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!
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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.
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Bill
Wonderful recipe. And thank you for setting up your page the way you did. I love the fact that you have a button to click that takes you right to the recipe and a button to go to the comments. I wish everyone did this.
Sandy
You are very welcome! Thank you for your comment and feedback!