12 Vegan Hoppin John Recipes for a Lucky New Year (2024)

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What is traditional Hoppin John for new year's? ›

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.

Hoppin' John is a Southern American dish made with black-eyed peas, rice, and smoked pork, often served on New Year's Day for good luck. It is believed to bring prosperity and good fortune to those who eat it.

Some say an old, hobbled man called hoppin' John became known for selling peas and rice on the streets of Charleston. Others say slave children hopped around the table in eager anticipation of the dish. Most food historians think the name derives from a French term for dried peas, “pois pigeons.”

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.

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.

Today, there are many variations of the recipe, now including this one. 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.

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.

It's said that you shouldn't eat winged fowl (read: birds like turkey or chicken), bottom feeders (like shrimp or catfish), or any seafood that swims backward or side to side (like lobster or crab).

What not to do on new year's Day? ›

Don't Clean the House on New Year's Day - You will wash away any good luck coming your way.

New Year's Day is approaching, which means we need to have a little talk about Hoppin' John. A savory blend of rice and black-eyed peas, it's served alongside collard greens as the traditional New Year's Day meal in the South and, increasingly, in other parts of the country.

What Is Hoppin' John? Served on New Year's Day with a side of collard greens and cornbread, Hoppin' John is a hearty African-American dish made by slowly simmering black-eyed peas with pork and vegetables.

Once in America, black-eyed peas were able to be planted by enslaved people in their gardens because they were viewed as a food for poor people, and were also used to feed animals. They were often used in soups, stews and fritters.

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.

Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold. For the BEST chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat exactly 365 black-eyed peas, no more or less. Black-eyed peas eaten with stewed tomatoes represent wealth and health.

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.