Slow Cooked Hoppin' John

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword easy-hoppin-john, hoppin-john-recipes, slow-cooked-hoppin-john

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 295kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

1 lb dry black eyed peas rinsed and picked over
1 12 oz ham hock or ham bone with meat
1 medium sweet onion diced
1 small green bell pepper OR poblano pepper seeded and diced
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
½-1 tsp seasoned salt adjust more or less to your taste
2 cloves garlic minced
6 cups chicken broth
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Or plain diced tomatoes)
1 tsp lemon pepper
Cooked rice for serving
Cooked Collard Greens optional (See Cook's note)
Hot sauce optional

Instructions

Prior to cooking: Rinse and scrub ham hock. Place into a pot and cover completely with water. Place on the stovetop and bring to boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and drain. Rinse thoroughly under cold water. Follow recipe for adding to slow cooker.
To prepare: Pour peas into bottom of slow cooker insert. Center the ham hock in the peas.
Add the onion, pepper, bay leaves, thyme. red pepper flakes,½ tsp seasoned salt, and garlic.
Pour chicken broth over all. Place the lid on securely. Cook on high for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, remove ham hock and pull meat from bone. Discard bone.
Return meat to the slow cooker with tomatoes and lemon pepper. Taste and adjust salt to your taste, if needed. Mix well.
Cover and cook for an additional 1-2 hours or until the peas are tender.
Serve with rice, collard greens and cornbread with hot sauce, if desired.

Notes

The ham adds a great deal of seasoning and salt to the entire dish. If desired, you may wait to add salt after the Hoppin' John has cooked for the initial 3 hours, then adjust to your taste.
To add rice and collards to the pot: After cooking the Hoppin' John, add 2 cups cooked long grain rice and 1 (16-oz) package frozen chopped collard greens cooked per the package directions. Mix both in at the end of cooking just before serving. Season only lightly with salt when preparing both.

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