Last year, a cold made me feel so miserable that I didn’t even think of having my traditional New Year’s black-eyed peas until a few days into the new year. This year I was determined to have them on New Year’s Day, despite the fact that a sizzling, burning short in our breaker box had knocked out most of the electricity to our all-electric house. Though last year had turned out perfectly fine despite the delay, this year I wasn’t going to take any chances, even if it meant cooking on our little Coleman camp stove.
All right, all right. Actually, I’m about as superstitious as a pair of old boots. And as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really big on traditions (or maybe I just like to pick and choose the traditions I follow). The truth is, I just like black-eyed peas, the long-simmered kind you make from dried beans, not the canned variety (which are fine for ordinary meals but nothing special), and the beginning of the year reminds me to go ahead and make them.
When I was growing up, my mother made black-eyed peas, greens, and corn bread for lunch every New Year’s Day, and carrying on the tradition brings back good memories. Even though I probably turned up my nose at it at the time, these days it’s a meal that epitomizes comfort food to me.
My mother isn’t fond of heavy seasoning (and truly, black-eyed peas are flavorful enough that a minimalist treatment is all they need), so she would probably never think of adding so many ingredients to her peas. But she grew up in Alabama where she learned the art of plain cooking, whereas I grew up in Louisiana and fell in love with embellishments: the “trinity” of onion, bell pepper, and celery and the heat of a little cayenne and hot sauce.
In this “Creole” take on black-eyed peas, the seasonings combine in a nice, thick gravy that envelops the peas like a cream sauce and actually isn’t spicy at all, as long as you keep the hot sauce to a minimum. Even my mother would approve.
Creole Black-eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 rib celery chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups dried black-eyed peas picked over and rinsed
- 5 cups water
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke flavoring
Instructions
- Heat a large pressure cooker over high heat (use the Sauté button on the Instant Pot). Add the onion and sauté until it begins to brown; add the bell pepper, celery, and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, adding a tablespoon or two of water if needed to prevent sticking. Add the black-eyed peas and water, seal the cooker, and bring to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes. (Use the Manual button on the IP and set to 10 minutes.) Remove from heat and allow pressure to come down naturally.
- Once the pressure is down, open the cooker and add all remaining ingredients except Liquid Smoke. Return to the heat and simmer for 15-30 minutes, until peas are completely soft and thickened. (Use Sauté on IP and adjust to low.) Add the Liquid Smoke and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot over rice with more hot sauce on the table.
- To make without a pressure cooker, soak the peas overnight in cold water. Drain. Follow the directions for sautéing the vegetables. Then add all ingredients except liquid smoke to the pot, along with enough additional water to cover the peas by one inch. Cook until peas are completely tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding more water as necessary. When they’re tender, add the Liquid Smoke, cook for 5 more minutes, and serve over rice.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Jaimie
This was delicious. I sauteed the vegetables until brown in a skillet, added the tomatoes and allowed the liquid to reduce about 10 minutes before adding to the peas in the pressure cooker. I find this extra step adds depth to the flavor when pressure cooking. Also added a bay leaf and a teaspoon of thyme. Happy New Year!
Connie
I made the Creole Black Eye Pea dish using my pressure cooker and even put a timbale of brown rice in the middle just like the photograph. Mmmmmmm New Favorite.
sara
mmmm, mmmm! I just made this and I am on my 2nd bowl! This is my first time trying black eyed peas. They are so fantastic!
Tonya
This dish is tasty! I added chopped kale to it and altered the habanero hot sauce to 1/3 for my mom and kids and then bumped it up on my plate with more. Served jasmine brown rice on it and it will now be a staple in this house! I just love your recipes!
Liane Blanco
These are so delicious! They are the second recipe of yours that I’ve made – the first was red beans and rice, also outstanding!
I am so glad I found your site. I used to be quite a cook, but that was back in my omnivore days. It takes a lot more creativity to make food taste good and be healthy too – you’re a huge help! Thanks so much!
liz
i’m going vegan and your blog is my new favorite. every recipe i google for specific comfort foods brings me here. you are saving my life right now, you have no idea! thank you for posting your recipes.
Luscious02
Hi Susan! I have used your site countless times for inspiration, but I have never made a comment. I made your Creole Black Eyed Peas last night and it turned out perfect. My husband LOVED it and so did I. The only thing I changed was use 1 tsp Creole seasoning, in place of the Cayenne and made it in a soup pot as I don’t have a pressure cooker. Delicious!!! Thank you.
Debra
I just made this and it’s very good, even without the rice. I hope you will indulge me, and you’ve probably already seen it, but I just loved this video of a little boy about why we should not eat animals. So I wanted to share.
http://laughingsquid.com/little-boy-makes-a-strong-touching-argument-on-why-he-shouldnt-eat-octopus/
Dandi
Just discovered your blog as I was googling “black eyed pea recipes”! I cannot wait to try this – it looks delicious!
sherri
This was soooooo good! I didn’t have liquid smoke so I added McCormick’s Mesquite Grill Mates in it’s place. It made it taste like it had meat flavor in it but without the meat! It was Better than liquid smoke would have been IMO because it had other spices as well. I think I added about a teaspoon.
This will be my new “go to” recipe for black eyed peas.
Lori
Hi Susan! I’ve made this dish and loved it on the stove top but this evening is my first ever foray into pressure cooking. My Fagor multi-cooker just arrived at my doorstep! I’m wondering in step 2 if the 15 – 30 minutes, then 5 minutes of cooking time to add additional ingredients is also done with the pressure function on high? That’s probably common sense to most but I felt the need to double check. Can’t wait to cook/eat my way through your list of pressure cooker recipes! Thanks.
Natalie
I just made this for the first time in two years! I had forgotten about this recipe but not sure how. I love this so much!! Every time I make it I can’t wait to make it again! Thankfully my husband doesn’t eat leftovers so I always get some for lunch! Thank you for your blog. Your recipes make it easy to be vegan/vegetarian.
Deborah
I made this for New Years Dat this year – it was a hit!
Sharon Herbitter
Followed your directions exactly and the first words out of my husband’s mouth were, “Outstanding! Another winner!” (And I concur!) I bought a pressure cooker years ago and had never used it until tonight (bad me). I’ll be using it often!
Lynn
This was a wonderful recipe and will make again. I am not a fan of tomato chunks so I used tomato paste when I was cooking the vegetables. It was great. My mom, who normally does not care for beans of any kind (she thinks they are all thick and heavy tasting) loved it! Thank you for this.
Diana
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Thank you so much for posting this recipe.
Diana
I had to make this again because I was craving it. 🙂 It’s also delicious served over leftover sauteed kale instead of rice. I used the organic dinosaur kale from trader joe’s. Thank you so much for your awesome recipes.
Pat
Happy New Year, Susan! Wishing you and your family the best in this new year. I don’t know why I haven’t posted before but this is the 3rd time I’ve made this recipe and it’s just wonderful. When I went vegan, I didn’t know how to cook beans without salt pork or bacon drippings, ham hocks,etc. but your recipes are so flavorful that I just don’t miss that awful meat stuff! I am also making your collard greens (with some kale added) and we love them! The food is still cooking and it is cold and snowy here but your wonderful dishes will warm us up!
Lisa
Hi Susan, thanks for this recipe. I made the peas tonight in my Instant Pot, and it worked out great. I had a half can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, which are smoky and spicy, so I chopped those and used them and their sauce in place of the cayenne, hot sauce, and liquid smoke. This dish was delish, and so easy! Thanks again, Lisa
Robin
I was born and raised in South Louisiana and have made Black Eyed Peas every year for New Years since I was 15. That was a long time ago. Only difference to mine is I do not add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, or Liquid smoke. I do add a bay leaf and smoked Hamhocks. May try your version just to see.
Doris
What could you use in place of a pressure cooker?
Dawn
Use a regular pot and follow the cooking instructions under point #3.
Jill
I made this last night, it was great. No black-eyed peas 🙁 but I used Red Nightfall beans from Rancho Gordo, and it worked fine. Very tasty and comes together quickly. I ended up cooking the beans first in my IP only because I don’t soak beans and had no idea how long it would take to cook them. Then I just threw everything together and simmered it. Wonderful!
Deanna
Just made this today. I used pinto beans since I didn’t have black eyed peas. The pintos take a little longer to cook. They tasted amazing! Made it to go along with a pot of gumbo z’herbs and will make some wild rice. I imagine they will taste even better tomorrow !!!
Sue
This looks delicious and I have all of the ingredients on hand! One question I have is concerning pressure cooking the beans, they tend to start to fall apart. They still taste amazing but look funny. Any suggestions to avoid that? I use the Fagor.
Susan Voisin
I find that 10 minutes at high pressure with quick release gives me peas that are still intact. How much time are you giving yours?
Jocelyn
This is great! I added a can of tomato sauce , some chili powder, and extra hot sauce. I soaked overnight, so I probably should have put one less cup of water in the instant pot.
Made some cornbread to go with this and ate it like stew without any rice.
Yum!
Emma
Hi thanks for your recipe i was googling vegan black eye peas. Here in the uk i wasnt aware of your new years tradition with black eye peas but this so yummy could eat eveeyday. I only added some fresh coriander/cilantro and served with quinoa and raw spinach salad and home made slaw. Will definately check out your other recipes. Many thanks again Emma Derby Uk
Krista
My hubby and i love this recipe! So easy and delivious. Yum! Thank you#
Ruth Sandin
5 years ago, when I was just 2 months into my new, vegan diet, I found your black eyed peas New Year’s recipe. I live in MN so had no idea of this tradition. I had forgotten about it till this posting. I loved it then and am sure I will love it now. Thanks and Happy New Year!!
Anu
Made this yesterday for lunch and had it over brown rice with a side of collard greens. So delicious and so easy. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kim
Excellent! My roomies love them! I served them with brown rice and cornmeal crusted Panko onion rings baked in the oven. Thanks , Susan!
Alison Blanchard
Thank you for this fantastic recipe. It’s still going strong in 2018! I made it for my omni crew at our annual New Year’s Day Black-eyed Pea feast again this year, and they scraped the cooker clean! I doubled it in my pressure cooker, and wound up with some extra liquid, so I added some quinoa (as in your Black-eyed Pea Chili recipe), and also threw in some sautéed kale for the “greens” aspect. Deeee-lish!
Sharon
I have made this recipe several times in the last few months, and am making it again today for New Years. I cook it on the stove top. After I sauté the vegetables, I add the spices, peas and tomatoes. Then I add water to cover by about 1/2 an inch. Any more than that I find the peas too soupy. I use smoked paprika instead of liquid smoke. Sometimes I add greens ( kale or Swiss chard) and that’s delicious also. I do add a bit more cayenne and also add more hot sauce when I’m eating it. I generally serve with brown rice. I freeze leftovers in individual servings. We really love this recipe and many others you have posted. Thank you!
Tiffany LaGorio
We were looking for a new black-eyed peas recipe for New Years day and came across yours. As one who used to live in New Orleans for 5 years, this recipe is AMAZING! It’s so quick and creamy when made in the Instant Pot. Love it!
Sue
Two thumbs up. Thanks for the recipe.