This Vegan Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup is full of flavor, plant-based protein, is oil-free, dairy-free and made with delicious whole foods! A total bowl of comfort that is easy to make and will leave you feeling satisfied!
Who’s ready to ring in the New Year with an amazing, comforting bowl of good-for-you soup? Me. *Raises both hands*. I think you all know by now my affinity for soups. They are my favorite thing to eat…..and create for that matter. This Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup is almost a stew because it is a fabulously, thick and hearty soup that is slow-cooked, but regardless what you call it, you will love it.
There are a ton of black-eyed pea soup recipes out there I’m sure, so I simply created mine based off of ingredients I love and would want in my own soup. I personally think a balance of sweetness goes incredibly perfect with a slightly spicy soup. One of my very first recipes I wrote for blogging, and one of my favorite soups, is my 1 Pot Sweet Potato Lentil Soup. I immediately remembered that one and how incredible the flavors were, so I decided to use that one for inspiration.
This vegan Smoky Sweet Potato Black-Eyed Pea Soup is not only incredibly healthy and good for you, it is also oil-free, low-fat and 1 pot! It’s, of course, just 8 ingredients (+ salt & pepper & water). You do need to soak the beans the night before, this produces the best texture and flavor. Sometimes canned beans just don’t cut it.
Speaking of the New Year, are you one to make traditional new commitments or plans, or do you not fall into that? I, personally, think it’s dependent on one’s personality. Some people like the new year as a new start, but I don’t need a new year for that. When I decide I want to make a change, I attempt to do it right then and there. I find if you wait until a specific date or this or that, it doesn’t tend to really stick as much. If you want something, go for it now!
Kind of like this soup, go start soaking your dried black-eyed peas now!
HOW DO YOU MAKE BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP?
To make this Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup, first you will add your dried beans to a large pot. Cover with water. Put the lid on and soak overnight or 8 hours max. Drain and rinse them well and remove any rocks or debris. Add them back to the pot and add the 6 cups warm water.
Bring the beans to a boil and as soon as it is a rolling boil, turn to low simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 60 minutes. While it is cooking, chop your bell peppers, onion, garlic and sweet potato. Gather the salsa, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper). Note: You can also prepare the cornbread muffins at this time if you want.
After the 60 minutes is up, add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and bring it back to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to medium-low heat, cover with the lid slightly tilted allowing steam still to escape and let it cook 15-20 minutes just until the potatoes are tender.
Serve this soup alongside my Magic Skillet Cornbread. But to make things a bit quicker and easier, I made them as muffins. Easier to dip into each bowl.
Let me know below what you think of this vegan, gluten-free Smoky Sweet Potato Black-Eyed Pea Soup by leaving feedback and doing the star rating please!! It means the world to me. Thank you and Happy New Year!
Smoky Sweet Potato Black-eyed Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb (16 oz bag) dried black-eyed peas, soaked 8 hours (overnight) covered in water
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups (280g) chopped bell peppers (I used 1 red and 1 green)
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) finely diced onion
- 4 (2 1/2 tablespoons minced) x-large garlic cloves
- 3 cups (470g) of 1/2 inch chunks peeled and chopped sweet potato
- 3/4 cup (120g) medium heat salsa (use mild for less spicy)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2-3 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2-3 teaspoons or more salt (This makes a HUGE pot, so that is why you need more salt than normal and will greatly vary depending on the broth used)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- OPTIONAL: This is great served with any of my cornbread recipes listed below.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- I like to serve this with cornbread. You can use any of these, all will be delicious. Vegan gluten-free Skillet Cornbread, Cornbread Muffins or Pumpkin Cornbread.
- Time-saving tip: The day before I cooked the soup, when I placed the beans to soak I also chopped the bell peppers and onion and placed them in the freezer, so all I had to do was add them the next day and chop the sweet potato and garlic. Made it simpler.This recipe is written based on the large amount of water used with the dried beans. I don't recommend canned, as it will totally change everything else about the recipe. This makes a huge pot, which is how I like to make a good soup at New Year's for leftovers.
- Add your dried beans to a large pot and cover in water. Put the lid on and soak overnight or 8 hours max. Drain and rinse them well and remove any rocks or debris.
- Add them back to the pot and add the 6 cups vegetable broth.
- Bring the beans to a boil and as soon as it is a rolling boil, turn to low simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 60 minutes (set your timer). While it is cooking, chop your bell peppers, onion, garlic and sweet potato. Get all your remaining ingredients ready as well (salsa, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper). Start with 2 teaspoons or so of salt.Note: You can also prepare the cornbread muffins at this time if you want. They add a wonderful slightly sweet taste and texture to the soup. Come on, make them.
- After the 60 minutes is up, add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and bring it back to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to medium-low heat, cover with the lid slightly tilted allowing steam still to escape and let it cook 15-20 minutes just until the potatoes are tender. The beans should be done at this point as well. If you follow each step as I've noted, the beans should be done. If not, let them cook just a few minutes more.
- Taste and add any more salt if needed. This can greatly vary depending on the broth that is used. You may need 1-2 more teaspoons, it will depend.
- Remove from the heat and serve with cornbread!
This recipe is a keeper! I’ve tried many different black-eyed pea recipes over the years and they have been okay, but nothing I’ve wanted to make again. This one was a hit with the whole family (DH and four kids ages 8 to 15)! We will be eating this more that once a year, I think. Looking forward to trying more vegan8 recipes.
Brandi, I just took my first bite of this black-eyed pea soup and had to come to my computer to tell you THANK YOU for the recipe. There will be many of my family members eating it and wishing for good luck in 2017. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Today was our first rainy ☔️, dark day of winter. The rain turned into a windy ice storm that blew my umbrella inside out. Lots of wet snow came next, nixing our plans to attend an evening school, fun event.
How did we turn our frowns upside down? Well, besides the 3 year old continually telling everyone how awesome they are, we made Smoky 🍠 Sweet Potato, Black Eyed Pea soup with your Cornbread Muffins.
Delicious, the both of them! My regular muffin tin was not to be found, so I made mini muffins. I also used blue corn 🌽 meal as that’s what I had on hand. These recipes will absolutely go in my Favorites file❣️ Thank you very much for sharing.
I shall post on your FB page also, and share a photo.
It looks fantastic, so I plan to try it. Are the sweet potatoes raw or cooked before adding to recipe?
Hi Debra! They are raw, as they cook in the soup, which you will see in the directions. 🙂 It’s a slow-cooking soup.
Brandi, just saw this on the “Eating You Alive” trailer, Congratulations and thanks for all you’ve done to spread the plant based word….if people only knew how much better they could feel, they would change in an instant and this yummy dish, like all your ‘smoky’ inventions only helps make the transition delicious and cruelty free❤
Thank you!
I am cooking this tonight – just got the sweet potatoes at the store…can’t wait to leave work 🙂
I was looking around to see if you have a cookbook out – either you don’t, or I couldn’t find one – I really hope you are looking to publish, because your recipes are some of the best low fat vegan recipes out there.
All the best from a grateful follower,
Christina
Christina, you are so incredibly kind, thank you! I do not have a cookbook out at this exact moment, but I “may” have something in the works…hoping to reveal something soon, so stay tuned 😉
Another amazing soup I love! So much flavor with real whole plant foods! Yes! Perfect 🙂
Thank you so much Jessica! I’m so happy you loved it!
This sounds absolutely delicious and so comforting 🙂
Thank you so very much Aimee!
I made this last night and all I can say is “wow!” My nonvegan bacon-loving husband loved it too and said that if he wasn’t so stuffed from eating a huge bowl, he would have gone in for seconds. I was reluctant to make it since I had never tried black-eyes peas before, but I now have a new favorite legume! Thank you!
This soup is outstanding. It has so much flavor and it is easy to make. Seriously this soup couldn’t be more perfect. Curling up with a big bowl of this soup is so comforting. I enjoyed every last bite. I made it last night and I am really looking forward to having left overs for dinner tonight. Can’t wait to get home. Hahahaha. Thanks so much for such a great and simple recipe Brandi. It was a big hit with my best friend as well 😀
Thank you so much Christina for this amazing feedback! It truly brightened my day! Thank you for sharing your beautiful pic on Instagram as well!
I am just soaking in room temperature/coldish water. I really want to make the soup tonight so hopefully the beans are not bad. Yeah I put them on to soak this morning 8 hours before I want to start cooking them. So that should be good. I just hope the beans are good. Thanks for the storing after soaking tip. I was just thinking maybe if the beans were bad I could buy some more beans then soak them overnight take them out in the morning store them then go to work and cook them when I got home after work. But now I know that’s not a good idea haha 🙂
They flavor should still be good, but if anything the beans might just look ugly, haha! If they are already splitted. Just keep an eye while they are cooking and taste them for doneness. That’s odd for them to split just from soaking. But I think, flavorwise, you should still be fine 🙂
I am making this today and I am not familiar with working with dry beans. I noticed a lot of the beans look discolored and at first I just figured that is normal because they are a natural thing and things that are in their natural state are not always uniform. But I am soaking them now and they have been soaking for a little while but I am noticing that a lot of them are splitting. Is that normal and ok or are my beans bad? If they are bad that would suck cause I would have to wait till another day off to make them. Oh I was also wondering if you soak beans overnight do you have to start cooking or can you soak them and drain them in the morning and store them some how until you cook them at night?
Hi Christina! Are you soaking them in room temperature water or hot water? You should soak them in just room temperature water for about 8 hours, drain them and rinse. They shouldn’t really be splitting, a few might, but if a lot are, that usually would only happen if the water was hot. It’s best to start cooking them fairly soon after soaking and draining them because since they are wet, they will start to soften. If you let them stay stored wet like that, they could get grimy and too mushy. An hour or two in the fridge would be ok, but I wouldn’t recommend too much longer.
Insanely delicious soup!
We thought we had a favorite black-eyed pea dish and then I made this! Holy Moly, this was a big bowl of deliciousness. Even my husband (who claims to hate black-eyed peas) ate this. It was a miracle! Thank you so much for this recipe. It will definitely make another appearance in our house. We loved it.
OMG! I need a bowl of this soup immediately! Looks super delicious, Brandi!
I made this today and it was delicious. My son stopped by for lunch and he thought it was very good as well. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
That is so wonderful to hear Jeannie, thank you so much for the feedback!!
Hooowww??? First Gin flashed me with her photo of a bowl of kale and now you take this overhead shot of your potato black bean soup that looks crisper than real life! Absolutely impressive, Brandi!!
Plus this is a soup looks perfect for winter time. It’s -11 degrees celsius right now, wayy to cold!
Haha, aww thank you Howie, you are way too sweet! I have a few tricks I do for that super crisp look I love! I cannot stand hazy or blurry-ish photos, so crispness is always my goal, so thank YOU! WOW, 11 degrees, omg! Warm up!
This looks fantastic for any time of the year! Smoked paprika is such a great flavor. I could so go for a bowl of this right now!
Thank you so much Gin, I LOVE smoky flavors, my favorite for sure!
This soup is fantastic. It has everything you’d expect in a black eyed pea soup without all the SAD addings of fat. We loved it with the white sweet potato and smokey taste. Absolutely fabulous and we will make this monthly now. It’s definitely a keeper.
Thank you so much Estee, I’m so thrilled it was such a hit, thank you so much for the recipe request too!
This looks delicious, I love Black Eyed Peas and I’m sure with sweet potato it’s even more tasty.
Now that’s my kind of soup. Packed with veg and beans just tempting you in. Stumbled and pinned!
Thank you so much Jacqueline! I’m so glad you like it!
I love soups that you can actually eat like a meal, because they are so hearty. Hand me a piece of fresh baked dark bread with it, and I’m a super happy camper (although your cornbread sounds amazing with it as well!). I’m always afraid to use dried beans, because I have no idea how to find out if a bean is bad amongst all the beans…how do you sort/go through them, to make sure they are all good?
Hi Kat! I just sort through with my hands and any bean that looks nasty or sometimes there is a little rock in there, I just throw them out. There isn’t usually many, but a couple, so not hard at all!
After a midnight fail on NYE of soaking chickpeas instead of the black eyed peas.. My family was excited to try this out tonight with only slight modifications : mild salsa and less paprika. The carnivore husband was surprised that this dish reminded him of the flavor of ham and beans, which he loves. My nine year old son asked for seconds because he’s convinced it tastes like Panera’s black bean soup. And the cornbread muffins are almost gone! The vegan cornbread I’ve made in the past we’re not hits like these. Thanks for a new favorite!
Wow, what a compliment that it reminded him of ham and beans since those are classic we grew up on! So happy to hear this was loved by all! Thrilled that my cornbread was your favorite you’ve made now too, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!
This recipe sounds and looks absolutely to die for. I am definitely going to make this but it has to wait till my next day off which is January 18th. I seriously can’t wait. 😀
Yay! Can’t wait to hear what you think Christina!
You had me at smoky! YUMMMMM!!! Soup is the best and I’ve been known to eat it for every meal…definitely adding this to my list. I love how rustic these photos look – and that soup looks comforting and delicious! I’m with you on the new year’s resolutions – why wait for a new year to make some changes?! Happy New Year, sweet friend! Wishing you and your family the very best. XOXO