I love the southern tradition of eating Hoppin John on New Year’s Day! It’s thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck, and I’ll happily accept all the good luck I can get.
Carolina peas and rice started in the Lowcountry before becoming a full-on Southern favorite.
You can make your Hoppin John recipe with dried or canned black-eyed peas, but since canned foods make homemade easy (yay!) and I’m a little worn out from a month of Christmas baking, I’m taking the quick and easy route for this absolutely delicious good luck recipe.
One thing I love about this peas and rice recipe is that it tastes even better the next day, so feel free to make it ahead of time and serve it on New Year’s Day!
Of course, there’s no rule saying you can’t enjoy it year-round either, especially since the fresh and canned ingredients are easy to find. I always have a well-stocked pantry, so spur of the moment cooking is easy!
Hoppin John
Hoppin’ John
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ green pepper diced
- ½ red pepper diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- ½ small onion diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 15.5oz cans black-eyed peas, drained
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 8 oz diced ham
- 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground red pepper
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 4 cups rice
Instructions
- In medium stockpot, saute bell peppers, jalapeno and celery in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add onion and butter; saute another minute.
- Stir in black-eyed peas, chicken broth, diced ham, canned diced tomatoes, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and ground red pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer for 45 minutes, covered.
- Stir in vinegar.
- Serve over rice.
