Easy Hoppin John Soup is a great dish if you love southern flavors like I do or if you need to feed a crowd.

Or if you have a busy week ahead and don't want to worry about dinner for a few nights.

This traditional New Year's recipe contains lots of vegetables like one of my other favorites: Southwestern Vegetarian Soup.

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 Black-eyed peas, a ham hock, broth, jalapeno, onion, garlic, celery, red bell pepper and diced tomatoes + spices simmer for a couple of hours in a slow cooker or in a soup pot for a delicious, easy, hoppin john soup

Easy Hoppin John Soup

When I was in college at the University of Missouri-Columbia, there was an amazing restaurant nearby named Glenn's Cafe, which served the best Cajun and Creole food with a dash of Southwestern thrown in.

Every dish tasted rich and smoky and seemed to be packed with seafood.

Seafood creole, alligator stew, jambalaya, blackened redfish, smoked turkey salad, crabcakes and  bourbon mashed sweet potatoes were a few of the dishes on the rotating menu. I ate there with friends as often as my college checking account would let me.

I got married and moved away in 2000.

Two years later on a trip back to college town, husband and I were disappointed to see Glenn's had closed. 

Why am I rhapsodizing about long ago meals?

This version of Easy Hoppin John Soup reminds me of a dish I might have eaten at Glenn's.

If you're going to make this dish, might I suggest a jam to accompany your chopping?

 

Why You'll Love This Recipe

For the amount of work involved, a little boiling, a little chopping and then waiting for it to finish cooking in a slow cooker, the flavor payoff is huge.

Plus, black eyed peas bring good luck. 

Or at least they will if you eat them on New Year's Day. I'm not sure if you still get luck if you eat them on Valentine's Day or Easter. 

Speaking of Easter, Hoppin John Soup is a great way to use leftover holiday ham.

I really like making soup in a slow cooker because I can toss all the ingredients in the pot, turn it on (an important step, don't forget!) and go about my day until it's time to eat. 

Recipe notes:

1. You don't have to use a slow cooker for this soup. You can throw everything in a soup pot if you'd rather. If you do, shorten the simmering time to an hour. 
2. Serve this soup over rice to stretch it.
3. The soup has a bit of heat from the jalapeno peppers, white pepper and smoked paprika but it's not super spicy. You can also put a bottle of hot sauce on the table for each person to heat it up to their own liking.
4. Serves six to eight.
5. If you really want to love on your family or your guests, make cornbread to serve alongside. Don't forget the butter!

Easy Hoppin John Soup Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cups dried black eyed peas or 4.5 cups cooked
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1 tablespoon oil or butter
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 1 large onion, yellow or white, diced
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalapenos, each sliced in half vertically with stems chopped off
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper, can use black
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 14.5- ounce cans of chicken broth
• 1 14.5- ounce can petite diced tomatoes
• For serving:
• white rice, chopped kale, chopped green onion, a few dashes of white vinegar

Instructions

1. Put the dried black eyed peas in a medium sauce pan. Fill pan with cold water about two inches over the top of the peas. Bring to boiling for 10 minutes then let cool and drain liquid.
2. Put ham hock in slow-cooker. Pour peas over ham hock. Set aside.
3. Warm oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute celery, red pepper, and oniont until translucent. Add jalapeno and minced garlic and cook for a minute more. Add paprika, white or black pepper and cumin. Stir for 30 seconds or so more.
4. Remove veggies from heat and add them to the black eyed peas and ham hock in the slow-cooker. Note you can make this in a soup pot as well, if you prefer. Cook two hours on low in the slow-cooker or simmer for about an hour in a soup pot.
5. Pour in chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Cover and heat two to three hours on low. To serve put torn pieces of kale, a handful, in each bowl and top with hoppin john soup and rice, if you're using rice. Garnish with chopped green onion and/or a splash of white vinegar, if you like.

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Your turn: have you ever cooked black eyed peas? What's your favorite way to make them?

 

 

 

Easy Hoppin John Soup Recipe