Good Luck Hoppin' John
Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s Day dish. It is said that eating this black-eyed peas dish on January 1 will bring luck all year long!
Traditionally, Hoppin’ John is a one-pot recipe. The Southern-style classic uses thick-cut bacon as opposed to a ham hock (which can overpower the dish).
We also kept the recipe simple, but you can certainly add ingredients including: finely sliced celery, chopped green pepper, sliced scallions, and chopped garlic. For more flavor, use chicken broth instead of water.
No matter what your variation, these three ingredients make a Hoppin’ John: the pork, the peas, and the rice.
Wondering why it is called Hoppin’ John? Learn more at our Hoppin’ John page!
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Ingredients
Instructions
In a Dutch oven, cook bacon add onions until bacon is crisp and onions are soft. Add black-eyed peas, rice, 1 cup of water, and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer over low heat until rice is cooked, about 20 to 25 minutes. Toss with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Yield:
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Reader Comments
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hopping john
Can you prepare this in a crockpot or instapot?
Preparing Hoppin' John
Sure. You can prepare Hoppin’ John in any big pot. In terms of an instant pot, we don’t see why not. You’ll have to Google Instant Pot Hoppin’ John.
Hoppin'Johns
I'm from deep in the low country of South Carolina. Where I'm from we would never, ever use black eyed peas for Hoppin'Johns! We used a small, red pea commonly referred to as Field Peas; very different texture and flavor. More flavor and fiber, less starchy. In fact, my momma never cooked black eyed peas!
On my daddy's farm these peas grew wild among the other crops. Apparently this was the case for hundreds of years.
This year, having moved to NC from PA, I decided to grow Iron and Clay, an old SC heirloom. It sprawled, climbed the neighboring okra and finally starting blooming and produced a late summer crop.
You can get real field peas dried in southern grocery stores. The frozen ones are fake! They're black eyed peas. When I was in the north I jumped through hoops to get field peas for "real" Hoppin'Johns!
Please try the recipes with some real southern peas! I like to soak them overnight so they taste more like fresh-shelled field peas.
Field Peas
Thanks for the tip, Delphine! We will have to try field peas next year!
Hopping John
When my sons were little, I often made soup from various types of Jack Rabbit brand dry beans. Back then the bag for black-eyed peas had a recipe on the back for and a story about Hopping John, and it has been popular with my family from the first time I made it. We have enjoyed it several times each year since, although not always on New Year's Day. Some 30-odd years later now, it is still one of my oldest son's all time favorite dishes!
Hopping John
When I was small, we had black eyed peas & hog's jowl. I love soup. My mom in law one year decided instead it was going to be hopping John instead of plain black eyed peas. left me a can, then one day we decided soup would be good, but too lazy to go out & get a can a tomatoes. I put the can of hopping John & soup has never been better.
Every New Years Day we have
Every New Years Day we have Black-eyed peas and cornbread a tradition I have brought with me to Massachusetts from Oklahoma 34 yrs. ago. My wife a native Bostonian was skeptical to try this dish the first yr. of our marriage 34 yrs. ago, but now looks forward each New Years Day for our Good Luck meal.
Recipe for good luck and
Recipe for good luck and money for the New Year
A real New Years Years feast
A real New Years Years feast would include Black-eyed peas and cornbread, collard greens, fried smoked hog jowl, and hot pepper sauce. Peas for the pennies and collards for greenbacks, eat as much as you can, it will be your wealth for the year! Oh, yes, and plenty of sweet tea!
When I was growing up in New
When I was growing up in New Jersey, my Texan father insisted we eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day for luck. Fortune finally smiled on me when I moved away from home and no longer had to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day -- or any other day, for that matter. ;-)
There is no accounting for
There is no accounting for taste!
Although not called Hoppin'
Although not called Hoppin' John, my mom made this every New Years day accompanied by corn bread and cabbage. I still make this, traditionally these dishes are supposed to bring luck and money for the New Year. FYI My mom was from Cajun country in south Louisiana and we grew up in New Orleans.
I made this on new year's day
I made this on new year's day last year.
It was really good. It's good enough to made any time of the year.
thanks for the recipe