Hoppin John is a fave of mine, full stop. Even my daughter (notoriously picky) gets down on it. But this ain’t ya mama’s recipe, y’all! This is a vegetarian hoppin John recipe. You won’t find ham hock, bacon, or other meats in it, but it’s as smoky and Southern as the original one. And of course, I serve it with cornbread on the side. That’s just the Carolina way.
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How to Make Vegetarian Hoppin’ John
Step 1: Soak the dried peas overnight. If you’re using fresh peas you can skip this step and simply rinse them well. After soaking, drain the water and rinse them well.
Step 2: Place the peas in a large pot and add water. Stir in the chopped garlic, celery, olive oil, spices, and vegetarian stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer.
Step 3: Wash the okra, trim off the stems, and slice into quarter-inch pieces. Add it to the pot after the peas have cooked for a while, then continue simmering until the peas are tender.
Step 4: Toast the quinoa briefly in a saucepan, then add water, stock, salt, and walnut oil. Lower the heat and cook until tender, stirring near the end to prevent burning. Serve topped with black-eyed peas and chopped green onions!
PRO TIP: If you don’t need this recipe to be vegetarian, you can use regular beef or chicken stock as well as add a smoked ham hock or smoked turkey wings.
Vegetarian Hoppin John Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Black Eyed Peas
- 4 cups fresh or dried black eyed peas
- 6 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 ½ cups okra
- ¼ cup celery
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp vegetarian chicken stock
- 2 tbsp vegetarian beef stock
- 1 tbsp Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt
- 2 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 dashes Colgin Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke
- 1 dash cayenne pepper optional
For the Quinoa
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups quinoa
- 1 tsp vegetarian chicken or beef stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp walnut oil
Instructions
For the Black Eyed Peas
- If using dried black-eyed peas: This is the norm, so the peas must be soaked overnight. Place the peas in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cool water being careful to remove any hard debris or blemished peas. Place the peas in a large pot and add water to about an inch above the peas and let them soak in an uncovered pot, overnight. The next day the peas will have absorbed some of the water they soaked in.
- If using fresh black-eyed peas, meaning you got them from a farm, someone’s garden or in the refrigerated section of a grocery store, place the peas in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cool water being careful to remove any hard debris or blemished peas.
- Add 2 Cups of water to the pot and place the pot on the stove, turning the burner to high.
- Mince the garlic and celery either with a paring knife or by using a food processor if preferred. Add to the pot. Add all remaining ingredients except the okra to the pot.
- Once the peas reach a rapid boil, turn the heat down to low. Wash the okra in the colander under cool water. Cut off the top stems and discard. Chop the remaining okra into ¼ inch pieces and add to the pot after the peas have been cooking 1 hour. Cook for 30 minutes to 1 additional hour.
For the Quinoa
- Place quinoa in a sauce pan on medium high heat to toast, allowing some of the grains to slightly brown. After approximately one minute, add the water and then the remaining ingredients and turn the heat down to low.
- Cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring the last few minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn. Top with the black-eyed peas, fresh chopped green onions and enjoy!
Notes
- Fridge: Spoon any leftovers into an airtight container and pop it in the fridge. It’ll stay good for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Once cooled, store in freezer-safe containers or bags for up to 3 months. I like to portion it out so I can grab just what I need. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheating: Warm it up on the stove over medium heat, adding a splash of veggie broth or water to loosen it up. You can also microwave individual servings!
Nutrition
Serving Suggestions
- Cornbread: A slice of my classic skillet cornbread is a MUST with this Southern hoppin John. You can also serve it with hot water cornbread, or sweet potato cornbread.
- Bread: Go with sour cream biscuits, potato rolls, or garlic bread.
- Southern Sides: Try your vegetarian hoppin John with fried green tomatoes, fried okra, or hush puppies.
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I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
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I love black eyed peas, and not just for New Year’s Day either, very nice dish, a new one for me, so thank you!
Delicious! Your recipes do not disappoint. I made as directed although I accidentally added tablespoons of the base rather than just of diluted stock (two tablespoons of just stock itself doesn’t seem like it would add much flavor at all) and I had a moment of panic about that but it worked anyway.
Very nice blog post. I certainly appreciate this site.
Keep writing!
This is my new “go to” recipe for black-eyed peas. Everyone raved about the awesome flavor
Great recipe. Have been looking for a good hoppin John recipe
This is sonething new to me. Recipe sounds so flavorful. Pinned to try this soon.
I have always wanted to make this ~ that lineup of spices sounds sooooo good, and I love the little slices of okra!
We make this every year for New Year’s Day! It’s a staple at our house. I love the idea of serving it with quinoa too!
What a fun twist on a classic recipe! Still so flavorful.
Sounds delicious!!!! Can’t wait to try this!!!