Black Eyed Peas with Andouille Sausage

Black Eyed Peas with Andouille Sausage and Rice

Black eyed peas become incredibly creamy and flavorful when cooked low and slow with paprika, garlic, and shallots. Served with sautéed Andouille Sausage and rice, this is a hearty, nourishing dish that's especially comforting when the nights are cold and the days are short.

I created this recipe to use up leftover sauce from one of my all-time favorite recipes: Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs. Using up all the delicious sauce created from cooking short ribs for hours and hours is a necessity in my house because I make the short ribs ALL. THE. TIME. Why do I make them all the time? Because they are crazy-good and we love them.

Having said all that - you can absolutely make these black eyed peas with andouille sausage without having already made short ribs. The recipe includes a small handful of ingredients that work beautifully as a substitute for the sauce. But, if I may attempt to persuade you... 

The best case scenario is to plan on making Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs a night or two before you make these black eyed peas and sausage. Not only will you have incredibly delicious sauce to flavor these peas, you will have gotten to eat meltingly tender short ribs. (!!!) I think you can see how this is a 100% win-win situation.

If you don't want to make the short ribs, just use the substitute ingredients in the recipe in place of the short rib sauce. As much as I adore short ribs, it really is all good.

Do you really need to soak dried black eyed peas before cooking them?

Cooking dried beans is a highly underrated endeavor. Canned beans are a fabulous luxury of the modern age and I almost always have a few cans in the pantry. BUT - cooking dried beans only takes about 5 minutes of prep work, costs a fraction as much as canned, and taste markedly more delicious.

The best thing about cooking dried beans is that you have the opportunity to add herbs, spices, garlic and onions to them while the cook, infusing the beans will all that flavor. Also, the texture of cooked dried beans is much, much better than anything that ever comes out of a can.

The only drawback to cooking dried beans is that the require a bit of forethought. Most recipes, this one included, call for soaking the beans in water overnight. While there's nothing difficult or time consuming about dumping some beans into a bowl and covering them with water, it does require you to remember to soak them.

But, is soaking the beans necessary? And what do you do if you forget to soak them?

Soaking beans before cooking them does three things:

1. It reduces the cooking time
2. Creates a better texture for the cooked beans,  with fewer split-open and burst beans
3. It makes them a bit more digestible

If you don't soak your black eyed peas ahead of time, they will still cook. But, you'll need to extend the cooking time by about 2 hours. (Sometimes it can take even longer, especially if the beans are old.)

Also, if you're cooking black eyed peas (or any kind of dried bean) that haven't been pre-soaked, give the beans a stir every 30 minutes or so to ensure that they're cooking evenly.

What is Andouille Sausage and can you use other sausage varieties?

Andouille is a kind of smoked sausage made using pork, peppers, onions, and other seasonings. In the US, we mostly associate it with southern and cajun cooking, thanks to French and German immigrants who settled in Louisiana.

The smoky, spicy flavor of Andouille sausage goes perfectly with saucy black eyed peas. However, you could use any variety of smoked sausage including cured chorizo or kielbasa.

Other recipes you might like:

• Spanish Seared Pork Bites with Fried Apples
• Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs
• Asian Short Rib Rice and Veggie Bowls
• Tamale Pie with White Beans, Chorizo, and Salsa Verde
• Black Bean Tomato Soup
• White Bean and Kale Soup with Wild Rice
• Spanish Style Sausage and Lentil Soup
• Couscous Veggie Bowls with Butternut Squash and Andouille Sausage

> More Family Favorite Recipes

Meal Plans that Include this Recipe:

• Winter Meal Plan #10

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.

Black Eyed Peas with Andouille Sausage

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: RebeccaBlackwell
• Total Time: 56 minute
• Yield: 6 servings

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Ingredients

• 1 lb dried black eyed peas, soaked according to instructions below
• 2 tablespoon grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil, divided
• ¼ cup minced shallot (1 medium shallot, outer skin removed and chopped into small pieces)
• 3 teaspoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves of garlic)
• ½ teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon ground cayenne (to taste)
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup Asian Short Rib Sauce (*See note for substitutions)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 oz Andouille Sausage
• About 3 cups of cooked rice, for serving (allowing for about ½ cup of rice per serving)

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Instructions

*Prepare dried black eyed peas by soaking them in water before cooking. To soak beans in water overnight: Rinse beans in a colander set in the sink, then place in a large bowl and cover with water. Put the beans in the refrigerator to let soak for up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse the peas. Quick-Soak method: Rinse beans in a colander set in the sink, then put them in a saucepan and cover with water. Set the pan over high heat, bring the water to a boil; let boil for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the peas soak for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the peas.

1. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, minced shallot, and garlic a large saucepan or dutch oven. Set over medium heat and cook until soft, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add salt, pepper, paprika, and ground cayenne, and cook for 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.
2. Add the chicken stock, Asian Short Rib Sauce (see note below for substitutions), and baking soda. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir in the black eyed peas and the bay leaves. Cover the pot and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring every once in a while, until the beans are very soft and falling apart, about 2 hours. (Cooking time might vary - See note.)
3. While the beans cook, cut the andouille sausage into ½-inch thick slices. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, turning the pieces over every now and then, for 5-10 minutes, until the sausage is well browned. Remove from the heat.
4. When the black eyed peas are soft and falling apart, taste and add more salt if desired. Stir in the cooked andouille sausage and serve over rice.

Notes

• This recipe is a delicious way to use up leftover sauce from Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs. However, you can substitute the following ingredients for the short rib sauce if you prefer: ¼ cup soy sauce, ¾ cup chicken broth, 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce. Stir all the ingredients together, then add in place of Asian Short Rib sauce.
• Cooking time might vary considerably depending on a wide variety of factors including age of the beans and even climate and altitude. Allow some flexibility in your cooking schedule to accommodate a longer cook time if necessary.
• Slow Cooker Option: As you'll see in the comment section below, one reader wrote that that they had great success cooking this dish in the slow cooker. Start the dish on the stovetop; but instead of letting it simmer on the stovetop for a couple of hours, dump everything into the slow cooker and let it cook on low for about 6 hours.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 2 ½ hours

Keywords: black eyed pea recipe, beans and sausage, beans and rice, andouille sausage, black eyed peas and sausage, dinner recipe