Happy New Year friends! We love celebrating and rolling in the new year with black-eyed peas. The southern tradition is that black eyed peas bring you, prosperity, good luck, and fortune in the New Year. Maybe we are a little superstitious, but we love this tradition and they taste incredibly delicious! These black-eyed peas have deep, fabulous flavor from the sautéed mirepoix known as, onions, carrots, and celery, a little bit of sweetness from tomatoes, salty ham, and some freshness from the kale! A pot full of very lucky nourishment you could say.
Ingredients for Black Eyed Peas with Ham
These are also ingredients that you might have leftover from you holiday dinner!
Dried black eyed peas: The main component of course! These legumes vary in size and the color of eye may very as well. Thought to bring prosperity and good luck in the New Year!
Vegetables: The base is simply just onions, celery and carrots cooked in butter or oil to coax the flavors out without caramelizing them. We also use fresh tomatoes here for a bit of sweetness and kale for lots of fresh greens. You could use collard greens in place of kale too, as that is very common to eat with both ham and black eyed peas.
Ham Bone, Smoked Ham Hocks, Diced Ham: You might have these leftover from your holiday dinner! These lend fabulous salty flavor to the black eyed peas and make for an incredibly delicious combination. If you don’t have a ham bone, any pork bones will work great here!
How to Make Black Eyed Peas with Ham
- Quick soak your black eyed peas by placing them in a pot covered with water. Bring them to a rolling boil and then turn off the heat. Let soak for 1 hour covered, then drain.
- In a large pot, sauté onions, celery and carrots in olive until veggies are softened, then add you garlic and stir for another few minutes. Once the veggies are sautéed, add the ham bone and ham hocks, beans, and top everything off with water. Simmer for an hour.
- After an hour, remove ham bone and ham hocks and fold in diced ham and fresh tomatoes and simmer for another 30-40 minutes.
- Fold kale leaves into the black eyed peas and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste and you’re done!
If you wish to use collard greens or turnip greens, add them the same time as the diced ham and tomatoes as these need a bit longer to cook.
Low Waste Kitchen Tips When Cooking Black Eyed Peas with Ham
1. Reserve carrot peels and tips, celery ends, and onions ends to add to your stock bag in the freezer. You can also add these to your ongoing stock, like we do! Here is a recipe for our ongoing stock.
2. Don’t throw away your ham hocks and ham bone! You can keep them to make ham stock in a pressure cooker or you can give them to your dogs and they will definitely be thanking you later.
3. When removing you kale leaves from the steams, just rip the leaves off and add the steams to your stock bag as well. These thin leaves pack a punch of nutrients and add a lot to your homemade stocks.
4. Make black eyed peas to have ready at all time! Do a longer soak and rinse them off really well. Freeze them in 1-2 cup portions in freezer friendly bags of containers. Be sure to label the amount and date!
Hungry for more New Years food? Check out some of our favorites here:
- Decadent Recipes Infused with Wine
- Salad with Warm Goat Cheese and Toasted Baguette
- Decadent Dessert Recipes using Cookie Dough
- Ribeye Cap Steak Dinner for Two
We hope you enjoy the recipe and may you have a prosperous, healthy and joyful new year!
Black Eyed Peas with Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound dried black eyed peas
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 smoked ham hocks
- 1 ham bone (or use any pork bones)
- 6-8 cups water
- 3 cups diced ham
- 1-2 large tomatoes, diced
- 5 handfuls torn kale leaves (tough stems removed)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the black eyed peas, pick through and discard anything that's not-bean. Soak in water overnight or place in pot with water, bring to rolling boil. Turn off heat and let sit in hot water for 1 hour. Drain, discard water.
- In large, wide stockpot, heat olive oil. Saute carrots, celery, onion on medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes. Take care not to burn the vegetables. Add the garlic and saute additional 2 minutes. Add the ham bone, hocks, drained beans and water to the pot. Simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove the hocks and ham bones. Add the diced ham and tomatoes and simmer for additional 30 minutes. Add in kale leaves and cook until leaves are done (kale leaves only require 10 minutes). Salt to taste (the ham and hocks add quite a bit of salt, so taste as you salt)
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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SO DELICIOUS! I just made this using some leftovers in the freezer. This spring, I soaked beans (and black eyed peas) over night or a bit longer, then rinsed them off and froze them. I did it in 1 cup portions. They work great! I decided to make the ham stock in the pressure cooker with a few vegetables, a bay leaf and cider vinegar. After tasting it I had some left over for next time. This soup was so good! I may have to have another bowl…
No dogs are getting those ham hocks or ham bones.
Made this for new years again! Love this soup, but I cheat and use frozen black eyed peas. Still yummy!
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Wow! Just the recipe I needed for black eyed peas with ham/ham bone. I modified it using 2-15oz cans black eyed peas; several shakes garlic powder; 4 cups chicken broth + 3 cups water; 1-15oz can diced tomatoes; 1-frozen package leaf spinach- thawed & drained; 3/4 teaspoon thyme & 1- bay leaf. I defrosted the 1.5 lb ham bone in micro wave. Thanks for the terrific recipe + photos which made my first time making this soup a breeze & sooooo delicious. HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAYDON IN SHALIMAR, FL.
Just wanted to stop back in to let you know that I made this soup a couple of weeks ago, and it was scumptioussss!! I inhaled two bowls of it without even batting an eye. Going to make another pot of it tonight! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
Yep, black eyed peas are a must have. If they are not on the New Years Day table, there will be problems. And no luck! 🙂
I love the soup bowls. Please share the manufacturer if it is available.
Those are jadeite bowls that I bought from Ebay!
This black eyed peas with ham recipe sounds (and looks!) wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
Got the peas, got the ham, think I’ll see if I can just skip the greens (not on hand)–because this is making me so hungry I want it for supper!
Have a wonderful New Year.
Gorgeous colors in your soup Jaden and I wish you a wonderful 2011…so happy to have gotten to actually meet you last year in Atlanta- that was truly one of the hightlights of 2010 for me 🙂
Glad I saw your comment above about not loving your 100mm macro lens best. I have been thinking about buying that lens despite definitely not having the cash for it…so now I’ll just put in out of my mind!
This looks amazing, Jaden! Happy New Year! 🙂
Now THIS is somrthing I could go for now. After all that holiday feasting with the fam, I’m ready for a bowl of this. Nice and simple. In Hawaii, new years day is one of the biggest feasting days if you are Asian. And even if you are Asian, there is such a thing as too much rice and mochi. Thank you for sharing this.
Happy New Year, Jaden! I was wondering why so many people were talking about making black eyed peas. I though I wasn’t “with it” once again.
One of the things on my “To-Do” list for 2011 is to comment more on the blogs that I constantly read, so, one down and a bajillion more to go!
Have a great Sunday! 🙂
Oh, Jaden, thanks so much for writing back. I’m thinking of getting a macro lens for my camera.
I know my lighting isn’t great, lots of times I have to take my photos at night since I have a full time day job! I will check out your other site. Thanks for the tips.
I like the 24-70mm lens better than the 100mm macro. More flexibility and I don’t have to stand 3 feet away to get a shot of the whole plate.
From a NC girl from the South, a couple of more items to add to your “Southernness.” Pork for New Years, definitely, and it should be pork from the shoulder or upward, because of the forward rooting thing. Not from the backend of the pig. Any greens work as they represent green dollars. Blackeyed peas because they represent coin money. Don’t eat chicken or lobster, because they walk and scratch backward, denoting set backs for the new year. Round desserts, especially ring shapes, like cake, represent continutity (with a coin baked inside, brings luck to the person who gets it). Just thought you might like to hear a few more of these. HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL
Love it! Funny thing is some of the traditions are similar to Chinese New Year too! Happy New Year to you too.
Wow, what a beautiful rendition! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for the link, and have a Happy New Year!
PS did you pick put that green shirt to match the greens? I love how it works I. The photos!
Jews have the same tradition! We eat black eye peas for the Jewish new year Rosh Hashona, but of course without the ham!
My resolution for this year is to develop my food photography skills which are now pretty much nil. Your photography is amazing. Do you mind my asking if you have any tips to share with me? what kind of camera and lens do you use? I have a good Dslr camera (canon) but my lenses and skills are better suited for outdoor pix of my kids and scenery. Food photography is just a whole new thing for me. Any tips or recommended reading? Thanks so much and have a great year. Hope you accomplish everything you set out to do!
Hi Rivki, it’s all about natural light and gettin’ up close to the food. I use a Canon 5D Mark II camera with 100mm macro and 24-70mm lens http://ow.ly/3x1oU
However, don’t let that intimidate you – it’s not about the camera or expensive lens. I can take pics just as great with my Canon point and shoot http://ow.ly/3x1qj
Check out my other site – foodblogforum.com and go under photography to see some articles on food photography!
Love x 100 the pictures. What a great way to see the recipe in action! Here’s an idea for the penny – next year, tape a penny on the bottom of one bowl (underneath) and don’t tell anyone. Then after everyone finished the soup, ask them to look underneath their bowls to see who got the penny!
~Ellen
“I’ll pass on that one.”
That’s ALSO what happens if you do swallow the penny……
Happy New Years to you, Scott, and the little ones.
Great post – it’s so colourful!! I love the look of this recipe. Very cool.
This looks fantastic, and I love the beautiful colors. I’ve never made black eyed peas for New Years, but I’m definitely going to have to start making it a tradition, looks too good to pass up!
What beautiful recipes! Love your website!
Very nice! Happy New Year Jaden!!
I know I feel the same way, now that I’ve been in the south for more than twenty years, even though it’s SW Florida. I have my black eyed peas ready to go for tomorrow, and I use kale too instead of collard greens (maybe I’m not all that southern). Last New Year’s Day I made your crispy Kale for my greens! Did that count?
I like this recipe because it has it all in one pot!