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Black-eyed Pea Fritters with Collard Greens

Cornmeal-dusted and pan-fried, these delicious black-eyed pea and rice fritters are served on a bed of collard greens and topped with chunky tomato sauce. Greens, black-eyes and rice–all the ingredients you need for good luck!

close up shot of black-eyed peas and collard greens --Hoppin’ John fritters with ‘soysage’ and tomatoes

Yummy black-eyed pea fritters are a smoky flavor mix of black-eyed peas and rice. You pan-fry them in a bit of oil, nestle them in a bed of steamed collard ribbons, and top with a chunky “soysage” tomato sauce.

Serve these fritters with garlicky sautéed collard greens on New Year’s Day for luck, wealth, and health all year long! The green collards symbolize money, the black-eyed peas represent luck, and the rice represents health. Black-eyed pea fritters with collard greens are the perfect dish for New Year’s Day!

Overhead shot of plated black-eyed peafritters on top of collard greens, with soysage tomato sauce

Prepare everything ahead:

You can make the fritter patties several days ahead and fry them close to serving, at the same time you cook the collards. The sauce can also be made well ahead and reheated when ready to serve.

Black-eye peas served with rice and collards are often called hoppin’ John.

Maybe the hoppin’ has something to do with the bean’s magical musical potential?

In the South, hoppin’ John usually includes pork to flavor the black-eyed peas. Keeping these black-eyed pea and rice fritters meatless, the tomato sauce is made with vegan “sausage.”

About Black-eyed pea and rice fritter ingredients:

  • Very soft rice mashes best with the black-eyed peas and forms fritters that hold together. Cook the rice with extra water (1 cup: 2 ½ cups), I cooked basmati brown rice in a pressure cooker—the soft rice guarantee.
  • Liquid smoke (affiliate link) adds smoke flavor. It’s made with vinegar, molasses and something called “smoke flavor.” Many liquid smokes contain preservatives and corn syrup—check the label.
  • Red wine vinegar flavors the fritters, the sauce and the collards. All three, especially the greens, benefit from the acid addition.

The same meatless “sausage” that once fooled my father-in-law, who grew up on a farm. On one of his visits, I served him eggs and “soysage.” He snuck a bite right from the skillet and commented that it was good sausage. Every once in a while, you gotta fake them out.

Black-eyed pea fritters and collard greens with chunky tomato sauce served on a pewter platter

May good luck, excellent health, and ample wealth flow to you easily. Every day of the year!

More black-eyed pea recipes:

*Recipe adapted from black bean cake recipe in The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. (Affiliate)

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The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone link is an Amazon affiliate.

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Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made. These numbers do not include the nutritional information for the Gimme Lean ground “sausage.”

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