slow cooker black-eyed pea and cabbage soup

Name: Slow Cooker Black-Eyed Pea and Cabbage Soup
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 6 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 1 - hambone (some meat still on the bone); 24 ounce(s) fresh black-eyed peas or 1 pound dried black-eyed peas, soaked and prepared for cooking; 3-4 cup(s) cubed ham (if not enough ham remaining on the hambone; can be other leftover ham); 1 large yellow sweet onion, chopped; 2 stalk(s) celery, chopped; 2-3 dash(es) louisiana hot sauce (optional); 1 tablespoon(s) minced garlic; 2 - bay leaves; 1 tablespoon(s) ham flavored better than bouillon, optional; 1 can(s) rotel tomatoes and chilies (mild, original, or hot; we use mild); 1 - green bell pepper, diced; 6 cup(s) chicken broth; 1 - small green cabbage, chopped

(2 ratings)

Slow Cooker Black-Eyed Pea and Cabbage Soup with cornbread on top.

review

Blue Ribbon Recipe by

Alix E

@Lionors

The terminally messy desk, TX

A great, easy way to ring in the new year! Serving black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year's Day is a Southern tradition to ensure luck and wealth for the coming year. This has a Southwestern kick for good measure. Pair this with a pan of real Southern cornbread for a delicious dose of New Year's luck.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Not only will this black-eyed pea soup help use up a leftover hambone, Southern tradition dictates it will bring you luck in the New Year, too. And it's such a good recipe, you'll want to make it all year round. What we love most is that it's full of fresh veggies that add such wonderful flavor. It's easy, too - just dump all the ingredients into a Crock Pot and leave it alone. What you come back to is a delicious soup. Make sure to serve it with some cornbread.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew

(2 ratings)

yield 6 -8

prep time 30 Min

cook time 6 Hr

method Slow Cooker Crock Pot

Ingredients For slow cooker black-eyed pea and cabbage soup

1

hambone (some meat still on the bone)
24 oz

fresh black-eyed peas or 1 pound dried black-eyed peas, soaked and prepared for cooking
3-4 c

cubed ham (if not enough ham remaining on the hambone; can be other leftover ham)
1 lg

yellow sweet onion, chopped
2 stalk

celery, chopped
2-3 dash

louisiana hot sauce (optional)
1 Tbsp

minced garlic
2

bay leaves
1 Tbsp

ham flavored better than bouillon, optional
1 can

rotel tomatoes and chilies (mild, original, or hot; we use mild)
1

green bell pepper, diced
6 c

chicken broth
1

small green cabbage, chopped

How To Make slow cooker black-eyed pea and cabbage soup

Test Kitchen Tips

If you are using dried black-eyed peas, we don't find it necessary to pre-boil or soak them. A simple rinse to be sure they are clean and free of debris will do before adding them to the slow cooker.

1
Carve as much meat as you can off the hambone, then cube the meat (adding in extra ham if necessary). Then, starting with the hambone, place all ingredients into a slow cooker except for the cabbage, pouring the broth over last. This soup has a lot of volume starting out, but it will cook down considerably. Note: If you can't get fresh black-eyed peas, you may use a pound of dried. To substitute dried black-eyed peas, rinse the peas the night before, sorting out any dirt or stones. Put into a pot, cover with water, and boil for ten minutes. Remove from heat and allow to soak overnight. When ready to prepare, rinse the peas before adding them to the Crock Pot. Canned black-eyed peas are NOT recommended, as they grow pasty and mushy and ruin the texture of the soup.

2
Add the chopped cabbage to the top of the mixture.
3
Cook on high for 6 hours.
4
Give the soup a stir to make sure the cabbage is cooking down about 3 hours into the cooking process.
5
Remove the hambone and bay leaves from the slow cooker. Scrape off any meat and marrow from the bone and stir both into the soup. Discard the hambone. Add salt, pepper, and a few dashes of Louisiana hot sauce to taste.
6
We pair this with my grandmother's recipe for Southern cornbread with stone-ground cornmeal. Forget about crackers -- just crumble some cornbread into your soup to soak up the good juice for a meal that'll make a great start to your New Year!
7
This is great the next day, too. The peas soften even more overnight. Note 1: I've been told Ro-Tel is not available in every area of the country. It is available for purchase through Amazon, but if you don't want to go that far, here's a way to make your own homemade Ro-Tel: combine 1- 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes, 1 - 4 oz can diced green chilies and 2 tsp lime juice. Optional: 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro. Regular green chilies are no hotter than a bell pepper, but if you want to ramp up the heat, you can find chopped, canned Hatch chilies or other, hotter peppers to use. Note 2: If you don't have a leftover hambone from your holiday ham, one alternative is to get a hambone from a place like Honeybaked Ham, if one is in your area. I've found their 'soup starter' bones have enough ham left both for this soup and for an additional meal (I often make an omelet or a quiche). Honeybaked sells their hambones dirt cheap after Christmas and Easter, so it's a great time to stock up, though you will likely want to rinse off the sweeter outer coating. Note 3: Yes, this will freeze with no problems. Enjoy!
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