These smoky, sweet, and spicy beans will blow you away. The beans are slow cooked with a ham hock, wickle juice, garlic and onions for 4 hours until they’re soft and full of flavor. They’re not your traditional black eyed peas they’re better.

Using Canned Black Eyed Peas

There are a lot of crockpot recipes with black eyed peas that use cooked beans from a can. If you’re looking for a quicker way to make these beans you can certainly use canned black eyed peas. The only drawback to this is that they don’t need to cook as long which means they’re not going to be as flavorful as if you were using dried beans.

While I haven’t tried this method, I recommend cooking on high for 1-2 hours. Stir well and taste before they’re done to make sure they’re not turning to mush. I wouldn’t cook for the entire 4 hours or they will not hold their texture or shape very well. At least not how I like them. I also recommend using less liquid. The purpose of using so much liquid in the dried beans is because they will absorb most of it as they cook. So watch out for this as well if you’re trying to make a substitution.

What Is Wickle Juice?

If you’ve never had wickles you’re missing out. It’s the perfect blend between a dill pickle and a sweet pickle. They’re a little sweet and a little spicy. They have flavors of garlic and dill which make the flavor complex and addicting. The juice of the pickles add the best flavor to these beans. Adding the juice to the recipe also keeps you from wasting it down the drain once the pickles are gone. You can find them in any grocery store. You can leave this ingredient out, but I wouldn’t.

If you’re wondering about substitutes I would recommend sweet pickle juice over dill. Especially since wickles are more sweet than they are salty. To get the same heat you could add some pickled jalapeños which would add great flavor and heat to the dish.

Make Your Life Easier With This Hack

I’ve recently discovered crock pot liners. If you don’t know what these are or have never used them, they are plastic liners that fit inside of the bowl of your crockpot and you can cook the food in them. They keep your crockpot from getting dirty.

I don’t know about you but my crockpot doesn’t fit inside of my dishwasher and hand washing dishes typically isn’t something I look forward to at the end of the meal. Once the meal is served I toss the bag and wipe down the lid then store it again. It’s very easy. You’ll never want to go back after doing this.

Can’t Forget The Greens

What are black eyed peas without those greens? This recipe was originally supposed to feature collard greens but they were all sold out when I wanted to feature this on the blog so I opted for kale. Kale is a great substitute because it holds its shape and keeps its bite for the most part. It also absorbs the flavor of whatever you’re cooking it in so well. Plus they’re nutritious and so good.

Serving The Beans

I recommend serving these beans with rice. You can use any rice you have on hand. It doesn’t matter if you serve it over plain rice or if you like your rice buttered and topped with parsley. For an easy variation, add some sausage for extra flavor! You can slice them and add them to the crockpot during the remaining 2 hours or pan fry on the side and serve over top.

This is not only a great dinner but you can meal prep left overs and serve them later. These can keep refrigerated for up to a week. You can also freeze them for later if you’d like but only freeze the beans, not the rice. It doesn’t matter if it’s a holiday or not these beans are great any time whether they’re the star or the side.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Black Eyed Peas

Using Canned Black Eyed Peas

What Is Wickle Juice?

Make Your Life Easier With This Hack

Can’t Forget The Greens

Serving The Beans