Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas

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. Enjoy these peas with other Southern favorites like mustard greens and fried okra.

Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas Ingredeints

To make this slow cooker black eyed peas recipe you will need an onion, a green bell pepper, garlic, black eyed peas, a ham bone or ham hock, chicken broth, chopped ham, smoked rope sausage, salt, black pepper and parsley for garnish. Enjoy these beans on New Years’ Day while watching the game with some game day recipes like sausage cheese balls, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, and homemade Chex mix.

How Do You Make Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas

To make slow cooker black eyed peas first soak the black eyed peas in water for 4 to 8 hours. Next, place the onion, bell pepper, garlic, soaked black eyed peas, ham bone and chicken broth in a slow cooker. This will cook on high for 5 hours with the lid closed. Uncover the crock pot and remove one cup of peas. The peas should be tender. Mash them and return them to the pot. Stir in ham, sausage, salt and pepper. Cover the crock pot and cook for another hour. Remove the ham bone and serve the peas over rice.

Tips For The Perfect Dish

You’ll want to soak your beans 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. I use both a ham hock or bone and chopped ham in my crock pot black eyed peas for maximum pork flavor. You can often find a ham hock in the grocery store near other cuts of pork. If you can’t find a ham bone or ham hock you can make this dish with just the diced ham. The taste will still be great! I add the seasoning at the end because sometimes salt can interfere with the cooking process and make the peas tough. If you add it after the peas are mostly cooked, you avoid that issue.

Flavor Variations

This slow cooker black eyed peas recipe is fantastic as-is; however you can change the dish to suit your taste.

Sausage: I use a rope style sausage like kielbasa. But you can really use any type of smoked sausage that is available to you. Rice: I typically serve this dish over steamed rice. However, you can serve them with brown rice, grits or honey cornbread. Vegetables: You can add in veggies like diced celery, carrots or a can of stewed tomatoes. Also, serve these peas with veggies like collard greens, bacon ranch green beans or fried corn. Meat: Substitute the ham hock or ham bone with a smoked turkey wing. You can also use diced turkey meat in place of ham. Broth: You can substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth or beef broth. Spicy: Add extra spice with Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning or some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.

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?!