by Erica Leon

Traditional southern black-eyed pea dish for cold days or New Year’s Day.

We can all agree that southern black-eyed peas, done right, are a staple comfort dish that everyone should have in their arsenal of recipes.

If you had asked me 10 years ago if I liked black-eyed peas, it would have been a quick NO! However, I continued to play around with many recipes and finally came across my grandmother’s recipe for black-eyed pea soup.

Trust me when I say you will NEVER want/need another black-eyed pea recipe. I say that because once you have this mouthful of southern flavor you’ll never eat them differently.

In this post, I am going to teach you how to make the best southern black-eyed pea soup that will have everyone asking you for the recipe!

Ingredients

Chicken Broth– This is your soup base bursting with chicken essence and rich umami flavors.

bay leafs

garlic

collard greens– Black-eyed beans symbolize pennies. Collard greens, on the other hand, represent bills in this lucky dish. Plus, adding greens makes it more nourishing.

black-eyed peas– These beans with a slightly smoky flavor are high in protein and fiber, making them not just nutritious but also incredibly delicious.

onions

thyme

cajun seasoning

hog jowl– The smoky flavor is highly addicting and adds more meaty goodness to this black-eyed peas recipe.

smoked sausage

How to make the soup

1. Prep the black-eyed peas
   • Soak- Rinse the dry black-eyed pea beans
   • Pick out and discard any foreign object
   • Add beans to a large pot
   • Cover beans with 3-4 inches of cold water
   • Let sit for 2-3 hours
2. Prep Sausage, hog jowl, and onions
   • dice onions to desired size for soup
   • cut sausage in bite-size pieces
   • trim excess fat from hog jowl, then cut into small pieces
3. Cook the hog jowl and sausage
   • In a large, heavy dutch oven pot, saute chopped hog jowl until brown and crispy- about 4-5 minutes
   • Add sausage to the pot with hog jowl and saute- about 2-3 minutes
   • Remove hog jowl and sausage mixture, and set aside.
4. Saute
   •  Toss the onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf in the same dutch oven with the remaining grease from the hog jowl.
   • Saute for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. My favorite kitchen aroma is sauteed onions and garlic!
5. Cook Black-Eyed Peas
   • Pour the chicken broth or water substitute over the sauteed onion and garlic mixture.
   • Drain the soaked beans
   • rinse beans once more
   • Place the beans in the pot.
   • Season with creole seasoning and salt to taste.
   • Mix and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer
   • Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
7. Greens and Meat
   • After the 20 minute simmer, add in the collard greens, hog jowl, and sausage into the pot
   • Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or more, stirring occasionally, or until beans are tender and slightly thickened to your desire.
8. If needed touches
   • If your soup seems dry, add more stock or water to the mixture.
   • The texture of the beans should be thick and somewhat creamy but not watery
   • Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves.
9. Serve the hungry family
   • Taste and adjust for seasonings with pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt if needed.
   • I did not add this to the recipe but enjoy this deliciousness with a buttery piece of cornbread or serve this soup over a bed of rice.

Do I need to soak the beans before cooking? – No you do not need to. However, this will reduce the actual cooking time by soaking for a few hours or overnight.

Why do people serve black-eyed peas with coins in the soup? – It is a tradition found in most southern states to put a CLEAN coin (pennies and/or dimes) into their pot of black-eyed peas believing they’ll bring luck and prosperity. They believe that the one who gets the most coins in their bowl is the luckiest. I do not do this because I have small children and find this a bit of a choking hazard.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Southern black-eyed peas cooked in collard greens, hog jowl, and sausage

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 dutch oven a regular pot of similar size will also work if you do not have a dutch oven.
• 1 knife to cut/dice ingredients
• 1 cutting board to cut/dice ingredients

Ingredients

  

• 1 onion diced
• 1 lb black-eyed peas dry
• 4-5 slices hog jowl chopped
• 5 oz smoked sausage or turkey diced (1 cup)
• 2-3 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp fresh thyme minced
• 2 bay leafs
• 1-2 tsp cajun seasoning
• 7-8 cups chicken broth water can be substitute
• 2 cups collard greens kale can be substitute
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

Prep the black-eyed peas

• Soak- Rinse the dry black-eyed pea beans
• Pick out and discard any foreign object
• Add beans to a large pot
• Cover beans with 3-4 inches of cold water
• Let sit for 2-3 hours

Prep Sausage, hog jowl, and onions

• dice onions to desired size for soup
• cut sausage in bite-size pieces
• trim excess fat from hog jowl, then cut into small pieces

Cook the hog jowl and sausage

• In a large, heavy dutch oven pot, saute chopped hog jowl until brown and crispy- about 4-5 minutes
• Add sausage to the pot with hog jowl and saute- about 2-3 minutes
• Remove hog jowl and sausage mixture, and set aside.

Saute

• Toss the onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf in the same dutch oven with the remaining grease from the hog jowl.
• Saute for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. My favorite kitchen aroma is sauteed onions and garlic!

Cook Black-Eyed Peas

• Pour the chicken broth or water substitute over the sauteed onion and garlic mixture.
• Drain the soaked beans
• rinse beans once more
• Place the beans in the pot.
• Season with creole seasoning and salt to taste.
• Mix and bring to a boil.

Simmer

• Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

Greens and Meat

• After the 20 minute simmer, add in the collard greens, hog jowl, and sausage into the pot
• Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or more, stirring occasionally, or until beans are tender and slightly thickened to your desire.

If needed touches

• If your soup seems dry, add more stock or water to the mixture.
• The texture of the beans should be thick and somewhat creamy but not watery
• Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves.

Serve the hungry family

• Taste and adjust for seasonings with pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt if needed.
• I did not add this to the recipe but enjoy this deliciousness with a buttery piece of cornbread or serve this soup over a bed of rice.

Keyword black-eyed peas, collard greens, good luck food, hog jowl, new years dish, soup, southern food, southern soup