Delicate beans, crunchy bacon, and tender vegetables combine to create a winning Black-Eyed Pea Soup! With budget-friendly ingredients that are readily available, this recipe is a breeze to prepare.
Dump your beans into a large bowl and fill the bowl up with cold water. Allow the beans to sit in the water for an hour.
After the beans are finished soaking, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted, add the onion, celery, and spices. Cook the veggies over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.
Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the crumbled bacon, chicken broth, and water. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Allow the soup to simmer for 25 minutes without a lid on or until the black eyed peas are tender.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
While soaking your beans is not necessary, it will help soften them a little bit so they cook faster and are more tender. If you are short on time then you can skip the soaking process and increase your simmering time to 30-35 minutes.
Other veggies you can add to this dish include fresh spinach, kale, broccolini, and carrots.
For some extra protein, try adding some diced andouille sausage to the dish.
Simply throw the sausage in at the same time as the veggies.
You can use either salted or unsalted butter in this dish.
Store your leftover black-eyed peas in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat any leftovers by transferring a single serving to a microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl with a paper towel and cook for about 1 - 1 ½ minutes, or until the soup is sufficiently warm. Ideally you want your leftovers to be about 120°F.
You can replace the chicken/Cajun seasoning with 3 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder. The purpose of the seasoning is to amplify the flavor of the chicken broth.
We typically use precooked bacon in this recipe, but you can use uncooked bacon as well. You will want to cook the bacon in the pot before adding anything else. Because the bacon will render so much fat you can omit the butter.