New Year’s Day Black-Eyed Pea Casserole
This black-eyed pea casserole is perfect for welcoming in the new year with some of the traditional good-luck foods!
Yield: 6 -8 servings
Ingredients
- 4-5 slices bacon, I use thick-cut
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups brown rice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne, optional
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra for casserole, if needed
- 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (optional; see notes)
- 4 cups collard greens, stems removed and thinly sliced
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
For serving:
- ¼ cup sliced green onions
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the bacon. (I suggest adding as many pieces as you can fit in your pan. You can cut them in half if you need to.)
- Once the bacon is cooked through and crispy, remove to a paper towel, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. When cool enough, crumble the bacon and save for topping the casserole.
- Add the chopped onion to the pan with the bacon grease and sauté until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Add rice, salt, pepper and cayenne (if using) and stir to make sure the rice gets coated in the oils. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat and cook until the rice is mostly tender and the liquid is almost absorbed. (I usually take off about 2 minutes from my regular rice cook time.)
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Uncover the pot, stir in the sliced collard greens with the rice and then cover the pot, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. (This helps soften the collards.)
- Transfer rice and collard mixture to a large bowl and stir in the chicken, black-eyed peas and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese. If your mixture seems dry, add an extra ¼ cup chicken broth.
- Transfer to the prepared casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cup of cheddar cheese and bake for another 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Serve hot with the reserved crumbled bacon, green onions and hot sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Bacon: I use and recommend regular bacon - and I prefer a thick-cut bacon - but you could substitute a vegetarian bacon if you want to make this vegetarian-friendly. Alternatively, you could skip the bacon and use olive oil or butter to sauté the onions.
Rice: I use and prefer brown rice, but white rice would be fine here, too. Either way, cook according to the package directions but reduce by 1-2 minutes since it will continue cooking in the oven.
Collards: 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 and a how-to video.)
Chicken: You can use leftover roast chicken or a rotisserie chicken for this recipe but the chicken needs to be already cooked. Or you can substitute ham if you prefer. You could also skip the chicken entirely, which is how I made this originally, but I like that it adds some heft and protein.
Black-eyed peas: You need 2 cans for this recipe and they should be drained and rinsed. You could also make your own black-eyed peas if you prefer.
Cheese: We always go with sharp white cheddar cheese but a regular cheddar would work fine, too.
Make ahead: You can prep this casserole entirely ahead of time if you want. Cover and refrigerate then just bake it when you’re ready to eat, adding 5-10 minutes as needed to get the casserole completely cooked and hot.
Time saver: You can also make this go faster by working as you are cooking. While the bacon sautés, chop the onion and garlic and gather the ingredients. Then, as the rice is cooking, prepare the collards, drain the black-eyed peas and shred the cheese.
Casserole: This fits well into a 9x13 casserole dish but you can also use an 8x12 (like I did for these photos).
Leftovers: Once cooled, leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4-5 days. Reheat in individual servings in the microwave until hot.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 505mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g
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