This best Southern Black Eyed Peas recipe makes a flavorful, classic dish everyone loves. Made with dried or canned black eyed peas with instructions for stovetop, slow cooker, and Instant Pot! Delicious year-round, it’s a Southern tradition to serve black eyed peas for New Year’s Day to bring luck.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Versatile: This recipe is easy to make using your choice of stovetop, slow cooker, or Instant Pot cooking method and dried or canned black eyed peas! I also provide options for using canned and frozen black eyed peas. Since you’ve not added other overwhelming ingredients such as sausage and aromatics, once you have your cooked peas, you can use them in any number of soups, salads, dips, or as a main dish or side dish!

Flavorful and nutritious: Properly prepared black eyed peas are tender and delicious and are a nutrient-dense source of fiber, protein, and folate.

Easy: This easy recipe requires a few minutes of hands-on prep while using your favorite cooking method to prepare a great meal for the whole family!

What are Black Eyed Peas?

Black Eyed Peas, a variety of cowpeas, are a common legume that you can find growing in various locations around the world. While their name includes the term “pea,” they are not a pea at all. They are a type of bean.

Black eyed peas are an easy and beneficial crop to grow. They are nourishing both to people and animals that eat them and to the soil where they are grown. Nutritionally, they are a great source of vegetarian protein, fiber, and carbohydrates. For the soil, they are nitrogen-fixing plants, which means they convert the nitrogen from the air to help “fix” the soil where they are planted by drawing nitrogen into the ground, preventing the need for additional fertilization before another crop is planted. They are an easy-to-grow crop that is generally ready for harvest in around 70 days from planting from seed.

There are numerous varieties of black eyed peas available. The “eye” of the pea may be black, brown, green, red, or pink. They are green when first harvested and turn a beige or buff color when dried. The common commercially available variety used is the California Black Eyed Pea. Here in the South, it seems that most families have their favorite variety. My family has planted an heirloom pea (cowpea) that has been passed down through generations. Of course, we think it is the best! If you are looking for an all-around delicious variety to try, I suggest the Purple Hull Cowpea.

Thankfully, they are one of the easiest, most budget-friendly, nutrient-rich dishes to prepare.

Black Eyed Peas Recipe

Time after time, my grandmother prepared a simple meal of black eyed peas, cornbread, and milk for my grandfather. She’d keep her peas simmering on the stove for that night’s supper throughout the afternoon. I always thought he didn’t know what he was missing by not eating whatever she’d prepared to go along with it for the rest of us.

Now that I’m older, there are many nights that a big bowl of these peas on top of a hunk of southern cornbread and a little bit of pepper sauce is all I want for supper, too. Thankfully, my whole family enjoys it. I guess that’s one more thing I should’ve listened to my grandparents about.

How to Prepare Dried Black Eyed Peas

I’ve included stove top, slow cooker, and Instant Pot methods for cooking them! Regardless of which method, you’ll want to take a couple of steps for the best southern black eyed peas!

Rinse them.

You’ll want to rinse and pick over your dried peas to ensure they are clean and prepped! Place them into a colander under cool running water. Rinse the peas and move them around in the colander with your fingers. As you are rinsing, remove any overly darkened peas and any other items from the peas that don’t belong.

Soak (for Stove Top and Slow Cooker Methods):

Two soaking methods for peas work perfectly: overnight soaking and quick soaking. I suggest that you soak the peas before cooking because soaking rehydrates the dried peas and allows them to digest more easily.

• Overnight Soaking Method: Add your peas to a stockpot and cover with cool, clean water, plus about 2 inches. Allow to soak, uncovered, overnight. The next morning, pour your peas into a colander to drain away the soaking liquid.
• Quick Soaking Method: Add your peas to a stockpot and cover with cool, clean water, plus about 2 inches. Bring your black-eyed peas to a boil and continue to boil for two minutes. Pour your peas into a colander to drain away the soaking liquid.

How to Cook Black Eyed Peas

Once your peas have been prepped, you can proceed with your favorite cooking method.

You’ll need just a few ingredients for these delicious Southern Black Eyed Peas:

Ingredients

You’ll use a pound of dried black eyed peas that have been cleaned and soaked (except if using the Instant Pot method), a ham bone or thick sliced bacon or salt pork, and salt and pepper.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Use one of the following three methods and instructions to cook black eyed peas:

Stovetop Black Eyed Peas

Add your peas to your stock pot and cover with water, plus about 2 inches. Add in your ham bone, bacon, or salt pork. See variations for making without meat. Set over medium-low heat on your stove. Bring black eyed peas to a simmer and continue to keep at a low simmer, adding water and occasionally stirring as needed, until the black eyed peas are fork tender, about two hours. Remove the ham bone and serve.

Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas

Add your peas to your slow cooker and cover with water, plus about 2 inches. Add in your ham bone, bacon, or salt pork. See variations for making without meat. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hours. Remove the ham bone and serve.

Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas

There is no need to soak your black-eyed peas using the Instant Pot, making them even easier. Of course, if you would like to soak them anyway, you certainly can.

Add your peas to your Instant Pot and cover with water, plus about 2 inches. Add in your ham bone, bacon, or salt pork. See variations for making without meat. Cover and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally, about 20 more minutes. Remove the ham bone and serve.

Variations

• Vegetarian Black Eyed Peas Recipe: Substitute two tablespoons of olive oil and omit the meat from the recipe.
• Canned Black Eyed Peas: Drain and rinse the canned peas well to remove as much of the sodium and preservatives from the peas as possible. Skip to step 3 of the stovetop method. Cook until the peas are heated throughout and fork tender, about 20 minutes.
• Frozen Black Eyed Peas: There is no need to thaw the peas to cook them. Skip to step 3 of the stovetop method. Cook until the peas are heated throughout and fork tender, about 20 minutes.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

To store. Cool cooked peas and then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To make ahead. Prepare the peas following your cooking method of choice. Cool and then store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. When ready to serve, reheat on the stove or in the microwave until reheated throughout.

To freeze. Cool prepared peas and store them in an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat on the stove or microwave until reheated throughout.

Here’s my black-eyed peas recipe for the stock pot, slow cooker, or Instant Pot! Regardless of your method, I hope you love them as much as we do!

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2011.