This vegan hoppin' John is made with smoky simmered black-eyed peas, spices and chard. Perfect for New Year's, or pretty much any day of the year!
This is an almost conventional version of a New Year's classic. It's cheap and healthy and I didn't even have to break tradition all that much to make it that way.
I first learned of this dish a few years back from a friend who had gotten in the habit of preparing a big pot of the stuff on New Year's day. I'd never heard of the dish before, but now I know that it's kind of a New Year's day tradition in lots of homes in the U.S., as are lots of dishes featuring beans and greens, like black-eyed pea soup.
Her version was meatless, and I think totally vegan, though I never got around to confirming or trying it.
When I decided to make up a batch of my own, I found a bunch of recipes that called for ham or bacon. It seems like that's a popular ingredient in most versions of the dish. I decided to include only my favorite part of bacon, the smoke, which comes conveniently bottled and in totally vegan form. I also threw in some chard, to flavor and healthy things up a bit, and also to add some variety as a stand in for collards, which I understand are another optional ingredient in more traditional versions.
On a side note, the idea behind the dish is frugality — eat cheap on New Year's, be blessed with abundance for the next twelve months, so I'm thinking the whole optional ingredients thing supports that.
I've eaten this hoppin' John a bunch of times over both rice (traditional) and quinoa (not so traditional). Either way, it's super delicious and satisfying.
This recipe makes a big batch. It's also super easy to throw together. So it's perfect in all kinds of ways if you've got a New Year's crowd to feed.
📖 Recipe
Smoky Vegan Hoppin' John with Chard
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound dried black eyed peas, soaked in water 8 hours or overnight
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bunch (about ¾ lb.) Swiss chard leaves, sliced into strips
- salt, to taste
- Cayenne pepper hot sauce, to taste
- 4 scallions chopped
- cooked rice or quinoa for serving
Instructions
- Place the olive oil in large pot and set over medium heat. Add the garlic, celery, onion and bell pepper. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the broth, black eyed peas, liquid smoke, bay leaves, thyme, smoked paprika, cayenne and black pepper. Stir a few times and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer, uncovered, until the peas are tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 50 minutes. Add a bit of water to the pot if it gets too dry.
- Add the chard and stir a few times. Allow to simmer about 3 more minutes, until the chard leaves are wilted. Remove from heat and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper hot sauce to taste. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
- Serve over rice or quinoa. Top with scallions and additional hot sauce.
Notes
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Will make again! So flavorful!
Been enjoying this recipe for years. Thank you!
I love this recipe and have made it several times with great success. What I don’t love are green peppers, so I replace them with the chopped stalks from the chard (adds a bit of color if you use red chard!). The age of the beans I’m using tonight is questionable—wish me luck!
I did not soak the BEP but I did make this recipe in a pressure cooker. Followed as written except used around 6.5 cups of broth (guessed how much extra liquid would be needed without pre-soak.). Cooked for 13 minutes with natural pressure release. I dug collards out of the snow-covered garden and added them at the end, simmering for a few more minutes. It came out just a little bit soupier than I would’ve liked but we served it over rice and it all tasted great. Would reduce the liquid I used by maybe 3/4 c next time, but of course it depends on how old the BEPs are (ours are usually pretty fresh.)
Hi, Alissa.
Really glad to find vegan recipe that is closer to the original thing. Thank you!
Thought you might appreciate knowing Hoppin John is a Southern food & many down here couldn’t imagine a Jan 1 without it. As with most Southern food, it wouldn't exist without African knowledge. It was likely created by an enslaved African person in the lowcountry of South Carolina. The culture surrounding Hoppin John is deep!
This was delicious really amazing flavor! I made it with collard greens and added them in earlier. Thank you for this vegan black eyed pea recipe!
This turned out perfectly today! I had to leave out the greens and cook them separately because someone in my house can't eat greens. It was delicious!
How much do you calculate is a serving size?
About 1 heaping cup, or 1/6 of the total recipe.
I have everything in my pantry, a bag of black eyed peas in the freezer. Chard and collards looking fabulous in my garden.
I’m definitely making this tomorrow, gotta use every trick possible to make 2021 good! 🤣
Beans=luck
Collard greens=financial prosperity
ok so it is now in the slow kooker, I used the vegan chickenless chicken broth added a tin of fire roasted tomoatoes could not find my liquid smoke so added vegan worcestershire sauce fingers croosed it comes out ok will let you know
Good luck! I hope you like it!
This is the best vegan hoppin john I've ever had! The seasoning is perfect! I made it in a slow cooker and added a can of fire roasted tomatoes. We're not fans of cooked greens so had a kale salad with a maple mustard vinaigrette on the side. This is the only hoppin john recipe we will use!
Yay!! I'm so glad it was a hit! Thanks Karen!
Tried this and soaked peas for 10 hours and they took well over two hours to soften, which ruined our NY day lunch plans. I’m glad these worked for others but they sometimes need much longer cooking time.
I'm sorry it didn't work out! Usually if beans take that long to cook it's either because they're old or being cooked with something acidic (like if you added the hot sauce early).
I wouldn't blame the recipe; it's probably the beans. I have the same problem with giant lima beans. If you have old beans (and how can you really tell) no amount of soaking or boiling seems to soften them up.
Making this tomorrow with some jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Recipe looks fantastic, thank you!
On the stove now, smelling great! Making it with collards instead of chard. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! I hope you enjoyed it!
Made it last night, delicious! We added seitan bacon and it worked wonderfully to replace the traditional pork or bacon.
That sounds delicious! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Can I leave out the liquid smoke?
You can! :)
We made this today for New Years, but used collards instead of chard (so cooked for longer) and added 2 tablespoons of ACV at the end, because we prefer that vinegary kick to it. It was a perfect traditional flavor and came out great! Thanks!
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed it! Happy New Year!!
Just made it. Great recipe — creative and delicious! I am glad I found this website.
I'm glad you found the site too, and so glad you enjoyed this!! Thanks Brendan!
This is great for lunch!
Thank you! Glad you like it! :)
Can this be done in the electric pressure cooker? Anyone have the recipe adjustments for that?
I don't have a pressure cooker so I'm not sure!
I would like to try this in the crockpot all day tomorrow! Should I reduce the amount of vegetable broth a little bit?
I think so, but I haven't tried this in the slow cooker so I'm not sure. If you'll be around to keep an eye on it I'd say start with about 1 cup less, and add more if it gets too dry.
Oh my holy-wow yeah! This was sooooo good, and it smelled wonderful while cooking! I only had 2/3 lb black eyed peas and a 15 oz can, but kept the other measurements the same and let it reduce 10 mins longer. Oh, I did reduce the cayenne since my roommates can't do spicy, but added some hot sauce to my personal serving! Forget New Years, this is going on my regular rotation :)
Yay! Glad you liked it!
I made this on New Year's Day and my whole family loved it! Thanks so much for such a fantastic recipe! I only made one change by using spinach instead of collards, but kept the rest of it the same. Thanks again!
Nice! I think pretty much any type of greens would be delicious. Glad you enjoyed it! :)
We just tried this tonight, and it was delicious! I only soaked the black eyed peas for 4 hours before cooking, and they had no trouble softening up.
Glad you liked it! Thanks so much for letting me know! :)
Looks great. But best to soak black eyed peas for 8 hours first, begore cooking.
Thanks Diana! I don't generally soak black eyed peas, as they're pretty small and don't seem to require it, though I hear they might cook up a bit quicker if you do.
Just to let you know: I made this exactly as written except I used unsoaked black eyed peas and instead of simmering I pressured cooked on high for 12 minutes. Came out great! (To be clear: Added the chard after pressure cooking and simmered for a few to wilt that.)
This looks super yummy! I have never tried liquid smoke, but always wanted to buy. Can you recommend me any good brand?
Thank you! Liquid smoke is pretty Amazing stuff. Wright's brand is available in most supermarkets and doesn't contain any weird ingredients. Hope you enjoy it!
Love the look of this dish! Eat frugally some days, get the expensive soba noodles the next!