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This Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas with Greens recipe delivers a classic Southern dish in record time. Dried black-eyed peas, hearty collard greens, and a touch of bacon pressure cook together in a sweet and tangy broth that even gets the picky eaters excited about eating their veggies.
Kristen's Keys for Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas and Greens
A few small tips will help ensure your black-eyed peas are well seasoned and tender, but not mushy.
- Use dried black-eyed peas, not canned. The cooking time is designed so the black-eyed peas and greens finish together. Canned peas would turn to mush long before the greens are ready.
- Hold the salt until the end. Adding salt too early can toughen beans. Waiting until after pressure cooking keeps the peas tender and creamy.
- Natural pressure release matters. Letting the pressure come down slowly (at least 15 minutes) helps the beans hold their shape and texture.
- Don't panic over the pile of greens. It will look like too much. It isn't. Greens shrink dramatically once pressure cooked.
How to Make Black-Eyed Peas with Greens Using the Instant Pot
Whether you are just learning how to use your Instant Pot or are a seasoned user, this section will walk you through the process.
Step One: Sauté Bacon
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté, add the chopped bacon, and cook for 3-5 minutes, just until it renders its fat and starts to brown. Remove the bacon, and set it aside, we will add it back at the end for texture and a salty finish. Leave about ½ to 1 tablespoon of bacon grease in the pot.
👉🏻Skipping bacon? While the bacon grease adds a ton of flavor, you can opt to skip this step and use olive oil in place of the rendered bacon fat.
Step Two: Sauté the Onion
Add the diced bacon to the rendered bacon grease (or olive oil) and sauté the onion for a couple of minutes until soft. Then hit cancel to turn OFF the Instant Pot.
Step Three: Deglaze Inner Pot
Add about ½ cup of water and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. This step prevents a burn notice and pulls all that flavor into the broth where it belongs.
Step Four: Layer Ingredients
Add the remaining water, garlic, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and rinsed black-eyed peas and stir them into the liquid. Then pile the greens right on top. No need to stir.
👉🏻Don't skip rinsing the black-eyed peas! They are often a bit dusty.
Step Five: Pressure Cook
Seal the lid and cook on High Pressure for 40 minutes. When the cooking time is up, let the pressure release naturally for at least 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure and remove the lid.
👉🏻Never do a quick-release of pressure when cooking dried black-eyed peas, as that can cause the peas to have a mushy texture.
Step Six: Season and Serve
Once the lid comes off, season with salt to taste and give everything a gentle stir. Serve warm, topped with the reserved bacon--and maybe some cornbread and pork and sauerkraut on the side if you really want to go for good luck. 😉
Recipe Modifications & Notes
- Vegetarian Option: To make this vegetarian, simply skip the bacon and sauté the onion in about ½ tablespoon of olive oil instead. You may want to add a little extra salt at the end to make up for the missing bacon flavor, but otherwise the recipe works exactly the same.
- Collard Greens: Feel free to use mustard greens or kale in place of the collards.
- Leftovers: Store any leftover black-eyed peas and greens in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat individual servings as desired. The flavors actually deepen a bit overnight, which is always a win.
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas with Greens
Video
Ingredients
- 3 slices thick bacon, chopped, OPTIONAL
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup dried black eyed peas, rinsed and sorted
- 1 pound collard greens, chopped into ribbons
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to the saute function and let it heat up. Once heated, add in 3 slices thick bacon, chopped to the inner pot and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to render off its fat. Once the bacon is browned, remove the bacon from the inner pot using a slotted spoon and place the bacon on a paper-towel-lined plate.
- If needed, drain off all but ½ to 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon grease from the inner pot and then add 1 small onion (minced) to the inner pot. Saute the onion until softened, this should only take a few minutes. Once the onion has softened, turn off the saute function on the Instant Pot.
- Add 3 cups water to the inner pot and using a spatula or wooden spoon, scrape off any browned bits off the bottom of the inner pot.
- Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup dried black eyed peas (rinsed) and give everything a stir to incorporate.
- Layer 1 pound collard greens on top of the black-eyed peas.
- Seal the Instant Pot and then set the cooking time to 40 minutes on high pressure. Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 15 minutes. Then open up the inner pot and season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
- Remove the black-eyed peas and greens from the inner pot, straining off the cooking liquid if desired. Sprinkle the reserved bacon over the greens and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
While looking for a recipe for black eyed peas I noticed that most other recipes have a cook time of 10 minutes or less...why is yours so much longer?
Hi Shari! My guess is that they are using canned or soaked black-eyed peas vs dried.
Would any modifications be required if using spinach instead of collard greens?
I would recommend stirring the spinach into the peas AFTER cooking and releasing pressure. Spinach is so delicate, it will simply wilt into the peas and won't need to cooked as the collards do.
Could I use turnip greens in place of the collard greens?
Absolutely! Enjoy!
Hi Kristen! Quick question, I don't have an instant pot, I was wondering if I could alter the time and make it in a crock pot? If so, what do you think the timing should be?
Thanks so much! Can't wait to make this for NY Day!
Lisa
Hi Lisa! There are several modifications that would need to be made using a slow cooker and without testing carefully myself, I don't want to steer you wrong. Here is a recipe I found that looks similar for your slow cooker: https://www.thespruceeats.com/crock-pot-black-eyed-peas-and-collard-greens-4092432
Thank you for this! I will be making this for Thanksgiving this year. It is similiar to a stovetop recipe I have that also uses corn (though it uses canned beans). This yeaar I'll be making your recipe with the dried beans and then will add a can of corn afterwords and heat through.
Wonderful! Enjoy Melissa!
I did make this on Thanksgiving and it came out perfect. I doubled the recipe in my 6 ct Instant Pot and then added 2 cans of drained corn to it afterwards. I just stirred the corn in and put the lid back on to let it heat through for about 10-15 minutes after adding the corn with before serving.
Thanks for sharing, Melissa! I love the idea of adding corn as well.
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Just what I needed today! Perfect comfort food for a rainy day!
So happy to hear you enjoyed Stephanie!
Just delicious! We love to make these on New Year's Day! Thank you.