Hoppin’ John
Hoppin’ John is a traditional recipe of rice and peas served throughout the southern states every New Year’s Day. Add it to your menu for good luck!
Hoppin’ John is a very old, traditional New Year’s Day dish eaten throughout the south. Served alongside greens (either collards, turnips, or mustard greens). It’s a southern dish that represents good luck and prosperity for the new year.
I can honestly say that I have eaten black eyed peas every New Year’s Day for my entire life. We take our traditions seriously in the south :-)
🤔 What is Hoppin John?
There are lots of theories about how the combination of peas and rice came to be known as Hoppin’ John. I don’t know which, if any, of them are true, I just know that this is honest, simple food that connects me to my roots.
According to Gwen at Pratesi Living, the original components of Hoppin’ John were Carolina gold rice and Sea Island red peas. Not black-eyed peas.
Sea Island red peas are pretty hard to find these days, but I did happen to have some Carolina gold rice from a recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina, and I used it for this recipe. It was delicious!
❤ Why We Love This Recipe
- It’s part of our traditional southern foodways.
- Cheap and easy to make with common ingredients.
- It just plain tastes fantastic!
🛒 About the Ingredients
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- Rice – If you have access to Carolina gold rice, please use it! If China Doll gold rice is available in your area, it’s a good substitute. Otherwise, use any long grain white rice that you like.
- Black-eyed peas – Make your life easier and use canned black-eyed peas. If you use dried black-eyed peas, you’ll need to adjust the prep and cooking times to allow for soaking and cooking the peas. I like Bush’s brand.
You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe at the bottom of this post.
🔪 How to Make Hoppin’ John
Cook the Rice
- Start the rice by bringing water, salt, and butter to a boil.
- Add the rice.
- Lower the heat, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Keep it warm until the peas are ready.
Saute the Vegetables
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.
- Cook until the vegetables are very tender.
Add the Peas
- Add the peas, broth, salt, and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes or until the peas are completely heated through.
- Stir in the parsley.
🍽 How to Serve
Serve the peas over a bed of rice. Top with green onions and chopped tomato. Some people enjoy a light sprinkle of red pepper flakes on top.
For an authentic southern meal, serve Hoppin’ John with hot water cornbread, fried chicken, and turnip greens or collard greens.
🕒 How to Make Ahead
This recipe is very easy to make in advance. Simply cook the peas and rice separately, store them well covered in the refrigerator for up to two days and reheat before serving. The peas are easily reheated in the microwave.
To reheat rice, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water per cup of rice. Cover tightly and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir with a fork to break up any clumps of rice.
🍚 Storing Leftovers
Any leftovers should be completely cooled and stored in tightly sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave in one-minute increments.
🧾 More Traditional Southern Recipes
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?
I’d LOVE to know what you thought!
Leave a rating below in the comments and let me know how you liked it!
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📖 Recipe
Hoppin’ John
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1 red or green bell pepper chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 30 ounces canned black eyed peas rinsed and drained 2 cans
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- Salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1 large tomato seeded and diced
Instructions
- Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan.
- Stir in the rice.
- Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.
- Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent.
- Add the black eyed peas, stock, salt, and pepper. Cook for approximately 10 minutes.
- Stir in the parsley.
- Serve the peas over a bed of rice.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and tomato.
Notes
- To make in advance, cook the peas and rice and store them separately in the refrigerator for up to two days. Reheat just before serving. The peas are easily reheated in the microwave. To reheat rice, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water per cup of rice. Cover tightly and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir with a fork to break up any clumps.
- Any leftovers should be completely cooled and stored in tightly sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave in one-minute increments.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on August 29, 2011. It has been updated with additional information.
I know this is an old post, but still is inspiring. I’ll have to try this. Last New Years I made a Hoppin’ John and it wasn’t very good (the next day’s left-overs were though). I want a good first day’s dish—I’m not too good at planning too far ahead!!! Happy New Year and a Half!!
Lana, I love the recipe you chose for SRC this month. A perfect meal for any time of year!
I have never eaten Hoppin’ John. Looks like a hearty, delicious meal.
I love your recipe – perfect choice and the picture is just gorgeous!
Concetta
I think that would be a tough task for me too, a vegan hoppin’ john recipe that I could say tasted good, but I think, heck, I know you nailed it… many thanks for the link… hope you have a great week… let me hear from you on some football recipes now… I know you know how to serve hungry football folks…
You are adorable! I had a similar feeling with my SRC assignment last month, but wasn’t brave enough to put it out there. Congrats on the Kitchn link, too!
I eat mostly vegetarian and this looks RIGHT up my alley. Great choice, and congrats on the kitchn feature.
Thanks, Rivki!
This looks great! Great pick for SRC :)
This looks great (and I have the same passion for bacon that you do!) Not sure I could convince hubby to try it (he loves his meat more than I do), but I guess it could pass as a side dish. Great SRC choice!
Reminds me a little of the Korean tradition of eating Rice Cake Soup (Duk Gook) every New Year’s day. You gotta have some traditions to keep life flowing at a comfortable pace and maintain a connection with prior generations.
I just LOVE your blog name…. coming over from SRC
I was in Secret Recipe Club: Group B. Here are my two posts I hope you have time to check them out, if you haven’t seen them already.
http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2011/08/cucumber-salad-secret-recipe-club.html
http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2011/08/raspberry-nutella-pizza-secret-recipe.html
I’m always trying to pretend to be a southerner. this will help me in my quest.
I am from the west and have never seen a hoppin john before, but your dish looks delicious. I love how you styled it too. The plate is gorgeous! Great SRC pick!
Great SRC pick! Wonderful photos!
Hoppin Johns, mostly black eyed peas are a serious southern staple. It is what a lot of the confederate soldiers ate to stay alive. What a lovely post for our SRC.
THAT’S what Hoppin John is! Gorgeous!!
Yep, that’s it Anne-Marie. Well, a lightened up nearly veganized version anyway :-)
I’ve never tried Hoppin’ John even though I live in the deep south. I’ll have to give it a go one of these days as you’ve made it look delicious.
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my Group ‘A” ~ SRC recipe this month: Cilantro Lime Chicken
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
hey the pics are great and the dish has such simplicity. Well done for being open to the vegan blog. I’m loving being part of SRC and being challenged to think outside the box.
Such a classic dish! Great recipe, even without the ham hocks :-)