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Recipe for Good Luck Hoppin' John | Almanac.com

Good Luck Hoppin' John

Photo Credit
Sam Jones/Quinn Brein
Yield
Makes 8 servings.
Category
Vegetables
Course
Side Dishes
Sources
Weekly Wisdom

Good Luck Hoppin' John
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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’ve kept the recipe simple, but you can certainly add other 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 black-eyed peas, and the rice.

Wondering why it is called Hoppin’ John? Learn more at our Hoppin’ John page!

Ingredients
4 thick-cut bacon slices, chopped
1/2 cup yellow onions, chopped
2 cups cooked black-eyed peas or 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen black-eyed peas
1/2 cup white rice (Carolina Gold rice preferred)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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.

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Comments

Thanks for the tip, Delphine! We will have to try field peas next year!

Dennis (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

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!

Betty Smith (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

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.

Rob (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

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.

Annette Nunn (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

Recipe for good luck and money for the New Year