried black-eyed peas but you must pre-soak them first by pouring them in a bowl and filling the bowl with water until covered by 2 inches. Let soak for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
This soup is our new lucky New Year’s Day soup. I love all the vegetables and it’s a great way to use some left over Christmas ham.
Thank you, Evie! happy New year!
Can you substitute cabbage instead of Kale?
yes! that’d still be good here!