This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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
Pin This Recipe
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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 large Onion, chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 6 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 lb Dry Black-Eyed Peas (rinsed & sorted)
- 1 lb Smoked Ham Hock (make sure it is smoked, for best flavor)
- 4 slices Thick Cut Smoky Bacon (chopped, uncooked)
- 5 cups Water
- 2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Ham Base (or Chicken. Low sodium)
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
Sauté the Aromatics
- Turn on the Sauté setting. When hot, add the oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to turn translucent.1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 large Onion,
- Add the bay leaves and the garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 20 seconds.2 Bay Leaves, 6 cloves Garlic,
- Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Cancel the sauté setting.1 lb Dry Black-Eyed Peas, 1 lb Smoked Ham Hock, 4 slices Thick Cut Smoky Bacon, 5 cups Water, 2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Ham Base, ¼ teaspoon Pepper
Pressure Cook
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button, and then the +/- button to select 16 minutes. High Pressure. Press Start if needed. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
Natural Release
- 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.
Finish and Serve
- 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
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas recipe and more
This post contains Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This recipe is my new go to!! I’ve always done my beans old school on the stovetop, enduring the long hours cook time. But today I woke up late, NYE celebration. I had already soaked my beans, so I boiled my smoked turkey legs on the stove for 15 minutes and then followed the recipe. These black eyed peas are delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
It was good but I changed the olive oil to bacon drippings, changed the Better Than Bouillon Ham and water to pork stock (not readily available but easy enough to make), and replaced the Thick Cut Smoky Bacon with thick sliced smoked hog jaw (for me this is more traditional in southern black-eyed peas.)
Also could you should specify the type of onion to use white, yellow, sweet, red? I used yellow.
No sauté of the bacon?
No, I don’t for this recipe. You can if you like.
Excellent recipe that yields cooked peas that are not mushy.
This turned out great! I added celery with the onions, used BtB vegetable base, and added some smoked paprika. Also added chopped fresh spinach for greens to make a perfect New Years Day dish.
Recipe was easy to follow and turned out delicious! Thank you for sharing
We had your southern black-eyed peas for New Years Dinner and they were delicious. I’m a died in the wool, southerner and can’t remember a New Year without Black-eyed peas in my 80 years. But had never made them in the Instant Pot. They were very tasty, as I have remembered them.
Excellent recipe! I just purchased an Instant Pot. So far, I’ve made rice and this recipe. It turned out amazing!!
I made the blackeyed pea recipe in my Instant Pot. I added chopped onion and garlic, sautéed it. And added chopped pieces of ham. It was perfect. We loved it!
Made mine and they turned out absolutely wonderful. I accidentally bought smoked neck instead of hocks, still delicious.