Black Eyed Pea Casserole

Looking for new years recipe ideas to serve a crowd? This delicious black eyed pea casserole is a new take on a tradition of eating foods that help you have a happy, healthy, wealthy, and successful new year.

Happy New Year's Eve!

How about some black eyed peas?

Yeah, I've never been a huge black eyed pea fan. I know they're good for you - packed with fiber, Vitamin B1, and other vitamins & minerals, but I just don't love them.

I decided to try to prepare them in a dish that I would enjoy eating.

[clickToTweet tweet="A tasty #casserole to get in everything you need for a healthy, wealthy + prosperous #NewYear" quote="A tasty #casserole to get in everything you need for a healthy, wealthy + prosperous #NewYear"]

And then I went all crazy and put some extra things in there to bump up the New Year's good luck food value. There's spinach {for money, honey} and bacon {for "moving forward," prosperity, wealth, progress} in there too.

Basically, you can eat this and get all your food in to have a wealthy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Here's a fun fact: Make sure that when you buy your black eyed peas you check for bugs.

When I bought mine yesterday, the lady bagging groceries spilled them and then informed me that I had bugs in my peas. Or maybe she just told me that since she just spilled an entire bag and I had to go run & fill a new bag with black eyed peas, but either way: gross.

So when I made the casserole, I went through every single bean to check. No bugs.

This casserole takes a little time to make but it's not too much hands on time. First, you'll boil the black eyed peas and rice together. Meanwhile, cook the bacon. Then drain the beans and peas and set aside. Same with the bacon, reserving about a teaspoon of bacon grease to cook the onions and bell peppers.

Sauté the veggies in the bacon grease for a about 10 minutes and stir remaining ingredients together. Stir everything together and cover with cheese.

Bake and there you go...Healthy, lucky, moving forward bowl of goodness that everyone will love.

Black Eyed Pea Casserole

Looking for a new years recipe ideas to serve a crowd? This delicious casserole is a new take on a tradition of eating foods that help you have a happy, healthy, wealthy, and successful new year.

5 from 7 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 12

Author: Meme

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ cups dried black eyed peas
• ▢ 1 ½ cups brown rice or wild rice
• ▢ 10 cups water
• ▢ 5 slices center cut bacon
• ▢ 1 medium onion diced
• ▢ 1 medium bell pepper diced
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 10 ounce can diced tomatoes and green chilies
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon paprika
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or white pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
• ▢ 5 cups fresh spinach chopped
• ▢ 6 ounces cheddar cheese 1 ½ cups shredded

Instructions

• Rinse the black eyed peas and rice really really well {for about 5 minutes}. Add black eyed peas, rice, and water to a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet. Transfer bacon to paper towels, and set aside. Discard all but one teaspoon of bacon grease.
• Heat the bacon grease over medium heat in the skillet and add onion and bell peppers. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes & green chilies, salt, paprika, and peppers. Stir well and remove from heat. Stir in spinach and stir well.
• Combine the black eyed peas, rice, and veggie mixture. Stir well. Add in half of the bacon and half of the cheese.
• Transfer to a casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bacon. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes until cheese has melted and heated through. Enjoy!

Notes

*Based on this recipe from Recipe Girl

Did you try this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment & recipe rating below. Bonus points for tagging @memeinge & #livingwellkitchen on Instagram! THANK YOU! xo

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Meme

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