I was born in Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile. At the age of 5 my family moved to East Tennessee. During my childhood, we often had a pot of beans or peas with collard greens and homemade corn bread. Really beans and cornbread was historically an inexpensive meal for people with little money, but most folks who grew up in the American south love it.
Every culture has its lucky food that are traditionally eaten on holidays, like New Year’s Day. In the American south, it was black-eyed peas and collard greens. I was told black-eyed peas are for luck in the new year and that collard greens are green like money. The customs and sayings vary by area and states as well as the dishes cooked with black eye peas. You can cook a pot of greens, a pot of peas and cornbread. You could add ham or pork as a meat or just serve peas and cornbread with greens as a meatless meal (if you don’t add meat to the pot of peas.) You can even make gumbo with black-eyed peas.
A favorite among some Gulf coast folks is a dish of Hoppin” John, a dish made with black-eyed peas (aka cow peas) rice, and pork (bacon or ham). The meal can also include collard greens and corn bread. John was originally a Lowcountry food before spreading to the entire population of the South. Again there are variations to the recipe but can include bacon, Andouille sausage links, jalapeno pepper, bell pepper, and spices like Cajun spices. It’s not just black-eyed peas and rice like some folks think.
Today I’m sharing a simple crock pot meal with the ingredients for southern luck. I will give you options on the spices to meet your needs. Remember my recipe for slow cooker ham? I’m adding left over hambone and ham to the mix for great flavor, but you can choose bacon, ham hock, or another meat like smoked turkey. This healthy black-eyed pea soup is loaded with fiber and is relatively low carb. Black-eyed peas, which are legumes, are an excellent source of fiber and protein and full of vitamins and minerals. Plus, you get extra protein from the ham and plenty of nutrients from the collards. Using a crock pot frees you to enjoy the games on New Year’s Day with a great southern meal later on.
If you purchase whole collard greens from the store, they are usually already in a bunch. This is about 20 leaves. Then you must wash, wash, wash with great patience to remove the sand. Then remove the stems and chop. A great time-saver is buying prewashed chopped fresh collard greens. Buy a lb bag or one bunch of fresh collards.
Slow Cooker Black-eyed Peas with Greens & Ham
Use organic when available. Serves 8
Slow Cooker Black-eyed Peas with Greens & Ham
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed
- 6 cups water
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 ham bone or 1 lb smoked ham hocks
- 1 lb fresh, chopped collard greens or 1 bunch
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 8 oz diced ham
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 can (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pour water into a slow cooker
- Add chicken broth
- Add black-eyed peas, hambone or hocks, and greens
- Stir in onion, celery, garlic, and carrot
- Add bay leaf, thyme, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne pepper
- Stir in tomatoes and salt
- Cover and cook on Low until beans are tender, 6 to 8 hours
- Carefully remove ham bone or hocks
- Shred meat on hocks if using & discard bones
- Add meat back to pot
- Serve over rice with cornbread
For those in the U.K., I found this online about collard greens:
“Spring greens are probably the closest thing we commonly get in the UK, followed by kale. Collard, kale & spring greens are all very closely related botanically, being members of the same branch of the brassica family, and have very similar but not identical flavours.“
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I’ve never heard of this dish before – it looks and sounds delicious 🙂
#MMBC
…this isn’t something that I’ve not had, but it looks good.
A good slow-cooker recipe comes in so handy. This might be a good option for all the ham Rick has leftover!
That looks like a perfect winter warmer!
I have never gone a year without having black eyed peas on New Years Day for good luck. Your version sounds terrific. May I ask, when do you add your collard greens?
It’s really your choice to either put in at the beginning or 4 hours later. Happy Holidays!
Gracias por la receta. Se ve muy ricos. Te mando un beso.
I’m a big fan of the crock pot meals in the winter, looks heartwarmly good!
Have a great week.
Wren x
Thanks – happy holiday!
I do like back-eyed beans but had never heard of collard greens although I’m sure there is a European equivalent. I guess it will be on Google! Looks delicious Carol.
thanks Phil – Merry Christmas!
found this online:
Spring greens are probably the closest thing we commonly get in the UK, followed by kale. Collard, kale & spring greens are all very closely related botanically, being members of the same branch of the brassica family, and have very similar but not identical flavours.
I have never had anything like this before but it looks delicious and so hearty and filling.
Pinning as this looks delicious. I love both beans and collard greens! I recently began eating low carb and I saw a suggestion to use steamed collard leaves as wrappers for burritos instead of tortillas, which I am going to try the next time I make them.
Yes they are good as wrappers, just be sure and steam them as they are too chewy otherwise. I would also remove large rib.
Thanks for this delightful recipe. It looks so good! I hope the move is going well. Been thinking about you.
Looking so extremely good and delicious.
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My first husband liked beans with ham hocks. They’re best when served with cornbread.
am I missing it, but when did you add the colllard greens?
No it was my error and no one else noticed! Add the greens at the beginning with the black eyed peas. I do apologize for the mistake. Happy New Year!