Black-Eyed Peas and Bacon Soup (Printable)

Smoky bacon meets tender black-eyed peas in a comforting, vegetable-rich broth perfect for chilly days.

# What You Need:

→ Meats

01 - 8 oz smoked bacon, diced

→ Legumes

02 - 2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and drained, or 3 cans (15 oz each) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

→ Vegetables

03 - 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
04 - 2 medium carrots, diced
05 - 2 celery stalks, diced
06 - 3 cloves garlic, minced

→ Liquids

07 - 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

→ Seasonings

08 - 1 bay leaf
09 - 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
10 - 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
11 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 - Salt to taste

→ Garnish

13 - 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

# How To Make It:

01 - In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the diced bacon until crisp, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pot. Add onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and sauté in the bacon fat until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
02 - Stir in the black-eyed peas, chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
03 - Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes if using soaked dried peas, or 20 minutes if using canned peas, until the peas are tender and flavors have melded.
04 - Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with reserved bacon and chopped parsley before serving.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The bacon fat does all the heavy lifting, so every vegetable tastes savory and rich without any cream.
  • One pot means minimal cleanup, leaving you more time to actually enjoy the warmth of a good bowl.
  • It's naturally gluten-free and comes together so quickly that weeknight dinner suddenly feels manageable.
02 -
  • If you forget to soak your dried peas overnight, boil them for 2 minutes, let them sit for an hour, then drain—it cuts down simmering time dramatically.
  • Don't salt until the very end; black-eyed peas can get stubborn and not soften if you salt the water too early, something I learned the hard way.
03 -
  • Buy thick-cut bacon and dice it yourself instead of using the thin pre-cut stuff—it renders more evenly and gives you better texture in the finished soup.
  • If your broth tastes a little flat even after seasoning, a single bay leaf left in for an extra minute or two can round everything out without any obvious herb flavor.
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