Black-Eyed Peas and Bacon Soup (Print Version)

A smoky, comforting blend of tender black-eyed peas, crisp bacon, and vegetables in a light broth.

# What You’ll 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 with a slotted spoon and set aside, preserving the rendered fat in the pot.
02 - Add onion, carrots, and celery to the pot. Sauté in the bacon fat until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic.
03 - Stir in the black-eyed peas, chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Bring to a rolling boil.
04 - Reduce heat to low, cover, 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.
05 - Remove bay leaf. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
06 - Ladle soup into bowls. Top with reserved bacon and chopped parsley before serving.

# Additional Tips::

01 -
  • The bacon renders into pure flavor, so you're not drowning in grease but swimming in umami richness.
  • Black-eyed peas are forgiving and naturally creamy, turning this into comfort food without any cream at all.
  • Ready in under an hour, yet tastes like you've been tending it all day.
02 -
  • If you forget to soak dried peas overnight, you can boil them for 2 minutes, let them sit for an hour, then drain and proceed, but the overnight method is gentler and more predictable.
  • The bay leaf will hide at the bottom of the pot, so stir before serving and make a mental note of where it is, or people will bite into it.
03 -
  • Don't skip browning the bacon properly because those crispy bits stirred back in at the end are what people taste first and remember longest.
  • Taste throughout the cooking process and add salt gradually, because the broth will concentrate as it simmers and you can always add more but you can't take it back.
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