These slow cooker black eyed peas are loaded with ham, sausage and veggies. The perfect crock pot meal to get your new year off to the right start!
Ring in the new year the Southern way with these easy and delicious black eyed peas. They’re full of smoky meat and are absolutely amazing served over rice.
In the South, eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity for the new year. Get your new year started off on the right foot with these easy (and totally delicious) slow cooker black eyed peas. They’re hearty, loaded with smoky flavor and are sure to bring you lots of luck!
How to make slow cooker black eyed peas
For this recipe you’ll need a bag of black eyed peas, onion, green pepper, garlic, ham and sausage. I use both a ham hock or bone and chopped ham in my crock pot black eyed peas for maximum flavor. You can save your ham bone from Christmas (toss it in the freezer!) or buy a ham hock. If you don’t have either one, simply omit and it’ll still be delicious.
You’ll want to soak your black eyed peas for anywhere from 4-8 hours before you put them in the slow cooker. Soaking the peas helps them to cook faster. If you don’t have time to soak your peas, you can still make this recipe; just be aware that it might take longer to cook.
The ham and sausage, and seasonings get stirred in close to the end. I add the seasoning at the end because sometimes salt can interfere with the cooking process and make the peas tough, so if you add it after the peas are mostly cooked, you avoid that issue.
I use a rope style sausage like kielbasa, but if you can really use any type of smoked sausage that is available to you.
You can serve these peas as-is or over steamed rice. I typically serve them with rice, but honestly they’re great as a stand alone dish too. My whole family loves these black eyed peas, even the kids! We eat them all year long, but they’re always on our New Year’s Day menu too, because who couldn’t use a little extra luck?!
More slow cooker recipes
- Slow Cooker Ham Bone Soup
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
- Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas Video
Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb dried black eyed peas soaked for at least 4 hours
- 1 ham bone or ham hock
- 5 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 14 ounces smoked rope sausage such as kielbasa or andouille, halved lengthwise and sliced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place the onion, bell pepper, garlic, black eyed peas, ham bone and chicken broth in a slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.
- Uncover and remove one cup of the peas. Mash thoroughly then return to the pot. Add the ham, sausage, salt and pepper to the pot. Stir thoroughly.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 more hour.
- Remove the ham bone. Stir in the parsley and serve with rice.
Danielle says
I want to make this for a potluck, and I really want to add sliced okra. Do you think it would make it too slimy?
Sara says
If you added okra I’d add it towards the very end!
Molly says
Can I make this with regular chicken broth, or does it have to be low sodium? Will it be too salty if I use regular chicken broth?
Sean says
For years I have been searching for a great recipe for my good luck black eyed peas. This year I was fortunate to save a ham bone from Christmas Dinner in hope of incorporating into our New Years Black Eyed Peas recipe. Well after years of trying to figure it out on the fly or endless research on the “inter web” in the recent years, I have finally found a recipe that has brought it “HOME”. We are a Texas Family and tradition runs deep in our neck of the woods, so having Black Eyed Peas on New Years Day is going to happen no matter the taste or expense.
2020 and Dinner At The Zoo has brought a new tradition to our family that we hope carries on for generations. We tweaked the recipe a bit, but stayed the course for the most part. Adding only ground sausage and beef cooked the night before for more flavor. We also used canned peas, which we drained and rinsed and then followed the recipe cook time of 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
This was the BEST recipe that we have found, as my wife says “49 years”, and I suggest you use it and make your New Years Day Good Luck Meal and FANTASTIC MEAL.
Thank you to the ZOO and HAPPY NEW YEAR
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, happy new year!
Cayce says
What size slow cooker do you recommend using?
Sara says
I use a 6 quart!
Lori says
Can you use frozen black eyed peas?
Sara says
Yes but frozen peas are pre-cooked and won’t need as long in the slow cooker.
J.R. (Not the Dallas one. ; ) says
I’m absolutely going to make this. Looks so good. Thank you for the recipe.
Shanda says
Can I use this recipe for great northern beans.
Sara says
Yes that should work fine!
CFNM says
This recipe was truly outstanding! Phenomenal! After enjoying this for dinner for a few nights, I changed up the flava for the remaining batch by adding tomato paste, tomato sauce and a can of Rotel (plus more garlic). Another round of incredibleness!
FIVE STARS!!
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!