Have you ever made Black-Eyed Peas before? I’m going to walk you through how to make them in less than one hour on the stovetop and in the Instant Pot or in three hours in the slow cooker. These tips and tricks will leave you with perfectly cooked beans every time.
Welcome to the black-eyed pea party!
I've got a feeling (oooh ohh) that tonight's going to be a good night. That tonight's going to... Oh, pardon me. I guess you're not here for those black-eyed peas? You must be here to learn how to cook black-eyed peas from scratch. Well then, let's get this party started!
As a nutritionist, I love all legumes for their health benefits, but black-eyed peas have a special place in my heart. They're creamy and delicious and are nutrition powerhouses that pack a ton of protein and dietary fiber into each serving.
Whatcha going to do with all those beans? Well, you can (and should!) use black-eyed peas in pretty much any recipe that calls for black beans. This Black Bean and Corn Salsa, an HNL community favorite, would be delicious with black-eyed peas, for example.
Black-eyed peas are traditionally cooked on New Year's Day and are thought to bring good luck and prosperity for the new year. If you're looking for a Vegetarian Hoppin' John recipe for your New Year's menu, these Saucy Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas are perfection.
But for now, let me teach you how to cook black-eyed peas from scratch using three easy no-soak techniques. Off we go!
How to cook black-eyed peas from scratch
Alright my friends, we're going to talk through a variety of cooking techniques for making black-eyed peas including stovetop, pressure cooker, and slow cooker. You'll find detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but if you scroll through you'll find a deep dive into each technique.
Cooking black-eyed peas on the stovetop
Cooking black-eyed peas on the stovetop is the most simple and straightforward method. The stovetop is great if you want to keep an eye on your beans as they cook and pull from the heat when they’re perfectly tender.
If you're using pre-soaked beans, your black-eyed peas will be nicely cooked in about 45 minutes. Unsoaked beans take longer to cook on the stovetop, but only by about 10 minutes.
To cook black-eyed peas on the stove top, place in a pot and cover with plenty of water (I usually go with one part beans to four parts water). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the beans are tender.
Instant Pot technique
Cooking black eyed peas in the Instant Pot is a major time saver, but the drawback is you can't stop and test them as you go. Much like when I was doing my instant pot trials for How to Cook Mung Beans, it took several trials to get it right.
Trial 1 (top left): 15 minutes high pressure, 15 minute natural release. These were very soft beans that would be great turned into hummus or veggie burgers, or even stirred into soup. Not so great for salads and that kind of thing.
Trial 2 (top right): 15 minutes high pressure, 10 minute natural release. There were still pretty soft, and could be used as stated above.
Trial 3 (bottom left): 10 minutes high pressure, 15 minute natural release. These beans were still really soft!
Trial 4 (bottom right): 10 minutes high pressure, 10 minute natural release. These beans were PERFECT! Soft, but not too soft. Would be great in salads, but you could still use them in other recipes like soups or veggie burgers.
Slow cooker technique
I tend to not cook beans in the slow cooker these days since the Instant Pot is so much faster, but for those of you who want to “set it and forget it” you can certainly use your slow cooker for black eyed peas.
Just as cooking black eyed peas on the stove top, you’ll want to add one part beans to four parts water. You can set your slow cooker on high for 3 hours, or low for about 6 hours.
Cooking times will vary from slow cooker to slow cooker, but the advantage of this method is being able to take the lid off and test the beans when they are close to done.
The BEST way to cook black-eyed peas
If having perfectly cooked black eyed peas that is neither too soft nor too firm is important to you, my recommendation is to cook them on the stovetop so you can monitor them to see when they are perfectly done.
If you’re ok with erring on the side of slightly soft, then the thoroughly-tested pressure cooker instructions above should work for you. It is always a bit of a risk with not knowing how old your beans are, and not being able to remove the lid to check doneness.
Having said that, you can’t beat the convenience of the Instant Pot if you’ve got one!
Do you need to soak black-eyed peas?
Whether or not you want to soak your black-eyed peas is totally up to you! To be honest I rarely soak my beans, usually because I don't remember to do it in advance.
Turns out that soaking your beans overnight only saves about 10 minutes of cooking time when using the stovetop technique, so I rarely bother with this. Additionally, beans that have not been soaked tend to have more flavour, and a better texture once cooked, with more intact beans at the end.
Some folks prefer to soak their beans and discard the soaking water to reduce the flatulence-causing compounds that beans are known for. Soaking also breaks down some of the complex sugars in beans that make them hard to digest. So if you're got a sensitive tummy, by all means soak your beans before cooking them.
How to Cook Black Eyed Peas (No-Soak Method!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup black eyed peas rinsed well and checked for stones
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- Rinse your black eyed peas well and check over for any stones.
STOVETOP INSTRUCTIONS
- Place 1 cup black eyed peas and 4 cups water in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the beans are tender. This will take about 45 minutes.
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS
- Place 1 cup of black-eyed peas and 3 cups of water into the insert of an Instant Pot.
- Seal the lid and ensure that it is set to "sealing".
- Set to high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot has reached pressure it will beep and start naturally releasing the pressure. Allow to natural release for 10 minutes, and then flip the valve to "venting" and release the remaining pressure.
SLOWCOOKER INSTRUCTIONS
- Place 1 cup of beans and 4 cups of water in the slow cooker.
- Set to HIGH for 3 hours, or LOW for 6 hours. Check beans towards the end of the cooking time.
Notes
- You can scale the quantity of beans up or down, but it should always be one part beans to four parts of water for cooking.
- Drain any remaining water when the beans are cooked.
- Cooked black eyed peas can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer.
Brenda says
Maybe the dry black eyed peas you get are different than mine. Never have mine been tender on the stove top in 45 minutes using the no-soak method. On low heat setting on the stove at simmer it takes about 6 hours. That is exactly the same as in a slow cooker. I can't really give your recipe a rating because I don't have any pressure cookers.
Katie Trant says
Six hours?! I have never had any bean type take six hours on the stovetop. Are you boiling them for 10 minutes before you simmer?
Chuck Baggett says
The overall ingredients say 3 cups water, but the instructions for stovetop say 4 cups water.
Katie Trant says
Hi Chuck, this is correct. It's 3 cups for Instant Pot, and 4 cups for stovetop or slow cooker.
Natalie says
Hi Katie-
Glad I found your recipe to pressure cook black eyed peas. Thank you for the ratios too & the timing is perfect!
Much obliged
Natalie
Katie Trant says
Hi Natalie! Thanks so much for commenting — and I'm so glad this technique worked for you. It took a lot of testing to get right, so this makes me happy 🙂
Paula says
Your notes say "it should always be one part beans to four parts of water for cooking", but your instructions for stove top are 1:3. Is that a typo or is less water actually required on the stove? Also, I wish you had given finished quantity (the information I'm actually looking for) rather than "1 batch".
Katie Trant says
Hey Paula - whoops! The instructions for Instant Pot and Stovetop had the numbers reversed. Fixed now!
As far as yield, typically, dried beans will triple in volume once cooked. So 1 cup of dried beans will yield 3 cups of cooked black-eyed peas.
A 15-ounce can of beans contains roughly 1.5 cups of beans when drained
½ cup dried beans = 1.5 cups of cooked black-eyed peas
½ cup dried black-eyed peas is equivalent to a 15-ounce can of beans
1 pound of dried black-eyed peas yields about 6 cups of cooked beans
1 pound of dried black-eyed peas is equivalent to 4 x 15-ounce cans of beans
debbie says
I love doing this in my slow cooker and I add onions, garlic, and nutritional yeast and few red pepper flakes - love your recipes 😋
Emmeline says
Thank you for this informative post! I always struggle to cook beans because I never know if I should rinse them? Soak them? Both or neither? I tend to have a hard time digesting beans so I will definitely try soaking them now, and hope that leads to a more pleasant experience for everyone involved 😜
Bennett says
One of our favorite beans that never gets enough credit! I know they're meant for New Year's Eve, but I love them all year long.
The Instant Pot method is my absolute favorite because there is zero babysitting involved. I also prefer our beans a bit more tender and these are perfection.
Tina B says
You said it should always be one part beans to 4 parts water, then you tested with one part beans and 3 parts water. Which is correct? Or, is one ratio for the stove top method and the other for the Instant Pot? Thanks!
Katie Trant says
I use 4 parts water for stovetop and 3 parts water for Instant Pot! You can always use 4 parts water for everything and just drain off the excess as well, but in general the pressure cooker requires less water as it isn't cooking off.
Tina B. says
Thank you so much!!
debbie says
I love doing this in my slow cooker and I add onions, garlic, and nutritional yeast and few red pepper flakes - love your recipes 😋