Southern Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas is a delicious, good old fashioned dish that is popular for New Year’s Day feasts. Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s is a tradition, and is said to be lucky. Make a pot of pressure cooker black-eyed peas to ring in the New Year, or any time you want a super flavorful meal!
Southern Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is said to bring good luck. The swelling of the peas signifies prosperity. Cooked with pork, because pigs root forward, and served with greens, symbolizing money.
My Number 1 piece of advice for the BEST tasting Instant pot Southern Black-Eyed Peas is to make sure your ham hock (or whatever meat you use) is SMOKED.
The smoky flavor makes all the difference in the amazing flavor of this recipe!
do I need to Soak the black-eyed peas before cooking them?
No you don’t. These will cook pretty fast, so no soaking needed (but do rinse them well first).
If you do soak them, or use canned black-eyed peas, you can cut the cook time in half, though the ham hock will not get soft enough in that short amount of time.
I would start the ham hock cooking in some water, about 10 minutes, then cook the rest of the dish, adding the ham hock back in.
This is how my mom made black-eyed peas, and I love them!
Southern pressure cooker Black Eyed Peas can be made any time of the year. They are so delicious!
Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas
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If you make this delicious Southern pressure cooker black-eyed peas recipe, please leave me a comment and a star rating below. I would like to know how you liked them!
Southern Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas is a delicious, good old fashioned dish that is popular for New Year's Day feasts.
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 lg Onion, chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 6 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 lb Dry Black-Eyed Peas, rinsed
- 1 lb Smoked Ham Hock (make sure it is smoked, for best flavor)
- 4 slices Thick Cut Smoky Bacon, chopped
- 5 cups Water
- 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Ham or Chicken Base, low sodium
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
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Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to turn translucent.
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Add the bay leaves and the garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 20 seconds.
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Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Cancel the sauté setting.
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Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
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Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button, and then the +/- button to select 16 minutes. High Pressure.
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When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for a 15 minute natural release. Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining pressure.
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When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
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Remove the bay leaves and discard. Then remove the ham hocks and get the meat off of the bones. Add the meat back into the pot.
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Taste and add a little salt, if needed.
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Serve alongside some cornbread. You can also serve over rice for a Hoppin' John style meal.
This recipe can be made in a 3 qt by reducing ingredients by 1/3. Keep the cook time the same.
This can be a "Dump and Start" recipe if you don't want to do the sautéing steps.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas recipe and more
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Excellent! We had never made black eyed peas before and these did not disappoint! Will make again!
Can I cut this recipe in half if I’m using an 8 Qt Instant Pot?
Yes. Keep cook time the same.
Would I need to adjust the cooking time if I double the recipe?
Nope.
can anyone estimate serving size in cups? Trying to track as close as possible my calories. I would have just figured it out myself by measuring the. Umber of cups and dividing by eight but my kids got to it first. And if you ask a teenager to estimate how many cups he ate he will look at you funny and tell you he put it in a bowl.
A serving size is 1 1/4 cups.
Worked perfectly and was delicious. I’ll be trying your recipe for collard greens next!
This is so good!! I’m currently devouring a bowl of it!! This will definitely be my new go to recipe for my New Year dinner. Thank you so much for sharing.
This is one of my first instant pot meals … Creamy and delicious. Will be my go to recipe. Used smoked cubed ham and 14 oz Eckrich smoked sausage -sauteed sausage prior to onion, removed and added after pressure release .
Love all your recipes. I have been using my Instant Pot since 2013 and named it Brad. We have cooked everything together. I made a batch of black eyed peas on New Year’s
Day, much like your recipe, a little different (because that was the way mama taught me) and they were awesome. I cooked about two pounds of peas, used about two pounds of smoked ham hocks, half of a large yellow onion unchopped, two cloves of garlic crushed, two 32 oz boxes of unsalted vegetable stock, black pepper to taste and some crushed red pepper flakes. I cooked my peas for 20 mins on high pressure allowing the natural pressure release.
Black Eyed peas and collard greens were both delicious. Thanks
Pre-Soaked Beans Experience:
I had to make adjustments as I pre-soaked my beans (11 hours).
After cooking (8 minutes as recommended), there was a substantial amount of liquid left, more akin to a watery broth than a thicker sauce. My liquid was 5 cups total per the recipe (2 water, 3 turkey broth). My thinking is pre-soaked beans simply do not need as much liquid.
To help thicken, I removed a cup of beans, blended them to a puree, and put them back in the pot. I used the sauté setting to reduce the dish by about a third (or desired consistency). It was a great texture as well as a more concentrated flavor. I recommend stirring regularly to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot, especially as it gets thicker.
The dish is delicious, and it will be a regular meal moving forward.
Thanks for sharing. I never soak my black-eyed peas. But you made it work!
Super simple basic ingredients awesome