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Hattie B’s famous Black Eyed Pea Salad is dressed with a bright and perfectly balanced vinaigrette and is a delicious make-ahead side dish!
Made completely from scratch, Hattie B’s famous Black Eyed Pea Salad is dressed with a bright and perfectly balanced vinaigrette that’s tossed together with fresh, crisp diced red and green bell peppers, scallions, and garlic.
Hattie B’s is a bustling and trendy hot chicken restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.
As you know, black eyed peas are really popular in January, but this side is also perfect for Easter dinner, barbecues and picnics, or any time — not just for the new year!
The dish starts by cooking dried black eyed peas in chicken broth with sizzling bacon to infuse the peas with delicious flavor.
All together it makes a tasty salad or side dish to accompany any meal — it’s not just for hot chicken! If you like marinated bean salad, you’ll love this easy recipe.
Why you’ll love this pea salad
- Best served chilled, Black Eyed Pea Salad can be made up to two days ahead of time.
- This side dish goes great with pork chops, chicken wings, or tibs.
- Black eyed peas are highly nutritious, rich in fiber and protein, and make an excellent energy source.
Key ingredients and substitutions
- Dried black-eyed peas — don’t be tempted to short cut with canned black eyed peas, I promise you won’t get the same results.
- Red and green bell peppers
- Scallions or green onions — or you may use finely diced red onion
- Fresh garlic
- Champagne vinegar — or white wine vinegar
- Malt vinegar — or apple cider vinegar
- Fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
- Bacon — used for cooking and seasoning the black eyed peas
- Low-sodium chicken broth — or vegetable broth, for the cooking liquid
How to make Black Eyed Pea Salad
The secret to this delicious dish is making it all from scratch. Don’t get scared off — it’s totally worth it!
STEP 1 | Soak the beans
- Just as you do with other dried beans, before soak black eyed peas in a pot of water before you start cooking.
- Add black eyed peas to a large bowl with enough cold water to cover them by 4 inches.
- Refrigerate for 12 hours, then drain off the soaking liquid.
tip
- Quick Soak Method – To speed up the soaking process, add black eyed peas to a bowl and pour in enough boiling water to cover them by 4 inches. Soak for 1 hour, then drain and cook as directed.
STEP 2 | Make the vinaigrette
- While the beans soak, prepare the vinaigrette to give it time to marinate. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the Champagne vinegar and malt vinegar with olive oil, parsley, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir in chopped red and green bell peppers, scallions, and garlic.
- Cover and chill up to 12 hours before tossing with cooked black eyed peas.
STEP 3 | Cook the black eyed peas
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook 4 slices of bacon until it is browned (but not crisp) and the fat is rendered.
- Add the drained black eyed peas, then pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Discard the bacon and drain off the cooking liquid.
tip
- Check out this post to learn how to cook black eyed peas in the instant pot.
STEP 4 | Toss the salad
- Transfer the drained black eyed peas to a large bowl.
- Add the prepared vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Frequently asked questions
Black eyed pea salad is a marinated bean salad with black eyed peas tossed with a tangy vinaigrette, diced bell peppers, onion, and garlic. Some recipes include corn, tomatoes, and feta cheese as well.
Although you can freeze cooked black eyed peas, I wouldn’t recommend freezing this salad as the texture of the other ingredients will not be as good as when served fresh.
You can skip the soaking step, bu soaking black eyed peas first will shorten the cooking time and may also make them easier to digest, so less gas!
Behind the recipe: Hattie B’s Black Eyed Pea Salad
Weekend visits to Nashville to see our girls often involve stopping by one of their favorite local spots, Hattie B’s, for hot chicken — and I do mean HOT!
Specializing in fried chicken of all heat levels, Hattie B’s serves it up Southern style (no heat), mild or medium (touch of burn), hot! (feel the heat), damn hot (fire starter), or for those who are really adventurous or stupid, shut the cluck up!!! (burn notice).
I’ll admit that I’m a wimp and haven’t ventured past the mild hot chicken, which is plenty spicy for me!
Besides the tasty chicken, though, I have fallen in love with Hattie B’s Black Eye Pea Salad and was really excited to find Chef John Lasatar’s recipe posted on the Nashville Channel 5 news site.
I think you’ll enjoy this Southern-style marinated black eyed pea salad, too!
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First Published: February 26, 2016. Last Updated: March 31, 2021.
Hattie B’s Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried black-eyed peas 12-oz package
- 4 slices uncooked bacon
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup malt vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 medium garlic clove minced
Instructions
Black eyed peas
- Add the black eyed peas to a large bowl with enough cold water to cover them by 4 inches. Refrigerate overnight (or 12 hours), then drain off the soaking liquid.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook 4 slices of bacon until it is browned (but not crisp) and the fat is rendered.
- Add the black eyed peas, then pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, about 25 to 30
minutes. Discard the bacon and drain off most of the cooking liquid. - Transfer the drained black eyed peas to a large bowl. Add the prepared vinaigrette and toss gently to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Vinaigrette
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the Champagne vinegar and malt vinegar with olive oil, parsley, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir in the chopped red and green bell peppers, scallions, and garlic.
- Cover and chill up to 12 hours before tossing with cooked black eyed peas.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
About Sheila Thigpen
Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer
Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.
Thank you Hattie I made this last year been searching for your recipe again !!! Got it this is the best I got more compliments on this and yes there was none left list my mama this year and I gonna make this for this Sunday for Townsend House it is all at the cemetery Pasco County ✌️
This was so popular at the picnic this weekend. Perfect side dish for summer fun!
Fresh and simple, and you are right, using dried black eyed peas is best!
I was so grateful to find this recipe!! It was a HUGE hit last weekend at our family BBQ! Thank you!!
I’m thinking this might be my new go-to potluck side dish for the summer. So good!
These black eyed peas are amazing! Thank you for taking a favorite recipe of mine from Hattie B’s and making it to where I can enjoy it anytime since we no longer live in Nashville.