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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
Ingredients
- 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
- ¼ tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add the bay leaves and the garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 20 seconds.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Cancel the sauté setting.
- Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button, and then the +/- button to select 16 minutes. High Pressure.
- 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.
- When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
- 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.
- Taste and add a little salt, if needed.
- Serve alongside some cornbread. You can also serve over rice for a Hoppin' John style meal.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I have not made this yet but wonder if you can use chicken broth instead of the water? I will make Jan 1 for company.
Yes you can, it’s delicious!
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.
You are very welcome! Thank you for your comment and feedback!
I’ve made ham hocks and beans many times. This recipe came out just great! I used small navy beans as a substitute for the black eye peas. Still came out wonderful. Several of my extended family had never had this before. They are hooked now!
I also made your recipe for Collard Greens, which was excellent by the way. My question is about the ham hocks- in that receipe the total cook time is an hour but in this one for the peas it is much less. Did I miss something?
This recipe is for a more meaty ham hock, the other uses a small ham hock mostly for flavor, so the cook time is a bit different.
My first time making black eyed peas from dried and they turned out amazing! This will definitely be our go-to New Year’s Day tradition!!
Excellent recipe! I’m a southern girl and I’ve eating black eyed peas my entire life…this recipe did not disappoint. My peas had a perfect texture and flavor. I will definitely be making this one again.
So easy and delicious Happy New Years!
How long would I cook frozen black eyed peas? I tend to like those better than dried. I’ll save this for another time since we’re out of town and I don’t have my instant pot with me!
I would just cut the cook time for them by about half. You can always add time if needed.
Great recipe, only thing is I def had to add 10 mins to cook time. Came out perfect. Thanks for sharing ❤️
Sometimes that happens. I think the beans are sometimes older than we know when we buy them, and older beans need more cook time.
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!
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!
Do you use uncooked bacon?
Yes I do.
I soaked my beans overnight. Does that make a difference in my outcome?
Yes, they will need less cook time and less liquid.