Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas are so delicious, and they are a fast cooking bean! Don't even bother soaking them, just season them with great ingredients, and have a fortuitous bowl of good-luck-bringing, pressure cooked black-eyed peas. Don't forget the collard greens, this recipe has them as a tasty option! Make pressure cooker black eyed peas and Steam in the New Year!
Originally published 12/29/2017
Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas
A long held tradition in the Southern United States is eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day for good luck. The more black-eyed peas you eat, the more luck you will have.
The peas (actually beans) swell when cooked, so they symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion (according to Wikipedia).
This tradition is very popular, and black-eyed peas appear in recipes such as Cowboy Caviar in Texas, to Hoppin’ John in Alabama, to Peas with Ham up in North Carolina (according to Southern Living).
The Black-Eyed Peas are usually cooked with some kind of pork, for flavor, and though I was told that a good Southerner does not cook collard greens with the black-eyed peas, I did anyway. I'm from Seattle (Mom from the South).
This Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas recipe is fast cooking, for a dry beans recipe, so it makes sense, and tastes great, to cook the collards with the beans. However, if you do not like that method, I have a fabulous Instant Pot Collard Greens recipe that you can make separately!
If you like a more traditional version of black-eyed peas, try my Southern Black-Eyed Peas recipe
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas with Collard Greens (or without) are a delicious meal to enjoy any time of the year!
This has been a fun and also challenging year for me, and I'm curious to see what the next year will bring!
I want to thank you all for reading my blog posts, trying my recipes, and supporting Simply Happy Foodie in this first couple of years of being an official food recipe blog. If you ever have ideas or requests, please reach out to me. You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, or leave me a comment here.
Happy New Year!
Southern Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Instant Pot Collard Greens
Instant Pot Ham Hock and Bean Soup
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
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If you make this amazing pressure cooker black-eyed peas recipe, please leave a comment with a star rating below. I'd love to know how you liked it!
Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas are so delicious, and they are a fast cooking bean! Don't even bother soaking them, just season them with great ingredients. Don't forget the collard greens, this recipe has them as a tasty option!
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 small Onion, chopped
- 2 Celery Ribs (Stalks), diced
- 1 Bell Pepper, red or green
- 2 small Bay Leaves
- 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or ½ tsp dried
- 3 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Coarse Salt, or ¾ tsp table salt
- 4 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 Jalapeño Pepper, seeded and diced small
- 3 ½ cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1-2 slices Bacon, chopped
- 1 small Ham Hock (or meaty ham bone)
- 1 ¼ cups Black-Eyed Peas, dry*
- 2 cups Collard Greens, (optional) chopped in 2" pieces
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Turn the pressure cooker on to the Sauté function. When the display reads Hot, add the oil.
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Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to turn translucent.
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Add the thyme, smoked paprika, pepper, and salt. Stir.
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Add the garlic and jalapeño. Cook for about 30 seconds, stirring frequently.
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Add the broth, balsamic vinegar, bacon, and ham hock.
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Stir in the black-eyed peas, and collard greens, if using.
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Place the lid on the pressure cooker, locking it in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position. Cancel the Sauté function.
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Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button (or dial) and use the + or - button (or dial) to select 17 minutes (for firmer beans choose 14 minutes). High Pressure.
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When the cooking cycle has ended and the pot beeps, let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 minute Natural Release), then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
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When the pin in the lid drops down, open it and give the contents a stir. Discard bay leaves and ham hock (the ham hock won't be tender, it is for flavor, but if you can get some meat off of it, add it to the pot!).
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Serve over rice for a Hoppin' John, or as is. Enjoy with cornbread to sop up that yummy broth! Happy New Year! Or, any time of year!
*If you soaked the Black-Eyed Peas, reduce the cook time by about half. You can always add time if you need to.
This recipe doubles nicely. Don't double the cooking time.
If you want a more traditional black-eyed peas recipe, Try my Instant Pot Southern Black-Eyed Peas recipe.
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Machelle
The recipe says 4 servings. Does this consist of 1 cup?
Sandy
1 to 1 1/2 cups.
Gretchen
Thanks for the recipe. I make a vegetarian version, leaving out the meat and using vegetable broth, mushrooms, and a dash of liquid smoke. Everyone inhales it.
Bethany
Excellent!! Very flavorful. I have made this twice and have been asked for the recipe.
I doubled the recipe using a 16 ounce bag of dried peas. I soaked the peas for 8 hours prior to cooking but still cooked for 17 min as written. Next time I will reduce this time by a minute or 2. I did not use low sodium chicken broth and it was perfectly seasoned. Used some bacon grease instead of oil but did not add the bacon.
Another time I used the 12 ounce "fresh" black eyed peas sold in water in the produce dept. I cooked these for 17 minutes and they were perfectly cooked.
Marsha Shortwebb
we made this for New Years. it was delicious. I needed to leave out the ham as my afghan friends door eat pork and it was still delicious. We loved it.
marsha
Mindy
So delicious—takes black eyed peas to a new level!!! Spices/veggies were spot on. I did cook the diced bacon a bit before adding the broth, ham, and peas. And, instead of a ham hock, I used 8 oz of cubed Smithfield ham (comes prepackaged) which worked really well. I’m sure a ham hock would have been delicious, too, but the cubed ham didn’t need any prep or shredding later. After the prescribed cook and 15 minute NR my peas needed a bit more time so I pressure cooked for another 5 minutes and they were perfect. Next time I’ll cook for 22 minutes with the 15 NR. Minor adjustment. This one is a keeper!!!
Dionne
This recipe is amazing! I leave out the ham and bacon and add two smoked turkey wings or 1 large drumstick. And I mash about 1 cup of beans and add back to the pot thicken the gravy. Then serve with brown rice and collards!
Tracy S
Family Loves Them! Of course you want black-eyed peas on New Year's day so I made these. I'm from Texas and my fam made great peas and these are on point. Just like my grandmother's but better. Thank you!