This easy, hands-off recipe makes the most flavorful and delicious Crockpot Black-Eyed Peas. The dried beans simmer slowly with onions, carrots, celery and potatoes in a perfectly spiced broth.
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Delicious and easy slow cooker black-eyed peas
You may or may not believe that eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings you luck, but then again, where's the harm? We can all use some good luck. And you will definitely feel very, very lucky when you slurp up these yummy crockpot black-eyed peas.
Black-eyed peas, with their rich, nutty flavor, are wonderful in dishes like vegan Hoppin' John and this Caribbean black-eyed peas stew. They are just as amazing in this slow cooker recipe: smoky, spicy, warm, comforting, and super, super healthy. The recipe takes just 10-15 minutes to put together and you don't even need to soak the beans (although you can, if you want to).
The beans, simmered slowly with the perfectly spiced broth and the vegetables, absorb all of that flavor. This is mostly a hands-off recipe and all the heavy lifting is done by the slow cooker. Once you've chopped the veggies and rinsed the beans you are almost done!
This slow cooker black-eyed peas recipe is perfect for making in the morning before work or at night, before you go to bed. The beans need seven hours in the crockpot to cook to tender perfection. They can be your main course or a filling side dish. I serve them with a hunk of crusty French bread for a delicious, nutritious, no-fuss meal. The recipe is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free, and it's loaded with heart-healthy protein and fiber.
Recipe card
Crockpot Black-Eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (use ¼ cup vegetable stock instead if oil-free)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (cut in a ¼-inch dice)
- 3 celery stalks (cut in a ¼-inch dice)
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, (1 chili with 1 teaspoon sauce. Mince the chili. This ingredient is optional)
- 1 cups dried black-eyed peas (rinsed)
- 2 medium potatoes (red potatoes or yellow potatoes, cut in ½-inch dice)
- 5 cups vegetable stock
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped, for garnish)
Instructions
- Turn the slow cooker to high. Place the vegetables--carrots, onions and celery--along with the garlic, in the slow cooker liner along with the olive oil. Saute the veggies for a couple of minutes to release the flavors.
- Stir in the spices and herbs: ground cumin, ground allspice, paprika, red pepper flakes, rosemary and oregano. Add the chipotle chili and adobo sauce if using.
- Add the black-eyed peas and potatoes to the slow cooker. Mix. Add the vegetable stock or water and mix well. Do not add any salt at this point.
- Cover the slow cooker and let it cook on high for seven hours until the black-eyed peas are very tender and the stew is thick. Add salt. Garnish the black-eyed peas with parsley before serving.
Notes
- It is important to chop the carrots, celery and onions very fine to extract the most flavor from them. If you are not confident about your knife skills, you can place them in a food processor and pulse a few times.
- Do not add salt to the black-eyed peas before they are tender. Salt can slow down the cooking process. The same goes for acidic ingredients, so don't be tempted to add tomatoes or lemon juice to the recipe.
- To add a little more texture, you can blend a couple of ladlefuls of the stew. Add the blended mixture back to the pot and mix in.
- This recipe is quite spicy, but you can easily tweak the spice level to your liking. Leave out the chipotle chili if you want a milder-flavored stew or reduce how much red pepper flakes you use.
- Refrigerate: Store the slow cooker black-eyed peas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
- Freeze: Freeze the beans in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.
- Reheat: Thaw and reheat in a microwave or on the stovetop.
Nutrition Information
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How to make crockpot black-eyed peas
Turn the slow cooker to high. Place the vegetables--carrots, onions and celery -- with the garlic in the slow cooker liner along with the olive oil. Saute the veggies for a couple of minutes to release the flavors.
Stir in the spices and herbs: ground cumin, ground allspice, paprika, red pepper flakes, rosemary and oregano.
Stir in the chipotle chili with adobo sauce if using.
Add the black-eyed peas and potatoes to the slow cooker. Mix.
Add the vegetable broth or water. Mix well. Do not add any salt at this point.
Cover the slow cooker and let it cook on high for seven hours until the black-eyed peas are very tender and the stew is thick. Add salt and mix well. Garnish the black-eyed peas with parsley before serving.
Crockpot black-eyed peas FAQs
You can use canned or frozen beans in this recipe, which will cut down the cooking time considerably. If using canned or frozen beans, reduce the amount of liquid to three cups and cook four hours on high.
You can add sweet potatoes, cauliflower and/or butternut squash to the crockpot along with the beans and the tomatoes. Be sure to adjust the seasoning.
To make the recipe oil-free, use ¼ cup vegetable stock instead of oil.
Serve with a crusty French bread, Italian bread or sourdough bread, or with a fresh, leafy salad like vegan Caesar salad or shaved Brussels sprouts salad.
I also like serving the black-eyed peas with white rice or brown rice or quinoa, or with vegan collard greens and vegan cornbread or these savory vegan cornbread muffins.
More black-eyed pea recipes
Anonymous says
It was easy and delicious.
Lostlake says
Why did you delete the recipe that was originally at this link - Crockpot Black-Eyed Peas Stew, Fat-Free? That one used frozen black-eye peas. I can probably slip this before my husband as a stew but not as just black-eye peas.
Vaishali says
It’s the same recipe with small updates and you can use frozen black eyed peas. Just reduce cooking time to 2-3 hours.
Barbara says
Husband and I just finished delicious, warming bowls of this fab stew accompanied by sourdough toast. He called it "the bomb" and I'm inclined to agree. Thanks for a great twist on black eyed peas to kick off 2024! This will be going into the rotation 🙂
Vaishali says
Barbara, so happy to hear you enjoyed the black eyed peas. Thanks for letting me know!
Gina says
I love this post and recipe! Just bought a bag of organic dried black-eyed peas (which we eat year-round; so delicious) and have never cooked them in the slow cooker, but was thinking of doing it for New Year's meal. This will be delicious, for sure. Thanks very much (et Bonne Année!).
Vaishali says
Hope you love it, Gina,
Tammy says
Wow! I love black eyed peas but don't get ultra excited about them. However, that changed with this stew. Absolutely delicious. Poured it over rice...yum. I'm not fond of sweet potatoes in savory dishes but tried it anyway. Score! Thank you!
Vaishali says
So happy you loved it, Tammy!
Anonymous says
I can't wait to try this recipe! I'm noting the comments about increased time if using fresh blackeye peas so I might cook these most of the way they way they would be found in a can. A helpful hint for the chipotle chili in adobo sauce since you're only using 1 out of the can is to blend the whole can and drop tablespoon size dollops on parchment paper to freeze. After they are frozen, store them in a ziplock bag or container so you can grab how much heat for any dish later. I use this trick for tomato paste as well.