Hoppin’ John Recipe – Black Eyed Peas & Rice

At a glance

What stands out: Get a pot of Hoppin’ John simmering for your New Year’s celebration to ensure prosperity for your household throughout the coming year! This slow cooking dish can be started way ahead of time and kept warm as along as you like.

How long it takes: 2 hours, plus time to soak the beans
Equipment you’ll need: large pan or Dutch oven
Servings: 8

Traditional Hoppin’ John

Celebrate New Year’s Day in southern United States and you may be served Hoppin’ John. If you’re not from the South, you may wonder what Hoppin’ John actually is. It doesn’t sound like something you eat but more like a cardio work-out or a yoga move.

Hoppin’ John is a stew made with black-eyed peas and rice, flavored with ham or bacon, and often served with cooked collards or other greens. This dish is thought to bring prosperity for the coming year, with the greens representing dollars and the peas standing in for coins (thanks, Wikipedia!).

While we won’t make any promises to you about prosperity (although we wish we could!), we can promise that you’ll love this traditional stew, with black-eyed peas and smoky ham. It’s filling, warm, and satisfying, and smells so good as it simmers gently on your stove.

We confess, we enjoy this black-eyed pea stew all year round, not just on New Year’s Day. Hoppin’ John is a great bean soup with an interesting tradition attached to it. We love it! We often make golden cornbread muffins to go along with it. This whole wheat cornbread recipe is great, too.

PS: There are all sorts of interesting theories about the history of Hoppin’ John and we won’t try to go into all that here. If you’re interested, check out Robert Moss’ research on Serious Eats. It’s quite fascinating!

Looking for more Southern-style eats? Try our jambalaya recipe or one pot Cajun chicken pasta.

What’s in traditional Hoppin’ John?

Most modern recipes use black-eyed peas, field peas, or cowpeas (iron clay peas), rice, chopped onion, and sliced bacon. You might find variations with sausage, ham hocks, fatback, or smoked turkey. Some recipes add green peppers, vinegar, and Cajun spices.

What goes in

• Black-Eyed Peas: They’re kind of cute with their little black eyes! Buy a one-pound bag of dried peas.
• Ham Hocks: You’ll need one or two, depending on how large they are and how meaty you like your stew.
• Broth: Since ham broth isn’t widely available, we usually use chicken broth or stock. Unsalted or low-sodium broth is preferable.
• Green Bell Pepper, Celery, Onion: This trio of vegetables is often combined to make a savory base for soups and stews.
• Garlic: The recipe calls for two cloves of fresh garlic. The amount of added garlic depends on your taste.
• Cajun Spice Blend: This blend of spices and herbs is mildly spicy but not too assertive. Look for a commercial blend or try making your own Cajun seasoning. The recipe does includes a substitution if you don’t happen to have it.
• Bay Leaf, Thyme, and Salt: Dried herbs are fine.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds just a dash of acidity to make the flavors sing.
• Rice or Cooked Greens for serving, along with chopped green onions for garnish.

How it comes together

Call it a soup or a stew, Hoppin’ John is thick and meaty. We like to serve it in a shallow bowl with steamed white rice which we prepare separately.

Begin by soaking the dry peas overnight. Drain and rinse the peas when you’re ready to get cooking. This soup is straightforward to prepare but it needs some time to simmer.

Cook the aromatics. When you’re ready to start cooking the stew, sauté the celery, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large soup pan or Dutch oven until they’re fairly tender.

Add remaining ingredients. Add the peas, broth, and seasonings, and give everything a good stir. Nestle the ham hocks into the mixture, bring the soup to a boil, then cover the pot.

Simmer. Cook the soup for an hour or so (more time is fine if that works out better for you). You’ll enjoy the rich aroma as the soup cooks.

Remove the meat from the bone. When the soup is nearly done, carefully remove the ham hocks and put them on a plate to cool briefly. The ham hocks are in there mostly for the smoky flavor they give the stew but there is a fair amount of meat on the bones. Trim off the skin and fat, and remove the ham from the bone. Shred it and throw it back into the soup.

Simmer again. Simmer until the stew looks just the way you like it. We like to simmer it uncovered for an additional 15 minutes to thicken it up a bit. Hoppin’ John is not fussy about time. It will be just fine hanging out on your stove keeping warm, until you’re ready to serve it.

Ways to change it

• Make it spicier. Add more Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, or hot peppers.
• Vegetarian Hoppin’ John. Omit the ham hocks, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and add smoked paprika, to taste. Add a half teaspoon of liquid smoke, if desired, to replicate the flavor of the ham hocks.
• Add more vegetables. You can add pretty much anything to soup you like. We also love this vegan black-eyed pea soup with tomatoes, carrots, and kale.
• Substitute another bean. If you can’t find black-eyed peas which can be a little difficult to find, depending on the season and the region in which you live, substitute another dried bean such as cranberry beans, navy beans, or pinto beans. Black beans would be fine, too, but be aware that the end product will be a different color.

Keeping leftovers

Hoppin’ John is great leftover! In fact, if you want to make it ahead to save time on New Year’s Day, it will be just reliable.

Refrigerate/Freeze. Store it in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for a month.

Reheat. To serve, thaw the soup overnight in the fridge if it’s frozen, and reheat the soup slowly in a pan on the stove. Add additional broth or water if the Hoppin’ John seems too thick.

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Total: 9 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, diced in ¼-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced small (about 2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed ( 2 cups dry)
• 1 ham hock
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• steamed white rice and chopped green onions

Method

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add celery, onion, green pepper and cook, stirring frequently for 7 to 8 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
2. Add soaked and rinsed black eyed peas, ham hock, chicken stock, water, bay leaf, thyme, Cajun seasoning, and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, about 5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 1 hour or until black eyed peas are tender.
4. Remove ham hock, take meat off the bone, shred it, and stir the meat into the soup. Stir in apple cider vinegar. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings, if desired.
5. If needed, cook for an additional 15 minutes with cover off to thicken soup, as desired.
6. Serve in a shallow bowl with steamed white rice or sautéed greens, and garnished with sliced green onions.

Notes

Alternatives to ham hock: If desired, substitute ½ pound bacon for the ham hock. Chop bacon into small pieces. Omit oil, cook bacon until almost crispy, and then add vegetables and continue as directed. Other options include sausage, ham, or smoked turkey.

Vegetarian option: Omit the ham hocks, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and add smoked paprika, to taste. Add a half teaspoon of liquid smoke, if desired, to replicate the flavor of the ham hocks.

Can’t find black-eyed peas? They can be a little difficult to find, depending on the season and the region in which you live. Substitute another dried bean such as cranberry beans, navy beans, or pinto beans. Black beans would be fine, too, but be aware that the end product will be a different color.

Cajun seasoning substitute: ½ teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon cayenne or red pepper. This isn’t exactly like the blend but it’s pretty close. If you like things spicy, increase the amount of Cajun seasoning, or add red pepper flakes, or cayenne pepper.