One Pot Southern Hoppin’ John is a traditional dish served in the South on New Year’s Day. This easy one pot wonder consists of a black-eyed pea mixture served over rice. Hoppin’ John is often accompanied by cornbread and collard greens.
Legend has it that the black-eyed peas are symbolic of pennies or coins
Cornbread, which is the color of gold, is thought to represent wealth.
The collard greens, which are the color of money are supposed to add to the wealth. Oftentimes, one adds a shiny dime to the Hoppin’ John before it is served. Whoever gets the dime is assured of good luck throughout the coming year.
Since this is an annual tradition, I decided to update the post from December 31, 2019 with current photographs and improved text.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Table of contents
Hoppin’ John – What a Funny Name!
I agree that Hoppin’ John is a funny name for a black-eyed pea dish. No one really knows how the name originated, although its history can be traced to the mid-1800’s.
One version of the legend is that name was attributed to an old, hobbled man named Hoppin’ John who sold peas and rice on the streets of Charleston. Another version of the legend described slave children who hopped around the table in eager anticipation of the dish.
One also has to wonder why Hoppin’ John became associated with good luck and the New Year. The most probable reason was that the slaves in the mid 1800’s would have time off between Christmas and New Years. The reason was that no crops were growing during that period. During the time off, the slaves would celebrate with the foods that were available: black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornmeal (used to make cornbread)!
Whatever its origin or history, Hoppin’ John is firmly rooted in the Southern tradition of welcoming a new year.
Ingredients for Southern Hoppin’ John
The two primary ingredients for Hoppin’ John are black-eyed peas and some form of pork. After that, there are numerous variations of this savory dish:
- Black-eyed Peas: I’ve always used dried black-eyed peas to make Hoppin’ John, but one could also use canned or frozen black-eyed peas. The dried peas need to be soaked overnight to reconstitute them.
- Smoked Sausage: My mother always made Hoppin’ John using the bone from our Christmas ham. I had already used this year’s bone in split pea soup. Therefore, I decided to depart from tradition and add smoked sausage in place of the ham. I actually think that the smoked sausage produces a more savory dish. I always use Conecuh Original smoked sausage. It’s incredibly flavorful but does need to be cooked.
- The Holy Trinity: Although Hoppin’ John originally hails from South Carolina, it’s a perfect dish to marry with the New Orleans’ holy trinity of onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic.
- Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies: I like my Hoppin’ John on the savory side. I’ve experimented with different seasonings but think that the Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies contributes the perfect amount of bite and depth of flavor.
- Chicken Broth: Even though the dried peas have been reconstituted, they still need to cook in a liquid. You could use water, but I prefer to use low-sodium chicken broth for a bit of extra flavor,
- The Seasonings: With the other ingredients, the Hoppin’ John doesn’t need much else to bring it to perfection. In addition to salt and pepper, I like to add some thyme.
Making the Hoppin’ John
Hoppin’ John is a relatively easy dish to prepare.
- First, I cut the sausage into ¼-inch pieces. Then, I cooked the sausage over medium heat in my Dutch oven until it rendered most of its fat.
This was probably the most time-consuming part of making the Hoppin’ John, taking about 30 minutes total!
I drained the cooked sausage on paper towels. Next, I pressed each piece with additional paper towels to ensure that I had removed as much grease as possible.
- After all of the sausage was done, I poured the fat from the Dutch oven. Then, I wiped any residual fat with paper towels. What was left in the pan was quite a bit of browned bits that contain a lot of flavor.
I added the onion, celery and bell pepper to the Dutch oven. I let them cook over medium heat for about five minutes. During that time, I started scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven.
- Once the onions, celery and bell pepper had started to soften, I added the garlic. I cooked the mixture for about 30 seconds until the garlic became fragrant.
- Next, I added the can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies. I continued to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any remaining browned bits.
- After that, I added the black-eyed peas, cooked sausage, thyme, salt, pepper and chicken broth.
- I stirred the mixture to ensure that everything was well combined. Then, I covered the pan, reduced the heat to medium low and let the Hoppin’ John cook for about an hour and a half.
- After an hour and a half, the peas were tender and the mixture was creamy. I tasted it to see whether any additional seasonings were necessary. I thought that it was perfect!
I served the Hoppin’ John with cooked rice accompanied by Southern Collard Greens and Southern Cornbread Sticks. Yum! Happy New Year!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes, I make the Hoppin’ John in my Instant Pot. Once everything is combined, I close the vent and select high pressure for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I let the Instant Pot depressurize naturally.
I’ve used both ham and andouille sausage in the past when making the Hoppin’ John. Both will work. However, I think that the smoked sausage produces the best flavor.
You can certainly omit the sausage or other meat when making the Hoppin’ John. Also substitute either water or vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
The leftovers from this recipe are excellent. Just refrigerate them for up to 3 days and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Watch my Web Story Showing How I Made This Delicious Recipe
If you liked the recipe for One Pot Southern Hoppin’ John, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. I’d love to know how you liked it!
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One Pot Southern Hoppin’ John
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16-ounces) dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed well
- 1 pound (16-ounces) smoked sausage, sliced into ¼-inch slices
- 1 large onion, chopped (1 ½ cups)
- 3 stalks celery, chopped (¾ cup)
- ½ bell pepper, seeded and chopped (½ cup)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups (32-ounces) low sodium chicken broth
- 10 ounce can Original Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped chives or green onions for garnish (optional)
- 3 cups cooked white rice
Instructions
- Cook sausage over medium heat in a large Dutch oven until done, about 30 minutes). Drain well on paper towels. Pour fat from pan, and wipe interior with paper towel to remove any residual fat.
- Return Dutch oven to medium heat; add onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often to loosen fond on bottom. Add minced garlic; cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add Rotel Tomatoes and Chilies; continue to stir to loosen any remaining fond on bottom of pan. Add black-eyed peas, cooked sausage, thyme, salt, pepper and chicken broth.
- Cover and simmer over medium low heat for one hour and 30 minutes, or until peas are tender and creamy. Adjust seasonings, and garnish with chopped chives or green onions. Serve over rice. Yield: 8 servings.
Would like to try this! Can the green pepper be eliminated? Or switched out for something else?
Hi Barb,
You can omit the green pepper.
Chula
WONDERFUL flavors, great recipe! Would definitely make again!
Everything worked as directed EXCEPT it took 2hours to get to “creamy” beans that were cooked to done. I also used an enameled cast iron dutch oven. Mixture was bubbling over medium heat. Had to leave the lid off for the last 1/2 hour. Other than that, perfect!
What are the precise directions for instant pot or pressure cooker? Natural release or quick release? Is the texture of the sausage affected?
Lisa,
You can cook the black-eyed peas in the Instant Pot without soaking them first. Cook them on high pressure for 15 minutes with a natural release for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, use the quick release. If you want to soak the black-eyed peas, cut the cooking time in half. Neither the taste nor the texture of the sausage is affected by using the Instant Pot. Hope this helps.
Chula
Could you use frozen black eyed peas?
Yes, frozen black eyed peas can be used in this recipe. However, you would need to reduce the cooking time accordingly.
Made this last New Years while we were quarantined. It was delicious!!!
Delicious! This recipe took my hoppin john to another level of taste with the addition of andouille sausage, green peppers, etc. One change though, is that we’ve always used dried field peas or cow peas. This time I used fresh field peas which I blanched and froze a month earlier, so it cooked much faster. I will cook this again!!!
When I first started making Hoppin’ John years ago, I always used ham. However, I agree that using sausage instead takes it to a new level. So glad that you liked the recipe!