New Year’s day is a time for starting with a clean slate, out with the old and in with the new. All good southerns know you need to eat black eyed peas on New Year’s day for good luck . I am fortunate that I love black eyed peas, but I know many people that hold their noses and eat a few just because you have to. Lord knows if you don’t terrible luck may be your fate and you just can’t chance that. This Black Eyed Pea Casserole is full of flavor and is a great twist on a southern classic. It is basically a meal on it’s own. Serve it with some cabbage and cornbread and you will be eating like southern queens. Plus you will be lucky and prosperous in the new year, you just can’t test fate.
Here in Louisiana we eat rice with everything so it was just natural to incorporate rice in this Black Eyed pea Casserole. We also used a lot of smoked sausage , this seriously gives a nice smoky flavor to any dish. If you have andouille available to you it would work beautifully in this recipe , if not use your favorite smoked sausage. This recipe has all of mine and my husbands favorite flavors in it. The day I made this my husband had a cheat day, he hurt himself eating this. He said this was totally cheat worthy, lol.
This casserole has a few steps but it really isn’t hard. Trust me , all the extra steps are worth it. Start off by steaming your rice. Place 2 cups of water in a saucepan and add one cup of Rice. Bring it to a boil , place the lid on the pot and turn it to low. Let the rice steam for 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid is gone. Once it is cooked just set it aside. If you have another method of cooking rice feel free to do so, just use real rice. While the rice is cooking chop your vegetables and sausage.
In a large skillet heat up olive oil , add sausage and then chopped vegetables.
While this mixture is cooking add a little water to get all the good bits off the bottom of the skillet, Once the onions are translucent you can set this ,mixture aside in a large mixing bowl.
In the same skillet brown the ground meat and add the dry seasonings. Once it is done add to the mixing bowl.
Add the drained black eyed peas, rotel tomatoes and mix well,
Mix in the cooked rice and add to a 9×13 baking dish sprayed with baking spray
Top with pepper jack cheese and then cheddar. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven
Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving
ENJOY!!

Black Eyed Pea Casserole
Ingredients
Steamed Rice
- 1 Cup Long grain rice
- 2 Cups water
Casserole
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 14-16 oz Package Smoked Sausage sliced in half moon shapes If andouille is available it works great
- 1 Lb ground beef
- 1 Large Yellow onion diced
- 3 stalks of celery diced
- 1/2 of a large red bell pepper diced
- 1 can Rotel tomatoes drained
- 2 cans Black eyed peas drained 15.5 oz cans
- 1 1/2 teaspoons creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
For the rice
- In a sauce pan place 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Bring it up to a boil , place the lid on top and turn down to low . Continue to cook until all the liquid is gone and the rice is done. Set aside.
For the Casserole
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large skillet heat up olive oil and start cooking the sausage , onion , bell pepper and celery. continue to cook until the onions are clear. You may have to add a little water to the skillet to get all the good stuff off the bottom of the pan.
- Once the onions are clear put the mixture in a large mixing bowl
- In the same pan cook the ground meat and add the Creole seasoning, pepper, and garlic
- Once the meat is cooked add to the mixture in the mixing bowl and stir together
- Stir in the rice
- Add drained rotel tomatoes and drained canned black eyed peas Mix well
- Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish prepared with cooking spray
- Top with pepper jack cheese and then cheddar cheese
- Bake for 25-30 uncovered
- Let sit for 20 minutes before serving
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Yum! This Black Eyed Pea Casserole is making me totally hungry! I can’t wait to stuff myself with this delicious food.
Thanks, It Is a New Years day fave at my house.
Thanks Dennis .. I’m ready for our New Year’s Day feast.
I can’t wait to share this recipe with my bestie! Her family eats black eyed peas every New Years and she is the one you described, just eating a few because you have to. Maybe if I make this for her, she’d enjoy the tradition more?!
I hope it works … so many other yummy things going on it may fool her. Lol
This casserole looks and sounds more than amazing! You can’t go wrong with these flavors. I can’t wait to try! YUM!
Thanks Jesse!
Thanks for all the step by step photos of preparing this dish. My family loves spicy rotel tomatoes!
I love that this black eyed pea recipe is made into a meal and not just a side dish. A great way to ring in the New Year!
Thanks Sharon , this is a great dish!
I have a big batch of black eyes peas in my kitchen now, wondering what to do with it. I am very excited I have stumbled upon your recipe because THAT is what I will do – make this delicious casserole! 🙂
This is a great casserole, I hope you enjoy!!
I love black eyed peas! I always buy them and then don’t know what to do with them! Will try this out!
This is a great recipe to start with!!
Love any meal I can serve with cabbage and corn bread and this sounds amazing! Love all that sausage and black eyed pea goodness!
I love casseroles like this on a winter’s night. Sounds so delicious and comforting. I don’t often cook with black eyed peas but its nice to have a new recipe to try!
I’m Brazilian and we also eat rice with everything ahaha AND beans with sausage! I love black eyed peas so much but never had it in a casserole – I definitely need to try this.
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Love love love this recipe!!! My family was surprised as to how good it turned out. Stewed cabbage is a great side dish with this. Definitely a keeper.
Hi Diane , I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this. It’s a family favorite for sure.
Can you use minute rice instead of long grain rice in this recipe? This is just what I needed to start the New Year off right! Thanks 😊
As long as it is already cooked you can use minute rice . Have a happy New Year !!
This was soooo good. Very similar to my hoppin’ john but without the ground beef. I divided mine into two casseroles, freezing one without the cheese which I’ll add whenever I’m ready to bake it. I didn’t have creole seasoning so I used Cajun seasoning. I didn’t drain the tomatoes, didn’t see the point in doing that. I cooked my own frozen peas with my usual seasonings. I added salt to my rice water and a little to the ground beef. After mixing it all together I checked the taste. It was really good but added a little more Cajun seasoning. I’ll be making this for New Years Day instead of my usual hoppin’ John. So thankful I found this recipe. I might mix the pepper Jack cheese into the pea, meat and rice mixture and just put cheddar on top to see if the ingredients will stick together better.
Thank you for your kind words Bobbie and I am so glad you liked this recipe. I totally love how you made this your own!
The picture show sausage but the recipe only has ground beef. Was the sausage accidentally left out of the list of ingredients. I definitely would like to make this!
Disregard my previous e-mail. I just failed to see the sausage listed at the very beginning of the ingredients. Sorry!
It’s all good , I do make mistakes lol