Here’s a Black Eyed Pea Soup recipe to start the new year with abundance! It’s wholesome, nourishing, and loaded with veggies, and easy to make. Vegan and gluten-free.
This black-eyed bean soup feels so nourishing! Simple ingredients come together synergistically to create a whole, greater than its parts. It consists of lots of wholesome veggies- carrots, celery, onion, tomato, bell pepper and kale, and dry black-eyed peas. Yes, you can absolutely use canned black-eyed peas to shorten the cooking time, which honestly isn’t that long- about 30 minutes once the beans get simmering-they are tiny little guys. Plus, I hear they are lucky, bringing prosperity and good fortune. Who couldn’t use a little bit of that? Serve with our Vegan Cornbread Muffins!
Why You’ll Love This!
- Incredibly nutritious. The colorful veggies are full of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals! Vegan and Gluten-free!
- Quick and easy. Only 20 minutes of prep time-perfect for busy nights!
- Warm and nourishing. A comforting, cozy soup, perfect for winter.
Black Eyed Pea Soup Recipe ingredients
- Dry black-eyed peas: Or use 2 x 14-ounce cans. The dried beans do not require soaking and only require about 35-45 minutes to cook. Of course, you can soak them for easier digestibility.
- Vegetables: Onion, Garlic cloves, celery sticks, carrots, red bell pepper (or sub green bell peppers or yellow)
- Diced tomatoes with juices: Or use 1 1/2 cups of diced fresh tomatoes.
- White wine: Use a dry white wine or skip and add a splash of vinegar at the end.
- Vegetable broth: You can also use 5 cups of water with 1 tablespoon “Better than Boullion” vegetable broth.
- Spices: Red pepper flakes, granulated garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried thyme (or sub dried Italian herbs), bay leaves, black pepper, cayenne pepper
- Soy sauce: Or use gluten-free liquid aminos. This is optional but adds depth.
- Lacinato kale: Or collard greens.
- Italian parsley
How to Make Black-Eyed Pea Soup
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add onion and garlic and saute, stirring 3 minutes, add chili flakes and stir 1 minute. Lower to medium heat, then add the carrots, celery, and salt. Saute 4 more minutes.
Deglaze the pan with the wine, and cook this off.
Add the tomatoes and juices, bell pepper, black-eyed peas, vegetable broth and all the spices.
Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 35-45 minutes or until black eye peas are tender. If you pre soaked them, the cooking time will shorten.
Taste the broth, adding more salt as necessary. If you want more depth, add more veggie bouillon or a tiny splash of soy sauce. Fold in the kale and half of the parsley, cook for 1-2 mins.
Serving Suggestions
To serve, divide among bowls, drizzle with good olive oil, and sprinkle with fresh Italian parsley. A little pecorino is nice too (obviously not vegan, but tasty).
Serve with Cornbread or our Vegan Cornbread Muffins!
FAQs
Black-eyed peas do not need to be soaked. Add them to the soup, and once simmering, they cook for about 30 minutes.
Cornbread or cornbread muffins are delicious with this soup. It is said that cornbread eaten with black-eyed pea soup on New Year’s Day represents gold!
You can add diced bacon or a ham hock, or even use ground beef or turkey that has been seasoned and browned. Ground sausage, chorizo, or soyrizo work well here too. Feel free to use chicken broth, or bone broth!
Black-eyed peas are so small that they cook rather quickly and don’t absolutely need to be soaked. Soaking does quicken cooking time and may increase digestibility, so if you have time, it is not a bad idea.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Black Eyed Pea Soup will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You can store this soup in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. To reheat, warm back up in a pot over the stovetop.
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
More Favorite Recipes
Black Eyed Pea Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 7 cups 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A New Year’s Day tradition, this black eye pea soup brings prosperity and good luck! This recipe is full of healthy veggies and delicious flavors. See notes for soaking or not soaking the beans.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 celery sticks, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds or half-moons
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices (or 1 1/2 cups of diced fresh tomatoes)
- 1 red bell pepper, big diced ( or sub green bell peppers or yellow)
- 1 1/4 cups dry black-eyed peas (or 2 x 14-ounce cans) see notes.
- 5 cups vegetable broth (or 5 cups water plus 1 tablespoon “Better than Boullion” vegetable broth)
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme (or sub dry Italian herbs)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 1–2 teaspoons soy sauce or GF liquid aminos- optional, for depth.
- big handful of lacinato kale chopped or chopped collard greens
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and garlic and saute, stirring 3 minutes, add chili flakes and stir 1 minute. Lower to medium heat, then add the carrots, celery, and salt. Saute 4 more minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine, and cook this off.
- Add the tomatoes and juices, bell pepper, black-eyed peas, vegetable broth and all the spices.
- Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until black eye peas are tender.
- Taste the broth, adding more salt as necessary. If you want more depth, add more veggie bouillon or a tiny splash of soy sauce. Fold in the kale and half of the parsley, cook for 1-2 minutes.
- To serve, divide among bowls, drizzle with good olive oil, and sprinkle with fresh Italian parsley. A little pecorino is nice too (obviously not vegan, but tasty).
- Serve with Cornbread or cornbread muffins!
Notes
Black Eyed Pea Soup will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or freeze for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
If you’d like to add meat– try browsing diced bacon or adding a ham hock, or use ground meat ( ground beef, turkey) that has been seasoned and browned, or ground sausage or chorizo. Soyrizo would work too. Feel free to use chicken broth, or bone broth!
Soak or not to soak? Feel free to soak the beans if they are older, or for easier digestibility. Cooking time will shorten. Not soaking the beans takes about 45 minutes of cooking time, while soaked beans take 30-35 minutes- so just watch them. 🙂
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 219
- Sugar: 8.5 g
- Sodium: 815.3 mg
- Fat: 6.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.5 g
- Fiber: 6.3 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Easy and flavorful! A definite keeper. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed Amelia!