Hoppin' John (Lowcountry Peas and Rice)
The South's New Year's Day pot, made the old Charleston way: dried peas simmered with smoky bacon, then raw rice cooked right in the bean broth and steamed until every grain is seasoned. Three ingredients, about a dollar a serving.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Hoppin' John began as a one-pot dish of the Gullah people of the South Carolina Lowcountry, and may have grown from the rice-and-bean dishes of West Africa, such as Senegal's *thiebou niebe* and Ghana's *waakye*; the earliest mention Wikipedia cites is Caroline Howard Gilman's 1838 *Recollections of a Southern Matron*, which defines "Hopping John" as bacon and rice. The first printed recipe is in Sarah Rutledge's *The Carolina Housewife* (1847): a pound of bacon, a pint of red peas and a pint of rice, peas first, bacon when they are half boiled, then washed rice, then the pot set on coals to steam (South Carolina Public Radio, "South Carolina from A to Z," March 26, 2018:). Food historian Robert Moss points out what changed in America since: 19th-century recipes used red field peas or cowpeas and rice like Carolina Gold, never black-eyed peas, and modern cooks often boil the rice separately; he says to cook it all in a single pot (December 31, 2022:). The New Year's luck came later than people think: Moss found no link between Hopping John and New Year's Day before the 20th century, with the first in Charleston print around 1907. Today it is eaten on January 1 with collards for money and cornbread for gold, and leftovers on January 2 are "Skippin' Jenny" (Wikipedia).
🇺🇸 This one is American
The South's New Year's Day pot, made the old Charleston way: dried peas simmered with smoky bacon, then raw rice cooked right in the bean broth and steamed until every grain is seasoned. Three ingredients, about a dollar a serving.
🇭🇺 The original
Hungary's gulyás is a paprika beef and potato soup cooked in a kettle, the dish American goulash is named after. See the Hungarian Gulyás (Goulash Soup) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Rice in the pot liquor
Cooking raw rice in the bacon-rich broth from the peas seasons every grain, which Moss says rice boiled separately and stirred in at the end never gets.
The oven steam
A tight lid and a warm oven finish the rice gently and dry the grains apart, the modern version of Rutledge's "put it on coals to steam."
🧰 You'll need 5 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
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Step by step
- Step 1
Pick over the peas, cover them with several inches of water in a bowl and soak overnight, or at least 4 hours. Drain.
- Step 2
Put the peas and 2 quarts water in a 6-quart Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Lower to a steady simmer, add the bacon and 1 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper, and simmer uncovered 30 to 45 minutes, until the peas are tender all the way through. You want about 4 cups of liquid in the pot at the end; add hot water if it is lower.
- Step 4
Meanwhile rinse the rice in three changes of cold water and drain. Heat the oven to its lowest setting (170°F to 200°F).
- Step 5
Stir the rice into the peas and bacon, return to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, stirring now and then so the rice does not stick. If it dries out before the rice is soft, add hot water 1/2 cup at a time.
- Step 6
When the rice is soft, take the pot off the heat, cover it tightly and set it in the oven for at least 15 minutes (up to 1 hour) to steam dry.
- Step 7
Spoon the peas and rice into bowls and lay the bacon pieces on top. Pass hot pepper vinegar.
Hoppin' John (Lowcountry Peas and Rice)
Serves 6 · about 9 cups · 1 hr 55 min total
- 2 cups dried black-eyed peas (about 340 g), or Sea Island red peas or other cowpeas
- 8 oz thick, smoky bacon (227 g), cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups long-grain white rice (370 g), or Carolina Gold rice
- 2 quarts water, plus hot water as needed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
To serve (optional)
- Hot pepper vinegar or hot sauce
- Sliced scallions
Equipment: Oven, 6-quart Dutch oven, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls
Method
- Pick over the peas, cover them with several inches of water in a bowl and soak overnight, or at least 4 hours. Drain.
- Put the peas and 2 quarts water in a 6-quart Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat, about 10 minutes.
- Lower to a steady simmer, add the bacon and 1 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper, and simmer uncovered 30 to 45 minutes, until the peas are tender all the way through. You want about 4 cups of liquid in the pot at the end; add hot water if it is lower.
- Meanwhile rinse the rice in three changes of cold water and drain. Heat the oven to its lowest setting (170°F to 200°F).
- Stir the rice into the peas and bacon, return to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, stirring now and then so the rice does not stick. If it dries out before the rice is soft, add hot water 1/2 cup at a time.
- When the rice is soft, take the pot off the heat, cover it tightly and set it in the oven for at least 15 minutes (up to 1 hour) to steam dry.
- Spoon the peas and rice into bowls and lay the bacon pieces on top. Pass hot pepper vinegar.
Adapted from Robert Moss, "Traditional Lowcountry Hopping John" (December 31, 2022), with the peas and rice doubled and his 1/2 lb of bacon kept (his recipe uses 1 cup peas, 1/2 lb bacon and 1 cup rice; we use 2 cups peas, 1/2 lb bacon and 2 cups rice to feed 6 for less). Method follows his steps and Sarah Rutledge's 1847 order (peas, then bacon, then rice, then steam). We use black-eyed peas because they are in every U.S. supermarket; Moss prefers Sea Island red peas or cowpeas. The "about 4 cups of liquid before the rice goes in" check is our rule of thumb. Estimated cost: about $5.90 for the pot, about $0.98 a serving. robertfmoss.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Estimated cost: about $0.98 a serving, about $5.90 for the pot, the cheapest of these twelve one-pot dinners.
- Meatless: skip the bacon and add 3 tbsp butter or oil and 1 tsp smoked paprika with the peas (our suggestion).
- For New Year's Day, serve with a pot of collards and cornbread; leftovers on January 2 are Skippin' Jenny.
- Rice leftovers: cool in shallow containers and refrigerate within an hour; reheat to 165°F.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Where the name comes from. Disputed: Wikipedia offers the Haitian Creole *pwa pijon* (pigeon peas); Karen Hess argued for Hindi, Persian and Malay words for cooked rice and beans (through Moss); Moss says no one knows and rejects the "Hop in, John" invitation and other folk tales.
- Hoppin' John is made with black-eyed peas. Disputed: Moss says 19th-century recipes never call for them (red field peas or cowpeas); Wikipedia says black-eyed peas are the norm outside the Lowcountry and coastal Georgia.
- Hoppin' John on New Year's Day brings luck. Folklore as luck; Documented as a custom in Charleston print by about 1907 (Moss), and peas for luck before that.
- Throw a coin in the pot, or leave three peas on the plate. Folklore (Wikipedia marks the pea-counting custom as needing a citation).
- Cook the rice separately so it does not get mushy. Disputed: Moss says many modern recipes do; Rutledge (1847) and Moss cook it all in one pot.
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