One Pot Greek Black Eyed Peas
This is the classic way black eyed peas are prepared in Greece: stewed with onion, tomato and herbs until thick. This One Pot Greek Black Eyed Pea dish is hearty and good. It is often combined with spinach or other greens.
While we often see black eyed peas in salad recipes, cooking them as a stew really brings out the flavor and that thick sauce. We often associate this bean with southern and Caribbean cuisine, but in fact they are quite a traditional food in Greece, we call them mavromatika. When we look at this recipe, it has many things in common with southern style black eyed peas (minus the meat): cooked on the stovetop with onions and herbs, these black eyed peas are very versatile, as you can add other greens, or other herbs depending on the season.
Nutritional Value of Black Eyed Peas
Although it is called a “pea” it is actually a bean, and one of the healthiest ones. I find that it is underestimated in regards to its health benefits. Black eyed peas are full of nutrients, let’s see how much: 1 cup of cooked black eyed peas contain about 220 calories, 15 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. That in itself makes these beans a perfect food for those wanting lose weight, maintain balanced blood sugar levels and feel full and satisfied. But that’s not all, a cup of these wonder beans also contains high amounts of folate, iron, magnesium, copper and thiamin fulfilling over 20% of our daily needs for these vitamins and minerals. Black eyed peas are also a source of protective antioxidants. In addition to all this , they are better tolerated than other types of beans.
How to Prepare Black Eyed Peas
One of the reasons black eyed peas are so great apart from their flavor and nutritional value, is that they very easy to prepare. You do not need to soak them overnight and they cook quite quickly. Since they are so easy to prepare, I recommend using dried beans rather than canned.
If you intend to use them in a salad, you can soak them for 30 minutes. Then you rinse and simmer in plenty of water (make sure they are covered by 4 inches or 10 cm). They should be ready in about 30-40 minutes. If you are using them for a cold dish/salad you do not want to overcook, you do not want them mushy.
For this particular one-pot recipe, we will cook the black eyed peas along with tomato and water until they are stewed as you will see in the recipe below.
One Pot Greek Black Eyed Peas
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry black eyed peas 7 ounces/200 grams
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots sliced thinly
- 1 ½ cup crushed tomatoes may use canned- 12 ounces/360 grams
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped dill
- parsley for serving
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Soak the black eyed peas in water for about 30 minutes. After that rinse in plenty of water.
- In a pot, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and the carrot until the onion is translucent.
- Add the black eyed peas to the pot and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomato, the bay leaf, dill and pepper and mix well.
- Add hot water until the beans are covered (about 1 inch over).
- Simmer for 30-40 minutes checking the water levels, add a bit of hot water as needed (about 2-3 tablespoons each time), you do not want this to be watery or like a soup, but thick. I prefer to add less water in the beginning and add as needed later.
- The beans are ready when they are soft.
- Remove from heat and remove the bay leaf, add salt to taste and mix.
- Serve as is or with a sprinkle of parsley. You may also accompany it with a piece of feta.
SAVE FOR LATER AND PIN IT!
Photos by Elena Paravantes © All Rights Reserved
This was the 1st time I made black eyed peas & this was delicious! I was skeptical & afraid my husband wouldn’t like it. But he devoured it! Took longer to cook than expected but worth the wait. Added a drizzle of EVOO to serving with a squeeze of lemon juice & hunk of Feta. YUM! Served slices of Sourdough bread & Kalama olives. Definitely adding this one to the meal rotation!
Hi. Could you use canned black eyed peas?
Desire an hour of soaking, beans did not cook within time frame. If you have an instant pot, throw them in the thereon the bean function (mine were ready at 6 mins). Otherwise reasonably tasty and some dish
I was unde the impression that dry beans do not cook well in acidic foods like tomatoes. What happens if I add the tomatoes after the beans are cooked?
I love this recipe. So tasty!
I added diced black olives and smoked tofu.
I made these on New Year’s Eve. Delicious – 10/10
This is delicious the 2nd and even 3rd day! Definitely with the lemon juice. Sorry if I am reposting… I had difficulty with the beans. Soaked as recipe states and had to cook for about 2.5 hours until soft enough to eat. I really enjoyed it but will soak longer.
Ha, I soaked them for two days and still after 45 minutes they were not tender:( Maybe too old a batch? Otherwise I tried to recreate a famous national dish of Ghana; Beans and Plantain sprinkled with Gari. A veg version. The taste is great but the cooking time is a whole different thing. Sometimes adding a little seaweed helps to shorten the cooking time of beans but I forgot why. I somehow find it funny & enjoyable that here I get ads with black people in it, love/hate algorithms..
Jim, it’s because Black people eat blackeyed peas!
Delicious, as usual! I’m working my way through your cookbook and blog and have not had ONE thing that wasn’t absolutely delicious! Thanks again!
Thank you Kathy! Happy you are enjoying the recipes!
This recipe is extremely good—simple, inexpensive to make, and very tasty. I personally do not soak the peas, but then again, I have plenty of time to allow them to simmer. I should add here that it is crucial that you not boil these peas, as you will end up with mush, but allow them their time to cook on a gentle simmer. Also, do not add too much water. At the end of cooking time, you should have little liquid other than a bit of water and the olive oil.
Thank you Jeffrey! Great tips!
This is a great recipe,so simple,flavoursome and hearty.Please note that you do have to soak the beans overnight.Thank you for this recipe.
Thanks Ian! Glad you enjoyed them. Black eyed beans generally do not require overnight soaking. I recommend a 30 minute soak to shorten cooking time.
Thanks for the recipe Elena. It’s delicious. Do you know if this would be good for meal prepping or freezing?
Thanks for the yummy recipe. The simple no-fuss ingredients really are the most flavoursome. My young adult son kept coming back for more! As for the beans taking so long to cook, I found that soaking them for a few hours with a teaspoon of bi-carb soda does the rick. Wash and rinse them thoroughly though before cooking. A simply delicious recipe 🙂
Thank you for your tip Anna!
I’m skeptical myself about dried beans cooking that quickly. I think I might just use canned, not black-eyed, as I don’t have those. Maybe pinto. But then I don’t have those either right now, lol. Perhaps I’ll just stick with my usual baked black beans 🙂
I just made this using canned pinto beans because that’s what we had. So I did not add water, as the consistency seemed just right (didn’t change anything else about the recipe) and it’s absolutely wonderful.
Thanks for sharing Carla!
This was wonderful. I tripled the recipe for my family of 7 and added fennel in place of dill simple because I was out of dill. We added kale because I was too busy with the baby to chop up a salad. My family ate it over couscous with your olive and feta bread on the side. We have plenty left over for lunches today and to take for a church potluck Sunday evening. Also this is much more flavorful the next day I’ve discovered.
Thank you Chelsea, The fennel substitute sounds good!