Black Eyed Pea Soup

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This vegetarian black eyed pea soup is loaded with beans and veggies for a hearty, comforting dinner. Perfect for warming up on cold days, or ringing in the New Year.

Winter might not always be so enjoyable, but digging into a bowl of hearty soup at the end of the day is something I do love.

Living in the Midwest means we get more than our fair share of cold days, so having comforting meals to lean on is essential, especially if they are easy! Enter this black eyed pea soup, made in the slow cooker.

Black-eyed peas and greens are traditionally made to ring in the New Year, but you can make this soup any time! It’s full of vegetables and nicely filling thanks to the beans.

Grab that bag of dried beans lingering in your pantry and make this soup for dinner!

Ingredients for black-eyed pea soup

Full list of ingredients with quantities is located in the recipe card.

You’ll need:

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic
• Kale
• Dried black-eyed peas
• Diced tomatoes
• Vegetable stock/broth
• Tomato paste
• Smoked paprika
• Ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• Bay leaves

This recipe uses dried beans, not canned. I love recipes that use dried beans because they are so economical—you can get a pound of dried beans for the same price (or less!) as one can. You don’t need to prep the beans for this soup; so don’t worry if you can’t soak them! 

I recommend using petite diced tomatoes here. The smaller pieces ensure more in each bowl. No need to drain!

How to make this recipe

Chop all of your veggies first. The kale goes into the soup at the end, so you can save that for later, or prep it now and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan set over medium. Add the onions, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt, and cook for about 5 minutes to soften. 

Add the garlic, tomato paste, smoked paprika, cumin, and salt and cook for 1 minute, stirring well to coat the vegetables with the spices and paste. If it is sticking at all, add a splash of water to loosen any stuck bits from the bottom.

Transfer to the crock of a slow cooker. Add the beans, tomatoes, vegetable broth, and bay leaves, and stir well.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and set to LOW. Let cook for 7-8 hours, until the beans are tender.

During the last 15 minutes or so of cooking, add the chopped kale and stir to mix. Continue to cook until the kale is wilted and tender.

Stir in the pepper to taste and serve!

Storage and reheating

We usually have leftovers of this soup, which I love because that means lunch is already done!

Keep in an airtight container and use within 3 days. If you like, you can also freeze it. I recommend using a container like SouperCubes that allows you to portion it and then pop out the frozen cubes for storing long term.

To reheat, pour individual servings into a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a silicone microwave cover or paper towel to prevent splatters. Heat in 1-minute increments, stirring in between, until warmed through.

Reheat on the stove in a saucepan set to medium or medium-low, stirring, until warmed through.

Recipe suggestions

Make this soup your own by adding other ingredients like mushrooms, a parmesan rind (remove before serving), a few dashes of hot sauce, or crushed red pepper flakes.

If you don’t need to keep it vegetarian, consider adding a smoked ham hock. Remove it after cooking, shred the meat, and stir it back into the soup. You can also make my slow cooker beans and smoked sausage that uses kielbasa instead of this recipe.

Serve this black eyed pea soup with some buttermilk cornbread or your favorite rolls!