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These Instant Pot black-eyed peas are the best ever, coming from a Southerner! They’re easy to make, thanks to the Instant Pot, and are absolutely loaded with flavor from easy-to-find ingredients. Perfect for New Year’s Day or anytime you’re craving delicious black-eyed peas.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It’s rich, hearty, flavorful and the perfect warm meal for those cold-weather months.
- The Instant Pot makes this the easiest black eyed peas recipe you’ll ever make! Other than the occasional stirring and mashing, you’ll have a delicious dinner with minimal effort.
- It’s great for freezer meals! Freeze prepared black eyed peas in covered, airtight containers for up to 6 months.
- No soaking necessary! This recipe uses dry beans and they still come out perfectly tender, which means less prep work for you!
Key Ingredients
Black Eyed Peas – Hailing from West Africa, black eyed peas are actually beans, and they are a staple in Southern soul food. A traditional New Year’s meal in the South consists of black eyed peas and collard greens – the beans symbolize prosperity and eating them on New Year’s Day supposedly brings good luck and good health in the new year. Of course, they’re perfect to eat any day – they’re a great source of fiber, protein, and antioxidants.
Bay Leaves – These herbs have a scent similar to oregano and thyme, and help bring out the other flavors and spices in a dish. Dried bay leaves have a more intense flavor than fresh bay leaves.
How to Make It
Making Instant Pot black eyed peas could not be easier! Start by sautéing bacon, onion, and garlic in oil in the Instant Pot, then add in everything else and cook on manual high pressure for 25 minutes.
Once the cooking is done, release the pressure naturally for 15 minutes and then vent the rest. Mash them with a potato masher until you’ve got the desired consistency, then sauté them again to thicken up.
Ladle a helping of black eyed peas into a bowl. Garnish with black pepper, olive oil, and Tobasco, and serve with cornbread and collard greens!
Chef’s Tips
- The age of your dried beans can affect your cook time. If you’re using black eyed peas that have been in the pantry for a while, you may need to add a few more minutes to step 2 of the cooking instructions.
- Don’t worry if there’s a lot of liquid in the pot after the beans cook – that’s what gives them the ideal texture! As you stir and mash the beans, they’ll combine with the liquid to form a creamy sauce.
- As good as they are fresh, they’re even better the next day. Reheat them on the stove top over medium heat until heated through. Add a little water if needed.
- Serve your black eyed peas on top of rice for an easy Hoppin’ John dish.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Southern Instant Pot Collard Greens
- Instant Pot Turkey Chili
- Sausage and Peppers in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice
- Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
- 50 Low Carb Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Carrots
- Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Instant Pot Eggs
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
- Instant Pot Chicken Legs
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 strips thick sliced bacon cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium onion diced small
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper plus more for garnish
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 8 ounces smoked ham diced into ½-inch cubes
- 2 cups water
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 pound dried black-eyed peas
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- olive oil for drizzling
- Tabasco or hot-pepper vinegar as desired
- cornbread for serving, optional
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to sauté mode and add oil. Once heated, add bacon, onion, and garlic to the pot. Cook, stirring, until the onion and garlic are lightly browned, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Add black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. Cook until entire mixture is coated in spices, approximately 2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock, ham, water, bay leaves, and black eyed peas. Stir to combine. Secure lid and cook on Manual High Pressure for 25 minutes at high pressure. It will take about 10 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- After cooking is finished and Instant Pot beeps, allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then vent to release remaining pressure. Remove bay leaves, stir in salt. Using a potato masher, mash peas until desired consistency is reached.
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté mode. Let simmer 5 minutes or until desired thickness is reached. Ladle into bowls. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and Tabasco to taste.
- Serve with cornbread and collard greens for a truly Southern meal.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Store in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days.
- Make it Vegetarian: Use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock, and leave out the ham and bacon. It won’t have quite the same flavor, but your beans will still be great!
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Thank you for this great recipe! Very simple to follow and the peas tasted awesome! My own personal taste will do it with a smaller amount of cayenne, but that’s just me. My husband hates black eyed peas and he ate two bowls of this stuff.
Thank you so much, Katherine! Happy New Year to you!
Just finished making it and it’s amazing. Very simple to make and great instructions ! Thank you!
I appreciate your review, Diamond! Thank you so much, and Happy New Year to you!
Thank you for an awesome recipe. Our New Years Day dish was delicious.
So happy we could be part of your holiday meal, Amanda!! Happy New Year – wishing you a great 2024!
Ugh, beans were way overcooked, basically mush right out of the instapot. So disappointed.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Sharon! We’ve definitely not had that happen so I’m not sure where it might have gone wrong. I’d love to help you troubleshoot it if I can, though. Just to cover the bases, after the 25 minute cook time, you let the pressure Natural Release for 15 minutes, and then you immediately Quick Released any remaining pressure, right? And you used dry, unsoaked black eyed peas?
Delicious and easy!!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
Love this recipe and now going to take it to a work cook off 🤣. Question on next day reheating. Will a crockpot work to warm it up and make it ready to go by noon?
Hi, Steve! We’ve never tried reheating it in the crockpot, but it should work just fine if you keep them on low! Be sure to check on them every once in a while and add a dash of water if they’re looking dry. You could also reheat them over the stovetop first and place them in the crockpot under the “keep warm” setting. Hope the cook off goes well! 🙂
Not sure what happened but the peas were hard after following the recipe. I cooked them for 16 more minutes. Any thoughts? The broth is really good.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry that was the result you got, Robyn. I’d love to help troubleshoot this if I can.
Just to make sure I’m on the same page – after the Instant Pot pressurized, you cooked the pound of dry beans (and other ingredients) on Manual High Pressure for 25 minutes followed by a Natural Release for 15 minutes, and they were too hard to mash after that?
Was there still a good amount of liquid left in the pot when you removed the lid, or had it mostly evaporated? If most of the liquid was gone and the beans were hard, then most likely either A) the vent wasn’t in the Sealing position, or B) the inner seal of the lid needs to be checked and possibly replaced. If you use your Instant Pot a lot, or if you’ve had it a while, that silicone ring may be worn out. When that happens, the lid doesn’t create a good seal, and then the food doesn’t cook correctly. That can happen if the sealing ring is a little loose, too, and falls out of place.
I hope you’ll give this recipe another try! Fingers crossed it turns out perfectly next time!
Delicious!
So glad you enjoyed them, Jean! 🙂
Agree Best EVER Black Eyed Peas! Just like my great aunt Frankie used to make! Fabulous!
Love to hear that, Sharee’! 🤍
Super! Never had black eyed peas. My husband had all the southern foods growing up. A delicious recipe! Thanks!
So glad you loved these black eyed peas, Dianne! 🙂