Best Ever Instant Pot Hoppin’ John for Good Luck

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Start the New Year off right with our Instant Pot Hoppin’ John! Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is said to bring prosperity and luck in the new year! The black-eyed peas, which are actually beans, represent coins and wealth. It is traditionally served with some sort of greens, collard; mustard; chard; kale; or cabbage greens are all said to represent wealth because they are the color of American money. Our Bacon & Mustard Fried Cabbage is a great side for this dish.

Another common side that is served with this dish is Corn Bread, which is the color of gold. I can’t claim that eating our Hoppin’ John will bring you luck or prosperity, but I will say that it is a delicious risk you should be willing to take! Oh, and if you have leftover Hoppin’ John after New Year’s Day it is called Skippin’ Jenny. Now you know. 😉

What’s Inside?

Our Instant Pot Hoppin’ John is PACKED with flavor. It starts with some delicious crispy bacon, then we add a pile of bright veggies for color and even more flavor. The ham hock flavor is really infused through the entire dish with the use of the pressure cooker and the black-eyed peas are tender and creamy.

What you’ll need to make Hoppin’ John:

• 4 slices thick-cut smoked bacon, chopped
• 1 lb ham hock or ham shank
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (we used orange here)
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 lb. dry black-eyed peas
• 5 cups chicken broth, or water
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• salt to taste (the ham and broth can add lots of sodium)

Why bacon AND ham?

For this recipe, we used both bacon and ham. We began by cooking the bacon in the Instant Pot then removing it when crispy and cooking the veggies in the bacon dripping. I love to add crispy bacon to the top of the finished dish. If you don’t want to use bacon you can just add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and cook the veggies that way. It’s totally up to you.

Let’s get cookin’:

Press the saute button on the Instant Pot or whatever pressure cooker you are using. Wait for it to get hot then add the chopped bacon. We use kitchen shears to cut the bacon into pieces right into the pot. Cook until bacon is crispy and remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. You will most likely get some dark pieces on the bottom of the pot, but we will deglaze the pot with the veggies and broth in a minute.

VEGGIES:

Our Instant Pot Hoppin’ John is packed with veggies. Start by adding the diced onion to the pot and cook for a couple minutes while scraping the bottom to get all those yummy bacon bits loose.

Add the celery, diced bell peppers, and jalapeno, and cook until they soften a bit. Move the veggies to the side and add the minced garlic to the center and cook for 1 minute.

LIQUID:

You can use broth or water for this recipe. If you use water it will still have lots of flavor from the ham and veggies. We usually use water and add Better Than Bouillon chicken or veggie flavor, but they also have a ham base that would be great. You will want to add some salt if using plain water, the broth and ham will add sodium.

BLACK-EYED PEAS and HAM:

Rinse and sort your black-eyed peas then add them to the pot along with the ham hock. This is a great recipe to use a leftover ham bone as well. Make sure to use smoked ham for the best flavor. Top with all the seasonings and stir together. If you like spice, feel free to kick up the cayenne a little. As written these black-eyed peas have great flavor but are not spicy.

COOKIN’ TIME:

Put on the lid and make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the pressure cooker to High Pressure for 40 minutes. When the time is up allow it to naturally release for 15 minutes then turn the valve to vent to release the remaining steam. Carefully remove the ham hock from the beans onto a cutting board and pull the ham from the bone. Discard the bone and any fat and skin. Chop up the ham and add it back to the beans and give everything a stir. Taste and add salt to your liking.

Served with cooked white rice and topped with green onions and crispy bacon.

We love ours with cornbread and fried cabbage. Have a Happy, Lucky, New Year!

Let us know if you give this recipe a try! We love to hear what you think!

If you loved this recipe you should also check out our Instant Pot Black-eyed Peas and Ham.

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Instant Pot Hoppin’ John

Black-eyed peas, onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, bacon, and ham hock, cooked together in the Instant Pot for a hearty and delicious meal.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Pressurize/depressurize 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, Southern

Servings 8

Equipment

• 1 Pressure Cooker We used an Instant Pot

Ingredients

  

• 4 sliced thick cut bacon smoked
• 1 lb ham hock or shank smoked
• 1 lb black-eyed peas dry
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 red or orange bell pepper diced
• 4 stalks celery diced
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper more to taste
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• salt to taste
• 5 cups broth or water
• green onion chopped, for topping
• 4 cups white rice cooked

Instructions

 

• Press saute on the Instant Pot and add chopped bacon once HOT.
• Cook bacon until browned, then remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Add diced onion to the bacon drippings and stir while cooking for a couple minutes. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze.
• Add diced peppers, jalapeno, and celery, and cook until onion is translucent.
• Scoot the veggies to the outside of the pot and add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
• Add the broth and stir to make sure there are no bits left on the bottom of the pot.
• Add the ham hock, rinsed black-eyed peas, and seasonings.
• Close and lock the lid.
• Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Allow to naturally release for 15 minutes.
• Release remaining pressure and carefully remove the ham to a cutting board.
• Pull the ham from the bone and discard any fat and skin.
• Dice the ham and return it to the pot.
• Serve over white rice and top with green onions and crispy bacon.

Keyword bacon, beans, ham, Instant Pot