How to Cook Black Eyed Peas

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Now more than ever, it’s especially helpful to know how to cook a variety of basic pantry staples from scratch.

And in my opinion, one of the best staple ingredients around are Black Eyed Peas. Seriously, everyone has to have some of these in their pantry.

Also known as black eyed beans, these aren’t sweet like green peas. Black Eyes Peas have a nutty earthy flavor, and a soft yet firm texture, which makes them ideal for adding to other recipes.

For more beans you might like to check out How To Cook Canned Pinto Beans and these How To Cook Black Beans.

Yeap, you can add your cooked black eyed peas to everything from salad, stir fry and soups to casseroles and grain bowls.

 And don’t forget about classic dishes like Hoppin John Soup and these delicious side dish Rice and Peas.

Why Cook From Scratch?

Here are just a few reasons should you cook Black Eyed Beans from scratch instead of relying on the canned version:

• You can add sooooo much more flavor to the beans when you cook them from scratch.
• You can also cook them to the firmness you desire for different recipes (i.e. softer for soups, firmer for salads).
• And even better, you can reserve the cooking liquid and use it to cook a divine tasting rice.

Oh and you can easily cook more beans than you need and store them in the fridge. They keep this way for about 5 days without any problems. #mealprepforthewin

Ingredient Notes

• Dried black eyed peas – you start with dried peas which you can get from your grocery store.
• Cooking liquid – you can use water, chicken broth or vegetable broth to your taste.
• Seasoning – to your taste. I tend to add in garlic powder, onion powder, a bay leaf and some chili flakes. See plenty of suggestions below.

Soak Black Eyed Peas Overnight

Whilst you don’t need to soak these, soaking them means that you will greatly reduce the cooking time. The easiest way to do this is to soak your beans overnight.

Place the dried beans into a container and add approximately 4 times the volume of cold water to beans (easiest if you use cup measures, so 1 cup beans to 4 cups water) and soak overnight. In the morning, drain soaking water, rinse and proceed with cooking.

How To Quick Soak Dried Black Eyed Beans

You can also quick soak dried beans. Just place them in a pot with approximately 4 times the volume of water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes.

Then switch off the heat and let them soak for 1 hour. Drain, rinse and proceed with your recipe.

How To Cook Black Eyed Peas On The Stovetop

Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Add black eyed peas into a saucepan.
2. Add enough water or broth so that the liquid is about 1 inch (3cm) above the beans.
3. Add in seasonings of your choice. I generally add in garlic, bay leaves and onions.
4. Bring to the boil, then simmer partially uncovered for between 45 – 90 mins depending on how firm or soft you want your beans.
5. If the water or broth dries out before the beans finish cooking then add some more.
6. When cooked, drain the beans. You can reserve the cooking liquid and use it to cook rice or flavour soups and stews.

Cook Them In The Oven

Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card further below.

Cooking them in the oven is also so easy.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C / fan-assisted 160C / gas 4.
2. Place the pre-soaked beans into an oven-ready dish with enough water or chicken stock or vegetable stock so that there is 4cm (1.5 inches) of liquid above the beans.
3. Add in your seasoning or flavors and bake about 80 minutes
4. Check the beans if they are cooked through.
5. If not then bake them for a little bit longer checking them every 10 minutes till don.

How To Cook Instant Pot Black Eyed Beans

Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card further below.

No soaking needed when you cook black eyed beans in the Instant Pot!

1. Rinse beans and add to the Instant Pot insert.
2. Pour in water, chicken or vegetable broth and stir.
3. Place lid on, and turn the valve to the sealing position. Set the Instant Pot to manual pressure / high pressure for 30 minutes.
4. Cook beans till done, then allow for a complete natural pressure release (NPR). Then open lid, stir, season to taste and serve.

Recipe Tips

• Pick through the beans. Remove shrivelled beans and any debris before cooking.
• You can reserve the cooking liquid and use it to cook rice or flavour soups and stews.
• Bulk it out. Add bulk to the meal by serving the beans over another starch such as rice or quinoa.
• Thicken it. Feel free to remove some of the beans, mash them and add back in to thicken it.
• Thin it out. If you plan to reheat you may want to add more broth too thin as desired.
• If you prefer very soft beans then cook for longer.
• Change up the beans. Use other beans like navy beans, pinto beans etc but be aware that cook time will vary.

Flavor Ideas and Variations

• Add in some meat – feel free to add in things like leftover ham hocks or diced ham, salt pork, bacon, chorizo, smoked turkey or turkey bacon etc
• Heat – add heat with hot sauce, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, adobo chili etc.
• Add spices – like garlic powder, smoked paprika, cajun seasoning, black pepper and more.
• Add greens – add in collard greens or kale and spinach towards the end of cook time.
• Add veggies – things like sauteed onions, peppers, celery etc
• Oil – a drizzle of olive oil makes a great addition.

MEAL PREP AND PREP AHEAD

Black Eyed Beans is an ideal meal prep recipe because it can be easily stored in the fridge or freezer until you need it. I love to make big batches and freeze till out when I need beans for other meals.

Prep Ahead – Make ahead and refrigerate for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Freeze – Follow the handy tips below on how to freeze this.

• Let cool down then transfer into  Ziploc freezer bags.
• Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags.
• Label the bags and then lay them flat in the freezer.
• Store in the freezer for 3 months.

Meal Prep – Feel free to make a fair amount of beans and with a few adjustments you can get several meals out of one pot of beans. Here are some suggestions:

• Add additional broth, bring the pot to a boil and serve as a soup.
• You can also pour some of the brothy beans over rice, potatoes, and cornbread.
• Mash the leftover beans and serve refried beans style as a side dish.

Benefits of Black Eyes Beans

There are many:

• They are high in fiber (always good for us).
• They are an excellent source of vegetarian or vegan protein.
• Filling and affordable.

More Pantry Staple Recipes

• Instant Pot Pinto Beans.
• Easy Instant Pot Black Beans.
• Greek Rice.
• How To Cook Canned Peas.
• How To Cook Canned Pinto Beans.
• Crock Pot Pinto Beans.

Recommended Tools

• You want an awesome saucepan or casserole pot for boiling your veggies well.
• Use THE BEST EVER sea salt.
• Store leftover food in these multi-use airtight containers.
• For the best tools to help make your recipe even easier and more successful, check out my collection of the Best Kitchen Tools on Amazon.

Weight Watchers Points

If you do not add any meats, there are 0 (yeap zero!) Blue Plan SmartPoints in a serving of beans.

Thank you for reading my guide on how to cook black eyed beans. And please come visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you.

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