Hoppin John Soup

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Posted on29/11/202019/12/2020Updated on19/12/2020

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It is easy to whip up this famous Hoppin John soup using affordable pantry staples and enjoy it on New Year’s day for good luck or any day of the year.

You’ll also love Instant Pot Collard Greens, Southern Butterbeansor Scalloped Corn.

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Do you know what happens when you eat black-eyed beans (the main ingredient in Hoppin’ John soup) on New Year’s day?

As the story goes, black-eyed beans (black-eyed peas) are meant to bring you luck if you eat them on New Year’s day so its great to serve them at every New Year’s celebraton. Every little bit helps right? Alternatively I also serve Crockpot Pinto Beans or Instant Pot Black Beans.

Some just call this dish Hoppin’ John, others may refer to it as Hoppin’ John soup or Hoppin’ John stew. Whatever name you call it, you’ll love its flavour and heartiness.

I really like the simplicity of this dish. Essentially, it is a black-eyed bean soup in which the beans aresimmered with smoky bacon (or ham), onions, celery and pepper. And in my view this soup gets better the next day and the next day after that.

And please do not skip topping this dish with crispy fried bacon and spring onions. They really do elevate it to something special. Yeap, just what you need on New Year’s day or any day of the year.

Don’t worry, Hoppin’ John is not difficult to make. To make this easy Hoppin John recipe, do the following:

Ingredients

To make this special dish, you’ll need:

Onions
Red bell pepper
Celery
Garlic cloves
Ginger
Chili (optional)
Smoked bacon (leave out if you want to make vegetarian Hoppin’ John)
Olive oil
Black-eyed beans
Stock cube
Bay leaf
Dried thyme
Salt
Black pepper
Spring onions

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How To Cook Hoppin John

Roughly chop onion, pepper, celery, garlic, chili and ginger in a food processor.
Fry bacon in oil in a pot until the bacon is crispy. Set aside a quarter of the bacon.
Add the chopped vegetable mixture to the fried bacon and fry for another 10 minutes.
Add the beans, stock, bay leaves, and thyme. Mix and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes.
Add salt or black pepper to taste.
Serve over rice and top with the rest of the bacon and spring onions.

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Cook This In The Slow Cooker

Hoppin John soup is a popular recipe on this site, and I am quite often asked about slow cooker Hoppin’ John.

Roughly chop onion, pepper, celery, garlic, chili and ginger in a food processor.
Fry bacon in oil in a pot until the bacon is crispy. Set aside a quarter of the bacon.
Add the chopped vegetable mixture to the fried bacon and fry for another 10 minutes.
Transfer these into the slow cooker along with the beans, stock, bay leaves and thyme, mix, cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or can cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Recipe Tips

For the best results make sure you pick through the black eyed beans before cooking.
Serve this ladled over rice or mixed into the rice.
For a lower carb version serve with cauliflower rice.

Delicious Variations

Vary the meat – Use ham hock or smoked turkey etc.
Add greens – add in spinach, collard greens, mustard green or kale.
Add tomatoes – some fresh diced tomatoes makes a big difference.

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FAQs

Can You Make This Vegetarian?

Yes, you can make this recipe vegetarian too. To make vegetarian Hoppin’ John soup, fry the vegetables in olive oil or butter instead of bacon, and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock.

Can You Make This With Canned Black-eyed Peas

Another option is to make this with canned black-eyed peas (black-eyed beans), although the recipe won’t turn out as well. When you simmer your ingredients (or make it in the slow cooker), you allow the flavours to mature.

If you must use canned beans, simmer your ingredients for at least 10 mins (instead of 60 to 90) to help the flavour develop.

More Southern Recipes

Smothered Potatoes.
Scalloped Corn.
Easy Creole Sauce.
Shrimp Creole.
Instant Pot Collard Greens.
Crockpot Grits.
Corn Pudding Casserole.
Air Fryer Fried Chicken.
Southern Butterbeans.
Shrimp Po Boy.

Thank you for reading my Hoppin John recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice, and dream up affordableAir Fryerrecipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes, and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

This post has been updated from Dec 2013 and Nov 2017. The picture below is the original one.

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4.89 from 9 votes

Hoppin’ John Soup (Black-eyed Bean Stew)

A lucky New Years black-eyed bean stew with smoked bacon.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Ingredients

▢ 2 onions peeled and cut into large chunks
▢ 1 bell pepper, deseeded and diced
▢ 3 sticks of celery cut into large chunks
▢ 2 garlic cloves peeled
▢ 1 tbsp minced ginger
▢ red pepper flakes to taste optional, leave out if feeding children
▢ 12 slices of thick cut smoked bacon cut into thin strips
▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
▢ 2 1/4 cup (500g) black-eyed beans picked through, soaked for 2 hrs and rinsed
▢ 4 cups (1L) chicken stock
▢ 2 bay leaves
▢ 1 tsp dried thyme
▢ Salt
▢ Ground black pepper
▢ 4 green onions, finely sliced

Instructions

Place onion, pepper, celery, garlic, chilli and ginger into a food processor and chop roughly.
Heat oil in a large cooking pot and fry bacon till it is nice and crispy. Remove a quarter of the bacon and set aside for garnish.
Add the chopped vegetable mixture to the bacon and fry the mix for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then add in the beans, stock, bay leaves and thyme, mix well, bring to the boil.
Then reduce heat and cover and simmer for between 60 -90 minutes depending on how soft you want your beans. You may need to add in more stock if it dries out.
Add in salt and black pepper to taste.
Serve this over rice and top with the rest of the bacon and chopped spring onions.

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