You’ll also love Instant Pot Collard Greens, Southern Butterbeans or Scalloped Corn. As the story goes, black-eyed beans (black-eyed peas) are meant to bring you luck if you eat them on New Year’s day so its great to serve them at every New Year’s celebraton. Every little bit helps right? Alternatively I also serve Crockpot Pinto Beans or Instant Pot Black Beans.
Hoppin John Soup
Some just call this dish Hoppin’ John, others may refer to it as Hoppin’ John soup or Hoppin’ John stew. Whatever name you call it, you’ll love its flavour and heartiness. I really like the simplicity of this dish. Essentially, it is a black-eyed bean soup in which the beans are simmered with smoky bacon (or ham), onions, celery and pepper. And in my view this soup gets better the next day and the next day after that. And please do not skip topping this dish with crispy fried bacon and spring onions. They really do elevate it to something special. Yeap, just what you need on New Year’s day or any day of the year. Don’t worry, Hoppin’ John is not difficult to make. To make this easy Hoppin John recipe, do the following:
Ingredients
To make this special dish, you’ll need:
OnionsRed bell pepperCeleryGarlic clovesGingerChili (optional)Smoked bacon (leave out if you want to make vegetarian Hoppin’ John)Olive oilBlack-eyed beansStock cubeBay leafDried thymeSaltBlack pepperSpring onions
How To Cook Hoppin John
Roughly chop onion, pepper, celery, garlic, chili and ginger in a food processor.Fry bacon in oil in a pot until the bacon is crispy. Set aside a quarter of the bacon.Add the chopped vegetable mixture to the fried bacon and fry for another 10 minutes.Add the beans, stock, bay leaves, and thyme. Mix and bring to a boil.Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes.Add salt or black pepper to taste.Serve over rice and top with the rest of the bacon and spring onions.
Cook This In The Slow Cooker
Hoppin John soup is a popular recipe on this site, and I am quite often asked about slow cooker Hoppin’ John.
Roughly chop onion, pepper, celery, garlic, chili and ginger in a food processor.Fry bacon in oil in a pot until the bacon is crispy. Set aside a quarter of the bacon.Add the chopped vegetable mixture to the fried bacon and fry for another 10 minutes.Transfer these into the slow cooker along with the beans, stock, bay leaves and thyme, mix, cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or can cook on low for 7-9 hours.
Recipe Tips
For the best results make sure you pick through the black eyed beans before cooking.Serve this ladled over rice or mixed into the rice.For a lower carb version serve with cauliflower rice.
Delicious Variations
Vary the meat – Use ham hock or smoked turkey etc.Add greens – add in spinach, collard greens, mustard green or kale.Add tomatoes – some fresh diced tomatoes makes a big difference.
FAQs
More Southern Recipes
Smothered Potatoes.Scalloped Corn.Easy Creole Sauce.Shrimp Creole.Instant Pot Collard Greens.Crockpot Grits.Corn Pudding Casserole.Air Fryer Fried Chicken.Southern Butterbeans.Shrimp Po Boy.
Thank you for reading my Hoppin John recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice, and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes, and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog. This post has been updated from Dec 2013 and Nov 2017. The picture below is the original one.
