Vegan Hoppin John Recipes are a tasty way to celebrate a lucky New Year! These delicious recipes incorporate all the traditional flavors of the black-eyed peas and greens in creative, unexpected, and delectably untraditional ways.
12 Vegan Hoppin John Recipes
A few of the recipes below are from here at Planted365 but the others are from fellow plant-based writers who are amazing vegan recipe developers.
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Why is it called Hoppin John?
Hoppin John is a stew-like dish that’s traditionally eaten on New Years Day. It appears in recipe books as far back as the 1840s, although it dates back well before that. Eating this combination of black-eyed peas, collard greens, and rice on New Years Day is believed to ensure good luck and financial prosperity.
Like most things, the full truth of the story is actually way more complicated than it may first appear. You can read more about the tradition of Hoppin John in this article by History.com.
Why do we eat Black Eyed Peas on New Years Day?
For luck and financial prosperity. This tradition goes back at least to the Civil War. The black-eyed peas represent coins. Additionally, the collard greens in the recipe represent paper money, and cornbread served with it represents gold.
Black-eyed peas are a small-ish, beige and/or pale yellow legume with a dark brown or black spot on one side. Also called cowpeas, they originated in Africa and have been a food since at least the Middle Ages. In the US, they have historically been a staple in the South.
Black Eye Peas are delicious, easy to grow, inexpensive, and full of healthy fiber and plant-based protein.
Can Hoppin John be Made Vegan and Plant-Based?
YES! Hoppin’ John, like anything else, can be veganized. Any Hoppin John recipe is actually really easy to make plant-based … simply omit any non-vegan ingredients like pork. The rest of this traditional dish is made of yummy plants and I assure you any of these recipes are packed with flavor!
And who is Skipping Jenny?
Hoppin John leftovers that are eaten the day after New Years Day are called Skipping Jenny. This frugal tradition augurs ever more so for a prosperous year ahead!
Vegan Hoppin John Recipes for the New Year
Bring some delicious plant-based luck into your New Year with these tasty, vegan, simple, and creative recipes for the traditional favorite on January 1st, Hoppin' John!
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Vegan Hoppin John with Sausage | Planted365
Tasty and hearty, this Hoppin John with vegan sausage will fill you up and get your year started right!
In this “Creole” take on black-eyed peas, the seasonings combine in a nice, thick gravy that envelops the peas like a cream sauce and actually isn’t spicy at all, as long as you keep the hot sauce to a minimum.
Hearty vegan Hoppin’ John is a plant-based version of the smoky, savory Southern recipe of black-eyed peas and rice, and a longstanding tradition to serve on New Year’s Day.
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Vegan Hoppin' John with Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie Option | Planted365
This vegan Hoppin John has loads of flavor! Add some sweet potatoes for a shepherd's pie option.
Ring in the new year with vegan Hoppin’ John Casserole! In this easy-to-make dish, black-eyed peas and collard greens are baked together with spices and then topped with a cornbread crust.
Wow! All the flavors are in this delicious and easy-to-make Instant Pot Jambalaya!
Lisa Viger Gotte
Hello! I’m Lisa, a vegan artist, photographer, author, Vegan Life Coach Educator, and RYT 200 yoga teacher. I love showing others how simple and delicious a plant-based diet can be. I draw and paint, cook, write, take lots of pics, eat lots of chocolate, and practice gratitude daily.
What Is Hoppin' John? Hoppin' John is a dish traditionally eaten in the southern United States on New Year's Day. Dating back to the early 1800s, it is made with black-eyed peas (aka cow peas), rice, and meat (usually pork, in the form of bacon or ham).The meal can also include collard greens and cornbread.
And our tastiest superstitious tradition is eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day. This classic Southern dish, a one-pot meal of black-eyed peas, ham hock, and rice, is believed by many (not just the Sterlings) to ensure wealth and bring good luck in the upcoming year.
In the southern United States, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls.
While Hoppin' John was meant to bring prosperity and good luck for the New Year, one-pot rice dishes made with just about anything were a part of the table on a regular basis, and cowpeas of all sorts were always in our diets.
Looking for prosperity? As Southern tradition dictates, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread represent pennies, dollars, and gold, respectively, so eating them together on New Year's will keep your purse full all year long.
According to Southern lore, you will have good luck for the entire year if you have the traditional New Year's Day supper. In the South, that means a meal of collard greens, hoppin' John, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and pot likker soup.
Today, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for the New Year has evolved, as many traditions do, into a number of variations – but most hold the theme of luck and prosperity that harkens back to the Civil War days when people felt lucky to have black-eyed peas to eat and help them survive the cold, harsh winter ...
What's the difference between Hoppin' John and black-eyed peas? Hoppin' John has black-eyed peas in it, but it also has other ingredients. In this recipe, the black-eyed peas are stewed with onion, garlic, celery, and a ham hock, similar to how some Southern-style black-eyed peas would be cooked.
Hoppin' John is just the Southern (aka the proper) name for this black-eyed pea dish. The tradition of feasting on black-eyed peas cooked with pork—in large quantities—on New Year's Day is a must for every Southerner. It brings the whole family together under one roof around one big pot of delicious beans.
Often referred to as hoppin' john, black-eyed peas and collard greens are commonly eaten as part of a Southern tradition to bring forth good luck and prosperity in the new year.
For the best chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Black-eyed peas eaten with stewed tomatoes represent wealth and health.
Hoppin' John is traditionally served with collard greens, whose green color symbolizes wealth. The black-eyed peas are symbolic of coins (more good fortune), and an actual coin is sometimes added to the pot. This is where eating black-eyed peas on New Year's came from.
Greens are the color of money. Cornbread represents gold. Pork is for progress because pigs root forward. The origin story behind hoppin' John is uncertain.
According to Southern lore, you will have good luck for the entire year if you have the traditional New Year's Day supper. In the South, that means a meal of collard greens, hoppin' John, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and pot likker soup.
There's a wide range of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day food that graces family tables across the African Diaspora, but Hoppin' John or black-eyed peas and rice are high up on the list, especially among Southern African-American families. Black-eyed peas are thought to represent coins or good luck.
Traditional Southern New Year's Day meal consisting of ham, black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread. OK – so maybe you aren't superstitious, but New Year's Day brings with it a traditional dinner which can – possibly – bring you a prosperous New Year.
According to historian and food scholar, Adrian Miller, black-eyed peas represent coins, collard greens represent paper money and cornbread represents gold. Some say you'll have the best chance at luck if you eat exactly 365 black-eyed peas, one for each day of the year.
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Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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