Southern Black Eyed Peas
In the south we have the tradition of eating black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years Day, to bring prosperity. While I am all for anything that brings me prosperity, I absolutely love black eyed peas and eat them year round!
Black eyed peas were the first thing I made in my Instant Pot when I got it three years ago. I was immediately sold. They were seriously the best I had ever eaten.
The beans were creamy, the ham tender, the broth was heavenly.
I have no idea why I never posted the recipe here. Well, today I'm ready to right that wrong. You need to make these ASAP!
Ingredients for Black Eyed Peas and Ham
- Black Eyed Peas - I buy organic when I can find them. You want to use dried black eyed peas for this, not canned.
- Ham - I use my leftover hambone from a spiral sliced ham that we had at Christmas, that I had wrapped in foil and placed in a ziplock bag and froze. I think the bone adds so much flavor to the broth, but you can just use chopped cooked ham if that's what you have.
- Carrots - organic if possible.
- Onion - onions are low in pesticides and you don't have to buy organic.
- Garlic - most agree that you don't have to buy this organic.
- Celery - celery is on the dirty dozen list and one of the foods you should always buy organic if you can.
Not pictured - olive oil for sautéing vegetables.
Note - I keep my recipe very simple, you can add a bay leaf or two, or other dried herbs if you'd like.
How to Make Pressure Cooker Black Eyed Peas
Dice the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. I use a ½ inch dice for the vegetables and finely mince the garlic.
Turn the Instant Pot on sauté and swirl in a drizzle of olive oil - about a tablespoon. When it is hot, add the vegetables, pepper. Stir them until they're sizzling and softened slightly, about 4-5 minutes. (I don't add salt at this time because it depends on how salty your ham is, so season with salt at the end.)
Rinse and drain the black eyed peas and pick out any debris. Add to the instant pot and stir to combine with the vegetables.
Top with the hambone.
Add 7 cups of water.
Lock the lid in place on the Instant Pot and make sure the valve is set to sealing. Turn off the sauté function and using the manual function, set it to High Pressure for 20 minutes.
Let the pressure cooker cook for 20 minutes, when the timer beeps, leave it rest for 30 minutes of natural pressure release. If after 30 minutes, the valve hasn't dropped (pressure released) doing a quick pressure release by moving the valve to venting.
When the pressure valve drops, remove the lid and look at your amazing black eyed peas!
Remove the hambone and when it's cool enough to handle, shred the ham and return it to the pot. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
I like to serve mine topped with collards instead of cooking the collards with the peas. Instead of cooking the collards in the traditional long cooking, I use the Brazilian method and make Brazilian Collard Greens. You julienne the collard greens and give them a quick sauté. They stay so green and have a tender bite to them.
These are seriously the best black eyed peas I have ever eaten. They come out perfectly creamy, bursting with ham flavor and the broth is divine. I don't know if you can see in the photo how rich and creamy it is, and it was just made with water!
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
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Looking for a cookbook for your pressure cooker, here are my Favorite Instant Pot Cookbooks.
If you make this I would love it if you would comment and leave a rating!
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 carrots peeled and cut into ½ inch dice
- 1 onion cut into ½ inch dice
- 2 stalks celery cut into ½ inch dice
- 1 pound black eyed peas dried, rinsed and sorted
- 2 cups cubed ham or preferably a meaty hambone
- 7 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté and drizzle in the olive oil.
- When hot, add the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the black eyed peas and stir to combine. Top with the hambone or the cubed ham.
- Pour in 7 cups of water.
- Lock the lid in place and set the valve on sealing. Set the pressure to high and set the timer for 20 minutes.
- When the timer beeps, let the pressure cooker do a natural pressure release for 30 minutes, then turn the valve to venting and let the rest of the pressure come down.
- Remove the hambone and when cooled enough to handle, shred the ham and add it back to the beans. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.
Debbie says
I have a ham bone with scrap in the freezer waiting on the perfect recipe...I have found it. This is honestly the perfect Black Eyed pea recipe and for a bonus it is made in the Insta Pot. I can't wait to try this with a big ole piece of corn bread!!
Amanda says
This was such a great way to make black-eyed peas! The Instant Pot gave them the perfect creaminess.
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says
Thank you for reminding me about black eyed peas! I eat a lot of beans but hardly ever this type. It looks wonderful!
kita says
Love that theres a ham bone in here! Such a cozy comfort dish!
GUNJAN C Dudani says
I am always looking for a variety of instant pot recipes and this looks fabulous. Will try it soon.
Aleta says
Okay, this is definitely the BEST way to make black eyes peas! I love my Instant Pot so much, and am always looking for awesome recipes to add to my life. Thanks!
Tammy says
Honestly, one of the best black eyed peas recipes I've come across! I love the broth and all the fixings..perfect winter meal for the weeknights.
Bernice Hill says
This recipe is very similar to a French Canadian pea soup, except of course pea soup is blended. Love the flavours, they're so comforting!
Sharon says
I'm always looking for new bean recipes to add to my menu to get lots of fiber as well as lots of flavor. This black-eyed peas recipe looks easy and delicious.
Ben says
Aww yeah. That looks so good. I grew up in the south, and we always had black eyed peas in our garden. So I love them.
Suzy says
I love using my instant pot to make beans and now I am sold on making black eyed peas in it too! So tasty and easy!
Jordin says
Mmmm, I love using my Instant Pot for easy dinner ideas! And, I cant wait to try out this recipe, it looks so delicious!
Taylor Kiser says
This is my kind of comfort food! And so easy to make, thanks to the Instant Pot!
kim says
Loved this recipe! It really had a great flavor and wasn't too difficult at all. Will definitely make again!
sherry brubaker says
The two things I love- a good instant pot recipe, and some Southern soul food! Well done, my friend!