Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas

These good-luck, creamy, tender beans cook up twice as fast in the Instant Pot so you can celebrate a prosperous new year to come, quicker than ever.

While associated with good luck when enjoyed on New Year’s Day, black-eyed peas really deserve a place on the table all year long. They’re easy to cook, creamy, slightly sweet, and when black-eyed peas are cooked in the Instant Pot, you can enjoy these good-luck legumes twice as fast as if you cooked them on the stove or in a slow cooker. 

Are Black-Eyed Peas Beans Or Peas?

Black eyed peas, also known as cowpeas or field peas, are part of the legume family (bean), and are most commonly found in grocery stores across the United States dried and bagged. You might also see canned black-eyed peas in stores across the South.

The beans are shaped like mini kidney beans, creamy beige in color, with a dark or black spot on the top center, giving the beans their hallmark name.

Why Is It Lucky To Eat Black-Eyed Peas?

Though native to West Africa, black-eyed peas became a Southern New Year’s tradition through a variety of passed-down folklore and superstitions that promised to bring good luck and prosperity to those who ate black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day:

• When served plain, the swelling of the beans as they cook symbolizes the “swelling” of your wallet throughout the New Year.
• When served with pork, like in our Southern-Style Instant Pot version, it symbolizes forward, positive motion, much like a foraging hog.
• When served with cornbread, the gold color of the corn symbolizes gold and wealth.
• The color of money is represented when the black-eyed peas are served with greens, like collards, turnip greens, or mustard greens.

Rinse And Pick Through Your Beans

Dried, packaged beans often have a covering of “bean dust,” which is just ground up pieces of bean that fly through the air during processing. It’s not harmful in any way, but it’s always a good idea to rinse this off of the black-eyed peas before cooking. 

Simply transfer the black-eyed peas to a fine mesh strainer and run under cold water for 30 seconds or so. This is also a great time to pull out any shriveled up or oddly-shaped beans, and the occasional vine or stem.

Do I Need To Pre-Soak For The Instant Pot?

Beans are typically soaked overnight to help them become more digestible by reducing a specific type of sugar present in the beans that can often cause gas and bloating. Doing this also reduces slow cooker or stovetop cook times. Cooking under pressure in an Instant Pot eliminates this step, so beans can go straight from rinsing to cooking.

Because black-eyed peas are so mild, adding bold flavors to the cooking liquid ahead of time is important. As the beans absorb this cooking liquid, they become infused with whatever flavors are in the liquid—in this case, bacon, onion, and seasonings. 

Learn more about cooking all types of beans in the Instant Pot in our series over on TheCookful.

Bacon Or Ham Hock For Black-Eyed Peas?

In traditional Southern recipes, ham hocks are typically used to create the smoky, salty broth for the beans. In the Instant Pot, however, the cook time is so short that the ham hock never has a chance to render enough flavor into the liquid, so I’ve substituted a half pound of bacon, finely chopped.

The bacon, along with a chopped onion, herbs, and spices are sauteed for about two minutes, followed by the chicken stock and beans. Secure the Instant Pot lid, start the timer, and in 30 minutes, you’ll have perfectly cooked black-eyed peas for your very lucky new year.

Do you have a New Year’s family food tradition? Tell me about it in the comments.

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