Southern New Year’s Day dinner skillet incorporates many of the traditional good luck foods for a quick and easy one-pan meal with incredible flavor!
Check out my latest video for this quick + easy dinner:
Here in the South, New Years Day calls for certain foods to be eaten to ensure a healthy and prosperous year ahead. In my family, you were supposed to eat 3 main foods:
- Pork – It was more of a special occasion food in the South, particularly the “high on the hog” cuts and along with the rich fat content, is meant to symbolize wealth and prosperity.
- Black-eyed peas – Some people say lentils and peas are eaten on New Years Day because they resemble small coins. That’s what we always said. Others say the black-eyed peas tradition dates back to the Civil War when Vicksburg, Mississippi, was cut off from food supplies and the people resorted to eating the crops used to feed cattle (which is why these are sometimes called cowpeas). This saved them from starvation and made the peas a symbol of resourcefulness and good fortune.
- Greens (namely collard greens) – their green color is meant to symbolize paper money and ensure wealth and prosperity
- Bonus: Cornbread – it’s golden color and golden nuggets of corn are also supposed to ensure a year of financial success.
I bucked this tradition when I was a child, taking the tiniest bite I could muster from a pile of black-eyed peas, a pile of collard greens and a slice of ham.
Now, as an adult, I welcome the chance to combine these goodies in all kinds of dishes! I brought you my quick Southern collard greens with bacon earlier this month and today it’s my Southern New Year’s Day dinner skillet.
(I also have one more New Years Day recipe coming up for you on Friday so stay tuned! <— If you go to sign up for my free e-newsletter, you’ll also get my free Healthy Weeknight Dinner recipes e-book!)
This New Years Day skillet recipe is perfect for when you want to get in all the goodies to set yourself up for a happy, prosperous year but you seriously don’t want to spend any more time in the kitchen.
Cause I feel you.
It’s a holiday. You may or may not have made it to midnight the night before. You may or may not have had too much bubbly, too many cocktails or wine and you may or may not be dragging ass on New Year’s Day.
So come dinner time, I kinda want to cut to the chase.
And this quick and easy Southern New Year’s Day dinner skillet is everything you need in a one-pan meal that’s seriously hard for me to resist. Case in point: I’ve made it 4 times in the past couple of months and we haven’t even gotten to New Years Day yet!
The tender collards and onion cooked in the bacon grease is epic, obviously, but the little bit of spice, the perfectly incorporated black-eyed peas, the shredded chicken for a little extra heartiness and the shot of vinegar at the end to really brighten it up and tie it together, before topping it with your reserved crumbly, salty bacon – well, it just makes me start to drool a little.
Here’s a few notes for you on this Southern New Year’s Day dinner skillet:
- I prefer using thick-cut bacon (and I find it fits better in my pan), but any kind will do.
- I julienne cut my collard greens, after they’ve been washed and trimmed, which is why they cook so quickly. (See picture above to see what I mean or check out my quick Southern collard greens post for more details.)
- You can use leftover roast chicken or a rotisserie chicken for this recipe. Or you can substitute ham if you have some. You could also skip the chicken, but I like that it adds some heft.
- I like to serve this over my steamed perfect brown rice and top it with some cheddar cheese and green onions, in addition to the crumbled bacon. I have a thing for toppings. And by “thing,” I mean mild obsession. (OK, OK, total addiction. Sheesh!)
- And of course, feel free to serve with a big slab of golden cornbread on the side. 👍
Let’s make 2017 a wonderful (and apparently financially fabulous) year! I’ll also do my best to help you make it a healthy + delicious year 😉
Enjoy!
Kathryn
Southern New Year's Day dinner skillet
Southern New Year’s Day dinner skillet incorporates many of the traditional good luck foods for a quick and easy one-pan meal with incredible flavor!
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 bunch collard greens stem removed, rolled tightly and thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 14.5 oz can black-eyed peas rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast chopped
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
For serving:
- cooked brown rice, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onions
Instructions
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Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add bacon. Cook bacon until crispy, about 8-10 minutes, flipping as needed. Remove bacon, crumble and set aside.
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Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan. Add onions to the pan and sauté in the bacon grease over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until tender.
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Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for another 30 seconds.
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Stir in collards greens and season with salt and pepper.
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Add chicken broth and sauté until the liquid is mostly evaporated, 2-3 minutes.
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Stir in black-eyed peas and cooked chicken. Cook 1-2 minutes, until heated through.
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Add white wine vinegar, taste and adjust seasoning.
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Serve over brown rice and top with reserved crumbled bacon. Top with cheddar cheese and green onions, if desired.
Recipe Notes
I prefer using thick-cut bacon, but any kind will do.
I julienne cut my collard greens (aka, roll and thinly slice), after they’ve been washed and trimmed, which is why they cook so quickly.
You can use leftover roast chicken or a rotisserie chicken for this recipe. Or you can substitute ham if you have some. You could also skip the chicken if you prefer.
I always, always have my black eyed peas!
Yes! They are a must!
I’ve heard about black eyed peas and greens for the new year, but not corn bread or pork! Loving everything about this recipe, especially the one skillet! Big thumbs up! And greens and onion cooked in bacon grease? How can you possibly go wrong?! Totally can’t!! I have a mild obsession with toppings too. Sometimes I think I put just as much effort into the garnish as the actual main component. But, it IS the little things, right 😉 ? I love your suggestion of topping with cheese! And great job on the video too 🙂 Thanks for bringing us such delicious recipes and looking forward to seeing more in 2017. All the best to you and your family! Hope you have a lovely New Year’s Eve together! XO
Definitely can’t go wrong and glad you’re on board for ALL the toppings! Happy New Year Dawn! XO
I feel like us northern folk must be missing out on something, because I can’t say that we have ever had a traditional “good luck” food to eat for the New Year. Maybe the tradition was lost because my parents never cooked any of these things for us! Either way, it’s a shame because this skillet looks incredible and I can totally get down with a slice of cornbread whenever I get the chance!
Yup, you are definitely missing out! 😉 But you can make up for lost time and get your skillet on this weekend – and serve with cornbread for the ultimate experience! Happy New Year!
I try to have black eyed peas every New Year, but I’ve never heard of pork and cornbread being good luck (I knew about the collards though). Thanks for the New Years education lesson, Kathryn! This one pan meal is seriously so fun and creative! What a great idea to combine ALL the good luck possible into one pan! Seriously, genius. I need to eat like 5 if these pans myself. Lol. I hope you and your family have a wonderful NYE, my dear!! Cheers! <3
Yay, happy to pass on our Southern traditions – especially now that you’re an N.C. girl! Happy New Year’s Eve and cheers to 2017! XXOO
OH MY GOSH is my Southern husband going to love this? Yes he is!!!! Happy New Year and here’s to a delicious 2017!!
Oh yes! You’ve got to make it for him Kate! Happy New Year!