This wholesome Black-Eyed Pea Salad is a nutrient-dense, whole-food side dish rich in antioxidants, healthy fats, and fiber.
Black-Eyed Pea Salad
My cousin shared this vegan Black-Eyed Pea Salad recipe with me. It’s fresh, light, flavorful, and easy to make. You can double the portion as a meatless main dish or serve it as a side dish with pork chops, pork tenderloin, or anything you’re grilling. It would also be good to bring to a potluck. With its fiber-rich beans, healthy fats, and antioxidants from parsley and onions, this salad supports cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol and reducing inflammation. It’s also great for digestion. Other easy bean salad recipes to try are this Mediterranean Bean Salad and Southwestern Black Bean Salad.
Why This Black-Eyed Peas Recipe Works
I’m always looking to get more fiber and anti-inflammatory foods in my diet, and this salad is a great side dish to make if you want to meal prep for the week. Like my lentil salad, you can add lots of raw veggies to bulk it up. Here are a few reasons to love it:
- Budget Friendly: A bag of dry beans is inexpensive and makes a lot.
- Make Ahead: You can make it early and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Healthy: Black-eyed peas are an affordable source of plant-based protein and fiber, which helps you feel full longer.
- Dietary Restrictions: This dish is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy- free, high-fiber, Weight Watchers-friendly, Mediterranean diet-friendly, and anti-inflammatory.
If you make this healthy black-eyed pea salad recipe, I would love to see it. Tag me in your photos or videos on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook!
What are black-eyed peas?
Black-eyed peas, also known as cowpeas or black-eyed beans, are cream- colored legumes with a distinctive black “eye” on one side. They have been a staple food in various cultures for centuries and offer various nutritional and health benefits.
Black Eyed Peas Ingredients
This simple black eyed pea salad uses 6 main ingredients, plus salt, pepper, and olive oil. The recipe card contains the exact measurements.
- Black Eyed Peas: Rinse and drain dried black-eyed peas in a colander. If there are any bad ones, pick them out.
- Water to cook the beans in
- Bay Leaves impart a subtle herbal flavor.
- Red Onion: The crunchy texture of red onions contrasts with the soft peas.
- Italian Parsley, also called flat-leaf parsley, adds freshness.
- Vinaigrette: Lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil create a light, tangy dressing for the black-eyed pea salad.
- Salt and Black Pepper season the peas.
How to Make Black-Eyed Pea Salad
Using a pressure cooker speeds up the process of preparing the black-eyed peas. Once they’re ready, it only takes a few minutes to mix everything together to make the salad. See the recipe card at the bottom for the complete instructions.
- Cook the Peas: Put the black-eyed pea, bay leaves, and water in the Instant Pot and cook for 9 minutes on high pressure. Do a natural release (i.e., after they finish cooking, don’t touch the pot for 15 minutes). Once the pressure has been released, remove the lid and strain the beans. Discard the bay leaves and let the beans cool.
- Make the Salad: Combine the black-eyed peas with the onion, parsley, lemon juice, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
- Taste and Chill: Taste the salad and add more salt and lemon if needed. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Black Eyed Peas Variations
- If you want to use canned beans, drain and rinse 4 cans to get about 6 cups of beans.
- Liquid: Cook the beans in vegetable broth for more flavor.
- Onion: Substitute shallots.
- Herbs: Swap parsley with chives, or cilantro.
- Vinegar: Replace red wine vinegar with white wine or white balsamic vinegar.
- Add More Veggies: Raw diced carrots, celery, and broccoli would be great.
- Garlic: Stir in 1 or 2 grated garlic cloves.
- Olives: Add chopped kalamata or Castelvetrano olives.
- Cheese: Mix feta cheese into this Mediterranean black-eyed pea salad.
- No Instant Pot? Cook the black-eyed peas in the slow cooker. Soak the beans in water overnight in the fridge. Drain them and slow cook for 6 hours on high.
What to Serve with Black Eyed Peas
- Dinner Ideas: Double the portion and eat it as a vegetarian main dish with a quick arugula salad on the side. Pair it with a protein, like grilled chicken, broiled fish, or air fryer steak.
Storage
Refrigerate the Black Eyed Peas salad for up to 5 days and eat it cold as leftovers.
More Black Eyed Peas Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas with Ham
- Black-Eyed Peas with Leftover Ham, Collard Greens and Cabbage
- Black-Eyed Pea Dip
Black Eyed Pea Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounce bag black eyed peas, wash and remove bad ones
- 4 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 1/2 lemons, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Optional: add diced carrots, celery, feta cheese
Instructions
- Add beans, bay leaves, and water to the instant pot and cook for 9 minutes high pressure. Natural release then remove and strain the beans. Discard the bay leaves and allow the beans to cool completely.
- Then transfer to a large bowl with the onion, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and black pepper and mix well. Taste for salt and lemon juice and adjust as needed.
- Keep chilled until ready to eat.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Notes
- To use cooked canned beans, use 4 15-ounce cans or 6 cups, rinsed and drained.
- This recipe can be halved or quartered.
Love this salad, fresh, easy to do, used 2 cans black eyed peas, 3 ounces each-carrots celery, and 1.5 ounce onion.cut measurements of dressing ingredients back accordingly. Got 4.5 cups worth –calories per half cup at 110 but maybe my black-eyed peas canned more calories than the dry cooked ones? But would happily make this as a side anytime.
Absolutely delicious! Added a vegetable bouillon cube to the instant pot for the raw beans and lowered the kosher salt to balance. So incredibly good and I didn’t even like blackeyed peas prior to this recipe! Will definitely make this again!
With some added red bell pepper, carrots, celery, capers and feta, I served this over a combination of lettuce and spinach. Toasted garlicky English muffins made for a great main dish.
I’m adding this to my normal rotation, not just for New Year. It is so so so good!
I didn’t get around to making this for my New Year’s Luck—and I sure could have used some luck, because I’ve been sick for a week+! Today was the day, though, and although I only had one lemon, and was also short on red wine vinegar and olive oil—it turned out DELICIOUS!!! And I couldn’t even wait until it was chilled to eat my sampler dish! I’m not waiting until NYD to make this again—I have a feeling it will be a staple!
Glad you enjoy it and I hope you are feeling better!
This is so good! Thank you!!!
Very tasty…and easy! I used three cans black-eyed peas + 1/2 can of chickpeas that I opened yesterday. I love the higher quantity of lemon juice. A keeper for sure! Bring it on, 2025!
I have frozen fresh black eye peas. What adjustments should I make with the IP for cooking?
Dried beans/peas contain carbohydrates that can be hard to digest. Soaking for a few hours or overnight and draining the soaking water before proceeding with the recipe can help with this issue.
I love turning these traditional peas into a salad.
I don’t have an instant pot. What are alternative methods for cooking? Thanks!
the recipe has canned beans in the recipe card under notes.
The recipe looks good. Is it possible to use a can of black eyed peas for this?
the recipe has canned beans in the recipe card under notes.