Here’s the best Instant Pot Hoppin John recipe that’s made in just 30 minutes using dried black eyed peas! You’ll love this traditional New Years recipe.
You’re either here because you’re wondering what the heck Instant Pot Hoppin John is, or you’re looking for an easy Hoppin John…either way welcome to The Typical Mom!! We have a lot of easy Instant Pot recipes here so if you’re looking for dinner beyond this popular New Years dish we’ve got you covered! (originally published 10/18, affiliate links present)
Either way this easy Hoppin John recipe is super yummy and a great way to use leftover ham like we did here.
I used dry black eyed peas with NO soaking required when using your pressure cooker but if you’d like to use frozen that is an option too.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
Instant Pot Hoppin John
I don’t like canned because they can get quite mushy in the Instant Pot so I’d opt for frozen or dried, dried is best.
This is what ours looked like when it was done….and in just 30 minutes! If you haven’t tried this fun comfort food before I suggest that you do.
It might become a new year tradition for your family too.
What is Hoppin John anyway?? Well I have to be honest, I had no idea until a friend of mine said she was making it for dinner the other night.
I am a sucker for recipes with fun names so I asked her about it and she said it was a popular southern dish made for New Years but she loved it so much they made it year round.
So…..I did a little research about where the name came from and it’s origination and this is what I found.
Why is it called Hoppin John
- Tradition began in the Southern United States
- Eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck.
Serving leafy green vegetables (we used kale) served along with this dish (or inside like I did) are supposed to add wealth since it’s the color of money!
- Another traditional side served with Hoppin John is cornbread, you can make our pressure cooker cornbread recipe to serve with it.
- On the day after New Year’s Day leftovers are usually called Skippin’ Jenny bringing a hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year.
Doesn’t this look yummy ??
Topped with smoked gouda it really was a hit with all 5 of us.
This is what you’ll need to make this Instant Pot Hoppin John recipe
- Bag of black eyed peas – can use frozen or canned but time will be different than that in the recipe card below
- Ham – diced leftover ham is what we used, can use a ham hock
- Can of diced tomatoes
- Butter
- Chicken broth
- Onion and celery is optional
- Rice – make separately, here’s how to make perfect Instant Pot white rice
- Smoked gouda
- Spices
Additional Instant Pot Hoppin John ingredients or substitutions
- Add diced celery
- Add diced bell peppers
4 cups water instead of chicken broth
Omit the smoked gouda cheese on top, or use a different type but this is our favorite
- Don’t the kale I added inside and/or serve easy collard greens on the side
- You could use frozen black eyed peas vs. dried but that will alter the cook time. 30 minutes on high pressure vs 12 would be the difference.
Use a ham hock instead of diced ham like we did, and some like adding bay leaves
Leftovers are great too, just make a fresh pot of rice and serve on top with cheese and you’ve got a second meal!
Watch our video to see how easy it is to make this traditional New Years recipe
Can you use canned and pre cooked black eyed peas instead of dry?
- You could but it will be mushier. See timing difference in step 4 if you want to do it this way.
Timing is 12 minutes instead with a quick release. I’m telling you that to pressure cook dry beans is super easy. I would highly recommend this method.
After you’d made this here are a few other Instant Pot dinner recipes you’ll enjoy
Pressure cooker chili with dry beans is super easy to throw together from scratch.
What do you eat with Hoppin’ John?
There are many variations to traditional Hoppin’ John. Some cook black-eyed peas and rice in one pot. We omitted the rice and added diced tomatoes instead.
- Others insist on simmering ingredients separately. We’re all about one pot meals though so that’s not our style. Some also like to add the collard greens to the pot, that isn’t my favorite veggie so I opted for kale.
The favorite traditional way to eat a Hoppin’ John meal is with collard greens and corn bread.
Want to see a few of my favorite things you might want to write on your Christmas list this year??!! 😉 Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉
Here is the printable recipe below, good luck!
Instant Pot Hoppin John
Ingredients
- 16 oz black eyed peas dry, bagged
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 c ham diced, or ham hock
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 oz.
- 32 oz chicken broth could use vegetable broth if making vegetarian
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 c kale cut into med. size leaves, optional
- 2 c rice cook as directed separately
- 1 c smoked gouda diced
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to saute and add your butter (allow to melt), diced onion, diced ham (if you’re using diced, if using ham hock don’t add that now), minced garlic, cayenne, salt, pepper, thyme, and any other spices you desire.
- Stir until well combined and until onions begin to soften and turn translucent. Turn your pot OFF.
- Add your can of diced tomatoes, bag of dry black eyed peas (or 16 oz of canned, though not recommended), and chicken broth, stir add ham hock into the middle if you’re using that too.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 25 minutes. (if using canned just press the rice button which will set it to pressure high for 12 minutes)
- Do a quick release and stir, will thicken more as it sits. Can serve this over rice as is or if you want to add kale then gently press the leaves into your mixture and cook on high pressure for 4 more minutes.
- Cook rice separately. Quick release again, stir and serve over rice topped with smoked gouda cheese.
Andrea says
Awesome recipe! I presoaked the beans for about 5-10 minutes in a bowl of ice water. I added a chopped green bell pepper and diced two stalks of celery (which I just added with the onions when I cooked them). It was all fantastic!
Robyn says
I picked this recipe because it was for the instant pot. I knew I’d have kielbasa and sauerkraut in the crockpot, and needed a recipe I could cook in a different appliance. I never use my instant pot (I’m a sucker for the crockpot), but after seeing how the dry beans cooked perfectly tender without soaking, I might be hooked. Absolutely tasty! Can’t wait to try it with some shrimp and maybe the bell peppers. Thanks!
Jean says
My family will not eat tomatoes what can I substitute
Karen says
Just leave them out. Or you could use a little tomato paste if you want to keep the tomato flavor without the chunks of tomato.
Marg S says
Several years ago just for fun I started making Hoppin John every New Year’s Day. I have a really good recipe but I couldn’t find canned black-eyed peas this year so all I have is dried. I was actually Googling “how do I cook black-eyed peas in an instant pot”and found your recipe instead. I can’t wait to make it for this New Year’s. and bring in 2021. To say 2020 can “JUST GO AWAY NOW” would be an understatement…. Thanks for posting this, this is going to be much faster than me cooking the blacked eye peas and then making my Hoppin John 😁😁😁
The Typical Mom says
Glad you found me! Good luck
Brenda Morra says
Made this today. It was amazing! I added a chopped red pepper, 2 stalks of celery, 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 Tablespoons concentrated tomato paste. I also used homemade chicken bone broth. Thanks for the recipe!
The Typical Mom says
Yeah!!
Nicole says
Help! If adding bell pepper and celery at what point do I add those in?? Thanks in advance. I’m new to the Instapot 🙂 Happy New Year everyone.
Katherine says
I would add those when you add the onion. Aromatics with aromatics, and those will cook at the same rate as the onions.
Kim says
Made this for the first time last night to have for our New Year’s meal…it’s SO GOOD! I used dry beans and a package of salt pork 12oz. Kale went in at the end for 4 minutes. I cheated and had a bowl right away after tasting it. This is going to be our new go-to for not just New Year’s day for sure!
Martha Belk says
How long do you set the instant pot for if using frozen black eyed peas as that’s what I purchased? You may have said but I must have missed it. Thanks.
The Typical Mom says
Not sure, I haven’t used those. I would suspect 10 minutes might do it? Let us know how it turns out.
Elana McClure says
Love this recipe, I have made it two years in a row now. I add a bell pepper, two stalks of diced celery, extra kale and add an extra can of rotel tomatoes to the can of diced, and extra chicken broth as needed. Make two batches to serve a crowd and serve it over rice. They always scrape the pot clean!
The Typical Mom says
yay!! Happy New Year!
Megan says
Delicious! We pre-soaked our beans before we found the recipe, added a green bell pepper, some celery and reduced the cooking time to 20 minutes (the beans were still very hard even after the pre-soak). The Hoppin John turned out great! We served it with cornbread on the side and would use this recipe again! Thanks!
DMGH says
Delicious! Loved it although next time I will likely eliminate the cayenne as my kids wouldn’t eat it.
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it.
Lelah says
Made this today – super good! The smoked Gouda made it extra tasty. Thank you!!
Angela says
Do you need to presoak the black eyed peas?
Justine says
Nope. Just follow the recipe as is. No Pre soaking requires with an IP
Todd Weiss says
Do you know if the Instant Pot will hold a double recipe? We are having a New Years Brunch and wanted to use your recipe.
Justine says
I’m unsure as mine is a 6 qt and with that size you couldn’t double it. Possibly with an 8 qt but haven’t tried it sorry.
Katherine says
With a bean or legume dish you don’t want to fill a pressure cooker more than half full with the total of your ingredients. Non-legume dishes, you can get away with 2/3 full, or to the maximum fill line.
Ash says
The real story: Hoppin’ John came from West Africa, specifically Ghana (now called “red red”) and Nigeria (variation is moin moin or pili pili sauce), has been a staple there and was carried over to the Diaspora. Even after the ya’ know, little talked about, swept-under-the-rug slavery atrocities/descrinination/red-lining happened, it stuck and this is a pretty good rendition of hoppin’ John. Cheers
Sandy S says
Yes true about the history!. And one more thing… no self-respecting Southerner would ever put Gouda (or any cheese) in their Hoppin’ John. Just. Don’t. Do. It. 🙂
Carol says
I do something similar in the IP but use Rotel tomatoes with green chilies instead of the regular diced tomatoes. YUM!
Jennifer Banz says
This looks so comforting and delicious. I will be trying this one soon!
Renee Goerger says
I’ve always wanted to make Hoppin John and then I ran across your recipe. I’m super excited to make your version, and I love the addition of the smoked gouda!