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Black Eyed Pea Soup – This hearty, smoky soup, is not only perfect for New Year’s Day, but is quick and easy enough to keep you warm all winter long.
This soup is full of healthy plant based protein, loaded with vitamins and minerals, and packed with flavorful spices. It’s healthy and filling and might just bring you good luck and prosperity in the New Year!
Healthy Ingredients
This soup starts out with the most common aromatics – onions, garlic, celery, and carrots.
Dried spices and herbs – chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano – are added for a punch of bold flavor.
Black eyed peas and collard greens go into the mix for that classic New Year’s Day combo.
Diced tomatoes and vegetable broth create a bath for all the rest to nestle in and get cozy.
A dash of vinegar and sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley in the end liven up the dish.
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas, or black eyed beans as they are sometimes called, is a variety of the cowpea in the legume family. Despite the name, these “peas” aren’t peas at all, but are actually beans. You will recognize them by the characteristic black spot on a cream colored bean.
Black eyed peas are mild in flavor, but high in protein, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, folate, vitamin A, vitamin K, and more!
In southern tradition, black eyed peas are said to resemble coins and if eaten on New Year’s Day they will bring wealth.
Combined with stewed tomatoes, they are said to bring health and wealth. Good thing we’ve got both in this healthy Black Eyed Pea Soup recipe!
How Do You Cook Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas do not need to be soaked, but soaking them will reduce the cooking time. They can be “quick” soaked by boiling them for 2-3 minutes, then removing from the heat and letting them soak for about an hour. Alternately, you can soak them in cold water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Once soaked, drain the water and fill up the pot again with fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour until they are tender.
Don’t have 2-3 hours…or more… to cook your black eyed peas? Yeah, me neither! For this soup, I used canned black eyed peas for convenience, which means it can be made in about 45 minutes! Just remember to drain and rinse the canned beans well to remove much of the added sodium that canned beans tend to contain.
More vegan black eyed pea recipes to try:
- Black Eyed Peas Salad
- Smoky Cajun Black Eyed Peas Pasta
- Black Eyed Pea and Lentil Stuffed Collard Greens
Collard Greens
Collards are leafy greens that are part of the cruciferous vegetable family, which includes broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower just to name a few. They are plentiful with vitamins (K, C, A, E, and several B), fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, folate, and even protein and healthy fats!
The leaves are much tougher than typical salad greens, which makes them perfect for simmering in this soup where they’ll get nice and tender, but not at all wilted.
Collard greens are also great for sandwich wraps. I love this method of quickly steaming the leaves to make them pliable.
While black eyed peas represent coins, collard greens are also traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day for they are said to represent paper money. Eat them together for your best chance of a windfall in the new year!
What Should I Serve with Black Eyed Peas Soup
This soup is hearty and filling enough all on it’s own, but if you want to make it stretch even further, you can serve it with rice or noodles or an easy green side salad.
Cornbread is also a perfect pair with this soup. Cornbread eaten with black eyed peas on New Year’s Day has been said to represent gold. Here are are couple delicious and easy vegan cornbread recipes to try: Jalapeño Cornbread or Pumpkin Maple Cornbread.
Don’t miss these other warming winter vegan soups:
- Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Sweet Potato Cauliflower Vegan Soup
- Easy Black Bean Soup
- Coconut Curry Soup with Sweet Potato Noodles
- Lentil Rice Soup
- Easy Vegetarian Minestrone with Pasta
Vegan Black Eyed Pea Soup
I hope you love this Black Eyed Pea Soup as much as we do. If you try it, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback and star rating.
You can also find me on social media. Be sure to tag @veggie_inspired and #veggieinspired so I’m sure to see it.
Enjoy!
Black Eyed Pea Soup - This hearty, smoky soup, is not only perfect for New Year's Day, but is quick and easy enough to keep you warm all winter long.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1/4 cup vegetable broth for oil-free version)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 ribs celery (diced)
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black eyed peas (or 3 cups cooked black eyed peas)
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 3-4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (start with 3 cups, add more if you like it soupier)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
- 4 large collard green leaves (ribs and stems removed) (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- chopped fresh parsley (optional
Heat the oil in a soup pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
Add the celery, carrots, and garlic, and sauté 5 minutes until starting to soften, stirring frequently.
Add the chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and oregano and stir to combine and release the fragrance, about 1 minute.
Add the black eyed peas, diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and chopped collard leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes.
Add the vinegar and stir.
Serve with chopped fresh parsley as a garnish, if desired.
Nina says
Hi lovely recipe. Here in the UK I can purchase sweet smoked paprika (Spanish) or hot smoked paprika (Spanish) which would you recommend for this recipe? Thanks
Jenn Sebestyen says
Hi, Nina. use the sweet smoked paprika! Enjoy!