Name: Easy Hoppin' John with Smoked Sausage
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 1 lb smoked sausage; 1/4 cup olive oil or bacon grease; 1 green bell pepper, diced; 1 large onion, diced; 1.5 cups diced celery; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1.5 cups long-grain white rice; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon pepper; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 bay leaf; 3.5 cups chicken broth; 1 14-oz can black-eyed peas, drained

Home » Main Dishes » Easy Hoppin' John with Smoked Sausage

A one-pot rice dish cooked with black-eyed peas and smoked sausage, seasoned with peppers, onions and spices perfect for New Year's Day or a simple homemade Southern meal.

Author: Mandy Rivers | Published: 9/30/26

If you're not from the South, you're probably looking at the name of this recipe and thinking, Hopping who? What in the world is a Hoppin' John??

The short answer is that Hoppin' John is rice dish, native to the Lowcountry (the area around and between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA) made with smoked pork and black-eyed peas (or other cowpeas like crowder peas, field peas, etc.).

To get into it more (because y'all know I'm just a big nerd who loves to cook), I'll need to tell you what traditional Hoppin' John is then I'll explain this recipe (a quicker adaptation of the classic).

A one-pot rice dish cooked with black-eyed peas and smoked sausage, seasoned with peppers, onions and spices perfect for New Year's Day or a quick homemade Southern meal.

WHAT IS TRADITIONAL HOPPIN' JOHN?

Traditional Hoppin' John is made when dried black-eyed peas (or other varieties of cowpeas such as crowder peas, field peas or pink lady peas to name a few) are slow-cooked with smoked, cured pork (typically ham hocks or a meaty hambone), water and aromatics (usually bell pepper, onions, celery and garlic). From there, rice is added to the dish in one of the two following ways:

RICE COOKED IN - Once the peas are tender, rice is added to the pot with the cooking liquid where it cooks much like a pilau, jambalaya or chicken bog (like what's pictured here).

SERVED OVER RICE - Once the peas are tender, the lid is removed and the soupy base reduces into a thin stew which is then served over cooked white rice.

It is traditional to serve Hoppin' John with collard greens and sliced or stewed tomatoes and it is very often served on New Year's Day (more on that tradition down below).

HOW IS THIS RECIPE DIFFERENT?

I talked about traditional Hoppin' John above but, just like with cornbread and banana pudding, there are dozens of different ways to make it and every Southerner does it a little bit differently.

This is a quicker, easier version of the classic that can easily be made on a weeknight in under an hour by using canned peas and smoked sausage.

Since we won't need to cook dried peas for hours, ham hocks or a hambone won't work (they too need to cook for hours) so we use smoked sausage for the same flavor.

FAQ ON THE RECIPE

1. Can I use another type of meat? Yes!! Ham steak (diced), andouille, bacon or kielbasa can all be used.

2. What type of peas can I use? It is traditional to use cowpeas which is a variety that includes black-eyed, cream, butter, crowder, pink lady and field peas.

3. Can I use frozen peas? Frozen peas are great! They will need to cook a little longer than canned peas so cook them in salted water for about 20 minutes before adding to the recipe.

4. Doesn't Hoppin' John have tomatoes in it? Some recipes do. Add a can of rotel or petite diced tomatoes if you'd like!

WHAT DO YOU SERVE WITH HOPPIN' JOHN?

Collard Greens - Hoppin' John is frequently served with collard greens (or any greens) and is often made on New Year's Day.

Tomatoes - From fresh sliced tomatoes served on the side to stewed tomato gravy, tomatoes are commonly served with Hoppin' John.

Chow-Chow - This is a sweet and tangy (sometimes spicy) relish made with peppers, cabbage and green tomatoes that is easy to find in my neck of the South. I don't have a recipe but my buddy, Brandie at The Country Cook does: Chow-Chow Relish Recipe

WHY DO SOUTHERNERS EAT BLACK-EYED PEAS AND COLLARD GREENS ON NEW YEARS?

When Sherman razed the South after the Civil War, he burned all the crops, killed all the livestock and left most of the South to die of starvation. As military strategies go, it was pretty solid but it was harsh for the hundreds of thousands of non-fighting folks left here (enslaved people who were displaced or not yet freed, women whose opinions on war and slavery didn't matter, children, etc.).

The Yankee soldiers didn't realize our collards and other greens were edible so they left them alone. Most cowpeas grew wild at the edge of fields and in clusters of bushes that looked like shrubs (not food) so they were left as well. The greens and peas were some of the only fresh foodstuff left in the South and they are what sustained the people and kept them from starving.

We eat them in homage to the sustenance they provided mostly but there are fun suspicions and traditions that go along with them too. Collard greens represent dollars and peas represent change (literal or figurative) so if you eat plenty of each, the upcoming year will be blessed with both!

MORE SOUTHERN RICE DISHES TO TRY

Carolina Chicken Bog - A one-pot recipe of rice, chicken and smoked sausage cooked in a flavorful stock made from slow-cooked chicken.

Country-Style Ribs & Rice - An old-school Southern recipe made with rice cooked in a rich stock made from slowly cooked country-style pork ribs.

Charleston Red Rice - A Lowcountry recipe made from rice cooked with bacon and a tomato broth seasoned with peppers and onions perfected by the Gullah and Geechee.

Better-Than-Bojangles Dirty Rice - A copycat recipe for Bojangles iconic Cajun dirty rice, made with sausage and a favorite throughout the Carolinas!

Neck Bones & Rice - A rustic Southern recipe with rice cooked in a rich stock made from slowly simmered pork neck bones seasoned simple with onion, salt and pepper.

Recipe for Hoppin' John