Many people believe eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings good luck, and we love this Black-Eyed Pea Salad! It has peppers, cilantro, and cumin-lime vinaigrette for a delicious way to start the year with black-eyed peas!

PIN Black-Eyed Pea Salad to try it later!

Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peppers, Cilantro, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette on KalynsKitchen.com

You might be wondering why I’m talking about Black-Eyed Pea Salad when New Year’s Day is still more than a week away, but at my house the holiday madness has started! Tonight is the annual Denny Family Christmas Party, and then I’ll be heading out to my sister Val’s house for Christmas. And although I have a couple more things to share, I’m going to try hard to unplug for a few days.

But I didn’t want to miss sharing this amazing salad idea for New Year’s Eve luck! There’s no question that Hopping John Soup is the most popular Black-Eyed Pea recipe on the site and I know a lot of you make that every year. But if you want a new idea, this salad with black-eyed peas is so great that when Jake and I first made it we wished we had doubled the recipe.

And recently we made it again to update the photos. Even if you don’t make it for New Year’s Eve, this is such a tasty salad; I hope you try it!

What ingredients do you need? 

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

Why do people eat Black-Eyed Peas for New Year’s Eve?

The U.S. tradition of eating black-eyed peas for luck in the new year dates back to the Civil War, when some people in the southern states survived on black-eyed peas when their other crops were destroyed. And when black-eyed peas are combined with greens, the greens symbolize paper money and the peas represent coins.

What kind of black-eyed peas did we use?

We made the salad with frozen black-eyed peas, which keep their shape better than canned ones and cook much more quickly than dried black-eyed peas.

Can you use chopped bell pepper for the Black-Eyed Pea Salad?

We used Mini Sweet Pepper slices in this salad place of chopped peppers, which gave the salad more visual appeal, and those mini-peppers add a nice crunch without adding carbs. I love the mini-peppers but if you can’t find them or don’t want to buy a bag for one salad, regular chopped bell pepper will be fine.

Want more good luck from Black-Eyed Peas?

If you like the idea of getting good luck from tasty black-eyed peas, check out Black-Eyed Peas Recipes for Good Luck in the New Year. Or if you’d like to use the slow cooker or the Instant Pot to make black eyed peas there is a good collection of Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas Recipes on my other site, Slow Cooker or Pressure Cooker.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peppers, Cilantro, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette on KalynsKitchen.com

How to Make Black-Eyed Pea Salad:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  1. On the advice of Moosewood, we used frozen black-eyed peas, which we cooked with some big garlic cloves for extra flavor. (Discard garlic cloves when the peas are cooked, or chop them and add to the salad if you like plenty of garlic flavor.)
  2. While the black-eyed peas cook, stir together the lime juice, Spike Seasoning, ground cumin, chile powder, and a little salt and pepper, and then whisk in the olive oil to make the dressing.
  3. When the peas are tender (35-40 minutes) drain them well.
  4. Mix about 2/3 of the dressing into the drained black-eyed peas, stirring well so all the peas are coated with dressing and let the peas marinate a few minutes if you have time.
  5. Chop up one cup each of sliced green onions and coarsely chopped cilantro.
  6. Cut the stem end off each mini-pepper, scoop out the seeds with a sharp spoon, and cut into slices, making about 3-4 cups sliced mini peppers.
  7. Stir the chopped green onion and cilantro into the marinating beans, then gently fold in the mini peppers, saving a few to arrange on top.
  8. Stir in the rest of the dressing (as much as you prefer) and season with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
  9. Arrange reserved pepper slices on top and let Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peppers, Cilantro, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette chill at least 30 minutes before serving.
  10. If you’re having a New Year’s Day get-together, I promise this salad will be a hit!

Black-Eyed Pea Salad in serving bowl with serving spoon

More Lucky Recipes with Black-Eyed Peas

Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peppers, Cilantro, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette
Yield: 8 servings

Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Black-Eyed Pea Salad has peppers, cilantro, and cumin-lime vinaigrette, and this is a delicious way to get your black-eyed pea luck!

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients:

  • 2 pkg. (12 oz. each) frozen black-eyed peas
  • 12 whole cloves garlic
  • 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 3-4 cups sweet mini pepper slices (more or less to taste)
  • Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (we didn't use much of either)

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 6 T lime juice (see notes)
  • 6 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp Spike Seasoning (or other all purpose seasoning of your choice, see notes.)
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. ground Ancho chile pepper (or other ground chile pepper or chili powder)
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Bring a couple cups of lightly salted water to a boil, add the 12 large garlic cloves and the frozen black-eyed peas, and simmer until the peas are tender, about 35-40 minutes. (You can discard the garlic cloves when the peas are cooked, or chop them up and add to the salad if you like plenty of garlic flavor.)
  2. While peas cook Stir together the lime juice, Spike Seasoning, ground cumin, chile powder, and a little salt and pepper, and then whisk in the olive oil to make the dressing.
  3. Drain the cooked peas into a colander placed in the sink and let them drain well. When the peas are well-drained (blot dry with paper towels if you're in a hurry) put them in a bowl and add about 2/3 of the dressing, stirring until all the black-eyed peas are well-coated with dressing.  Let black-eyed peas marinate in the dressing for a little while if you have time.
  4. While the peas are marinating, chop the cilantro, and thinly slice the green onions.
  5. Cut the stem end off each mini-pepper, scoop out the seeds with a sharp spoon, and cut into slices, making about 3-4 cups sliced mini peppers.
  6. Stir the chopped green onion and cilantro into the marinating beans, then gently fold in the mini peppers, saving a few to arrange on top.
  7. Stir in the rest of the dressing (as much as you prefer) and season with a little salt and fresh-ground black pepper.
  8. Arrange the reserved pepper on the top of the salad, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (or longer)
  9. Serve salad slightly chilled or at room temperature. Leftovers will stay good in the fridge for a few days.

Notes

I used my fresh-frozen lime juice for this recipe. I'm a huge fan of Spike Seasoning, but use any seasoning blend you prefer.

This recipe was adapted from one that I found in Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 227Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 541mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 8gSugar: 11gProtein: 6g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Square image of Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peppers, Cilantro, and Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette shown in white bowl on napkin.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Suggestions:
The Black-Eyed Pea Salad will probably be too high in carbs for a strict low-carb diet plan, but you can use more peppers and fewer black-eyed peas if you want to make the carbs a bit lower. Beans and legumes are a limited food for Phase One of the original South Beach Diet, but this recipe would be approved in small servings for every phase of South Beach.  

Find More Recipes Like This One:
See Holiday Recipes for more ideas for holiday foods! Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
We first made this tasty salad with black-eyed peas in 2012! The photos were updated in 2018 and the recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

Pinterest image of Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Share This: