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    Home » Recipes

    Black Eyed Peas Soup with Pancetta

    Published: Sep 12, 2022 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

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    This Black Eyed Peas Soup with Pancetta (Italian bacon) is a fantastic Mediterranean beans soup. It’s usually World famous for New Year’s tradition of eating black eyed peas but mostly for me, it’s a rich winter comfort food:).

    A plate of black eyed peas soup with a slice of bread and parsley garnish. There's another partial plate visible in the background.
    Plate of Black Eyed Peas Soup with Bread

    Black Eyed Peas: Peas or Beans?

    Well, hope I’m not disappointing you but yes they are called peas, but they’re indeed beans. In my native country of Albania, we call beans of any variety ‘fasule’ or ‘groshë’. More specifically, we call black eyed peas ‘groshë qorre’ which is translated back to English like blind beans.

    I prefer cooking dried beans because frozen or canned were not available while I was growing up. So now it’s a habit for me to cook with dry beans. Dried beans have the disadvantage that you need to soak them the night before, however they’re more budget friendly.

    Whichever way you decide to consume them, they’re healthy because these black eyed peas are rich in fiber and protein.

    Dry black eyed peas on a plate and on the counter.
    Black Eyed Peas

    Dutch Oven Or Pressure Cooker?

    My favorite method of cooking this dish is with the dutch oven. But this soup can also be cooked in pressure cooker or slow cooker. Either way, it comes out fantastic and I’ll provide instructions for all three methods below.

    Black Eyed Peas Soup in Dutch Oven

    Additional Tips & Notes

    Here are some extra tips for a succesful recipe that might help on top of the recipe card below:). If you have any questions on substitutions or methods or any questions at all, let me know in comments. Thank you!

    • Soak the black eyed peas overnight, it shortens cooking time especially in Dutch Oven. Soaking is less important if you use the pressure cooker.
    • I love using fresh crushed tomatoes anytime I can. They add so much flavor to any dish, but they don’t have as much color as canned crushed tomatoes. You can use either fresh or canned crushed tomatoes, but if using fresh, I would add 1 tbsp of tomato paste to the soup to add some color.
    • Pancetta – you can replace pancetta with ham, bacon or diced pork belly. Results will vary slightly but soup will still be amazing!!
    • Add more red wine vinegar to your plate and drizzle some more olive oil!! This combo brings out the flavors of the soup. You can use lemon juice too.
    Ingredients for cooking the Black Eyed peas soup: black eyed peas, parsley, onion, celery, carrots, red bell pepper, pancetta, crushed tomatoes, olive oil, and lots of herbs.
    Ingredients for Black Eyed Peas Soup

    Tips for Pressure Cooker & Slow Cooker

    1. Pressure Cooker – use the same steps as the recipe card to get started. Once all ingredients are combined, pressurize the pressure cooker on high (it can take anywhere from 5-8 minutes to do this depending on brand and size of pressure cooker). Let cook on high for about 15 minutes. Then use natural release to depressurize the pressure cooker. That can take another 10 minutes or so. Open the lid carefully and mix the soup well before serving. Garnish with parsley and add the red wine vinegar and olive oil over your soup bowl.
    2. Slow Cooker – use the same steps as the recipe card below to start the soup. Once everything is combined, set the slow cooker to 8 hours on low and let the soup cook. Check at the end and add time or adjust salt/pepper and flavor as needed. Add red wine vinegar (or lemon juice) to your soup bowl and garnish with parsley. A little drizzle of olive oil would be amazing as well:).
    A plate with black eyed peas soup, served with bread and garnished bread.

    Black Eyed Peas Soup with Pancetta

    Sonila
    A rich and flavorful Mediterranean soup with black eyed peas and pancetta. This soup is not only perfect for New Year's because of tradition, but also on any cold winter day! It's so comforting!!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr
    Total Time 1 hr 15 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Mediterranean
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 318 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 Dutch Oven

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups black eyed peas
    • 8 ozs pancetta
    • 1 red onion
    • 1-2 carrots
    • 4 celery sticks
    • 1 red bell pepper
    • 4 garlic cloves
    • 2 tbsps olive oil
    • 2 cups crushed tomatoes
    • 1 cup fresh parsley
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • 0.5 tsp black pepper
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp dry thyme
    • 0.5 tsp red pepper flakes optional, add more for spicy soup
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 2 tbsps red wine vinegar
    • 4 cups hot water

    Instructions
     

    • Soak dry black eyed peas in water overnight. Rinse and drain on a colander when ready to cook.
    • Dice carrots, onion and celery and set them aside. Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Dice red bell pepper too. Wash and drain the parsley. Usually I divide a quarter of the parsley bunch for garnishing at the end.
    • Heat Dutch Oven for a minute or so. Add olive oil then add pancetta. Cook while stirring for few minutes.
    • Add onion and garlic and cook until both are translucent and aromatic. Keep stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to avoid anything sticking to the bottom of the Dutch Oven.
    • Add carrots, celery and red pepper. Continue stirring occasionally so all vegetables cook and soften and flavors mix together.
    • Finally add drained black eyed peas and crushed tomatoes. Add all the seasonings: oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, black pepper, bay leaf, parsley and black pepper. As per salt, you can add it right at this point or when soup has finished cooking.
    • Add 4 cups of water (I like to boil water in a kettle before adding so to shorten cooking time).
    • Mix everything, lower heat to medium and cover Dutch Oven with a lid. Let cook for about 45 minutes. Check occasionally. Then lower heat to low and let cook for another 15 minutes.
    • Add red wine vinegar and garnish with fresh parsley right before serving. Also, you can add some more fragrant olive oil to your individual soup bowl too. Enjoy:)

    Video

    Notes

    • Leftovers: you can store them in refrigerator for few days. Also, you can freeze this soup in an airtight container. 
    • You can use fresh lemon juice instead or red wine vinegar. 
    • My family back in Albania loved to serve a winter salad with this soup, which usually involved pickled green tomatoes or cabbage etc. Salad have olive oil and red wine vinegar, sometimes they’d scoop the olive oil/vinegar combo from the salad plate and drizzle some of that over the soup bowl. It’s really amazing, if you like that flavor combination. I know not everyone is a fan, but those that love it swear by it! 

    Nutrition Label

    Nutrition Facts
    Black Eyed Peas Soup with Pancetta
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 318 Calories from Fat 180
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 20g31%
    Saturated Fat 6g38%
    Trans Fat 0.05g
    Monounsaturated Fat 10g
    Cholesterol 25mg8%
    Sodium 774mg34%
    Potassium 656mg19%
    Carbohydrates 24g8%
    Fiber 7g29%
    Sugar 8g9%
    Protein 12g24%
    Vitamin A 3443IU69%
    Vitamin C 50mg61%
    Calcium 84mg8%
    Iron 4mg22%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 318kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 12gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.05gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 774mgPotassium: 656mgFiber: 7gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 3443IUVitamin C: 50mgCalcium: 84mgIron: 4mg
    Keyword Black Eyed Peas Soup
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!
    Is pancetta bacon?

    Pancetta is cured pork belly meat, it’s cured with salt and spices. Bacon is also cured pork product (sometimes pork belly, sometimes loin) but besides being cured, it is also smoked and the process involves nitrites. While they’re similar cuts of pork meat (bacon served sliced while pancetta usually diced), pancetta is healthier than bacon because it has lower sodium and doesn’t go through the smoking process (so no nitrites). Pancetta is more expensive though.

    What’s the significance of Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s ?

    It’s interesting how many countries use Black Eyed Peas to usher in the New Year. Many people believe that eating black eyed peas at the beginning of the year, will bring lots of good luck and wealth.

    If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save it on your Pinterest winter or soup boards. Let me know in comments if you have any questions!! Feel free to tag me in social media with pictures of your renditions of this recipe. Thank you:).

    Instagram: mediterranean_latin_love or Twitter: MediterrLatin or Facebook: Mediterranean Latin Love Affair.

    An image prepared for Pinterest, it shows a picture of the soup on a white plate, garnished with bread and fresh parsley. The picture has a title bar saying Black Eyed Peas Soup & Pancetta and at the bottom there's a website link.
    Black Eyed Peas Soup with Pancetta

    Other Beans & Soups Recipes

    If you love beans and soups, here are some more recipes you can check out. Thank you:).

    • Navy Beans Soup with Beef Shanks
    • Red Kidney Beans Soup
    • Pinto Beans Soup
    • Rice and Black Beans (Gallo Pinto)
    • Mediterranean Lentil Soup
    • Red Lentil Soup

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    Filed Under: Mediterranean Food, Recipes, Soups

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Diana

      October 28, 2022 at 1:29 pm

      5 stars
      Best soup recipe, couldn’t find pancetta but used bacon. My family loved it so much that I’m adding this recipe to our bi-weekly recipe rotation in winter!!

      Reply

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    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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