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
Instant Pot Collard Greens
Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans
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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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Heath Holden
My wife said that this is now her favorite thing that I cook. I followed the directions exactly except I added some Tony’s. I add Tony’s to everything so it wasn’t because I think the recipe is lacking in any way. Thanks for this recipe!
Jay
Delicious! Literally “lick-the-bowl it’s so good! We didn’t make the collard greens, but will next time! Thank you for the recipe!
Kathryn Murray
Do you use uncooked bacon?
Sandy
Yes I do.
Alex
I got an Instant Pot from my mom for Christmas so wanted to use it. Normally I cook in a Crock Pot on low for 12 hours and this made even more tender beans but the ham hock did not become super tender with jelly soft skin like in the crock pot. So I think may have to go back to slow cooker or use only bacon instead.
Sandy
You can pressure cook the ham hock first, then add the peas, etc. and make the recipe as stated. I have had to do this with really tough hamhocks.
Joni
This black eye pea recipe was absolutely delish. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The best part is I could make in my instant pot. Such a time saver. I love the symbolism that goes along with the food. Definitely going to be a new New Year tradition.
The one ingredient I added was 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke which added to the Smokey flavor from the ham hocks and bacon.
Rebecca Rotello
First thing this was my second dish using the instant pot, That being said it was the best version of blackeyed peas and ham. The recipe was so easy to follow and was wonderfully surprised with how good this turned out. I would not change a thing! My husband ranted and raved all throughout the meal. Thank you!
Sandy
I’m so happy to know you both enjoyed it! Here’s to a much better year!
Beverly
I used the bottom end of my Christmas spiral ham to cook with the black-eyed peas; everything else was the same. Best New Year’s meal we’ve had in a long time. Great recipe!!
Heather
I’m new to instant pot cooking. I’ve had many fails with it. This recipe was the most perfect that I’ve done. I was a little nervous to try it on a life-long tradition such as New Years black eyed peas. Thank you! This is the recipe that I will be using from now on! Have a Happy New Year!
Kate
So good!!! I forgot to soak my black eyed peas and this recipe saved New Years 🙂 Absolutely delicious as is!
Barbara
Delicious! I followed your instructions for the Southern BEP version, omitting the thick sliced bacon. My husband is not a black-eyed pea fan and he LOVED them. I didn’t add any salt at all. this will be my go-to recipe from now on. Thank you for sharing and happy New Year!
Elaine
My husband and I agree, this recipe is delicious!
Tom
I’ve probably made this 15 times by now, and every time it’s delicious. I always add collards. The only change I make is cutting back a bit on the salt. I also increased the cooking time to soften the beans a bit more. Usually I end up boiling off some of the extra liquid at the end. My wife and I usually get 2 meals out of every batch. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Jim
Super simple basic ingredients awesome
Cecily
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.
Sandy
Thanks for sharing. I never soak my black-eyed peas. But you made it work!
John
Black Eyed peas and collard greens were both delicious. Thanks
Theresa Palmer
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.
Karen
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 .
Bianca
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.
Rhonda
Worked perfectly and was delicious. I’ll be trying your recipe for collard greens next!
Anne
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.
Sandy
A serving size is 1 1/4 cups.
Jennifer Blount
Would I need to adjust the cooking time if I double the recipe?
Sandy
Nope.
Karen Wall
Can I cut this recipe in half if I’m using an 8 Qt Instant Pot?
Sandy
Yes. Keep cook time the same.
Annie
Couldn’t find a ham hock (always see one when I don’t want), so used extra bacon…..husband LOVED them! I couldn’t believe how quickly these cooked!
Tony
Excellent! We had never made black eyed peas before and these did not disappoint! Will make again!