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You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / Hoppin’ John Recipe – A New Year’s Day Tradition

Hoppin’ John Recipe – A New Year’s Day Tradition

December 26, 2023 by Alea Milham 4 Comments

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When I moved to the south I created this Hoppin’ John recipe, so I could participate in the tradition of “eating poor” on the first day of the New Year.

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Hoppin' John Recipe - A New Year's Day tradition and a frugal recipe for the rice and beans budget

We picked up the tradition of eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day when we lived in Virginia. The custom is to “eat poor” on New Year’s Day so you eat well the rest of the year. Eating poor does not have to equal eating poorly!  Hoppin’ John is a great example of how you can eat delicious food inexpensively. Just because this recipe is traditionally served on New Year’s Day does not mean you can’t enjoy it throughout the year.

I usually save the bones from roasts to make broth, but I save the bones from our Christmas roast to add extra flavor to our New Year’s Day meal: Hoppin’ John. I just add them to the pot that I am cooking the black-eyed peas in. Once the peas are done cooking, I discard the bones, leaving the rich flavor and little pieces of meat behind. You can add additional meat if you have leftover roast or ham, but it isn’t necessary.

To add even more flavor, I cook the rice in broth instead of water. I use vegetable broth if I use a ham bone and beef broth if I use roast bones.

Hoppin’ John Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound dried black-eyed peas
  • leftover ham or roast bones
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • ½ bell pepper finely diced
  • 6 – 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups long-grain brown rice
  • 4 cups of water or broth
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
  • 1 cup leftover roast or ham, diced (optional)

Directions:

  1. Add 8 cups of water and one pound of dried black-eyed peas to a large pot. Cook over high heat. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse peas.
  2. Add drained and rinsed peas to a large pot, with 6 cups of water and bones. Cook over a medium-high flame until the water reaches a boil. Lower flame and simmer with the lid tilted for 1½ hours or until desired tenderness is reached.
  3. While the beans are cooking, Saute the onion, celery, peppers, and garlic in olive oil. Add rice, water or broth, and spices.
  4. Cook rice over medium-high flame until it reaches a boil. Lower flame, place a lid on the pot and simmer for 45 minutes.
  5. Once the rice is done cooking, stir in the leftover meat.
  6. Once the peas are done cooking, remove bones and drain any excess liquid.
  7. Add rice mixture to the black-eyed peas and stir to combine.

Hoppin' John Recipe using leftover roast beef

I serve my Hoppin’ John with greens on New Year’s Day which is also supposed to ensure good luck!

Printable Recipe for Hoppin’ John

Hoppin' John Recipe using leftover roast beef
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Hoppin' John Recipe

Hoppin' John Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Hoppin' John
Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes
Total Time 2 hours hours 45 minutes minutes
Servings 8
Calories 320kcal
Author Alea Milham

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried black-eyed peas
  • leftover ham or roast bones
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 celery stalks thinly sliced
  • ½ bell pepper finely diced
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 cups long-grain brown rice
  • 4 cups of water or broth
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
  • 1 cup leftover roast or ham diced (optional)

Instructions

  • Add 8 cups of water and one pound of dried black-eyed peas to a large pot. Cook over high heat. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse peas.
  • Add drained and rinsed peas to a large pot, with 6 cups of water and bones. Cook over a medium-high flame until the water reaches a boil. Lower flame and simmer with the lid tilted for 1½ hours or until desired tenderness is reached.
  • While the beans are cooking, Saute the onion, celery, peppers, and garlic in olive oil. Add rice, water or broth, and spices.
  • Cook rice over medium-high flame until it reaches a boil. Lower flame, place a lid on the pot and simmer for 45 minutes.
  • Once the rice is done cooking, stir in the leftover meat.
  • Once the peas are done cooking, remove bones and drain any excess liquid.
  • Add rice mixture to the black-eyed peas and stir to combine.

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 802mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 529IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 6mg

More Frugal Recipes Using Meat Bones:

  • Pink Bean and Ham Soup
  • Split Pea Soup
  • How To Make Chicken Broth in a Slow Cooker

 

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Shirley Wood says

    January 6, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    So glad you share your creativity with us at Merry Monday. Can’t wait to see what’s new from you next week!

    Reply
  2. Swathi says

    January 7, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Delicious recipe, next year I am going to try this one.

    Reply
  3. simplee sue says

    January 1, 2013 at 8:44 am

    Looks great for a rice dish. I don’t eat much rice. It has to have stuff in it and this does. Thank you for sharing so I have a good rice recipe.

    We may have met by chance…but we become friends by choice.
    http://simpleesue.com/pa-dutch-new-years-day-pork-sauerkraut

    Reply
  4. April @ The 21st Century Housewife says

    December 31, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Hoppin’ John sounds delicious, as well as a really healthy start to the New Year! What a fun – and tasty – tradition!

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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