Quick and Easy Sausage Hoppin’ John

hoppin' John with sausage

Hoppin’ John is a traditional southern food, one of the Lowcountry recipes that's often served on New Year’s Day for good luck. This is a quick and easy recipe that uses canned black-eyed peas instead of dried peas, so you get a head start with the following recipe. Be sure to use sausage that has some fat in it. If you don’t, you’ll need to add some extra butter.

I have a more complicated recipe for old-fashioned Hoppin' John, which I'm saving for my book about the Gullah Gullah and Gullah-Geechee recipes. This simple recipe is tasty, however, and it will give you a good sampling of Low Country cuisine.

Quick and Easy Hoppin’ John

What you’ll need:

• 6-8 small skinless link sausage
• ½ cup diced onions
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 soup can minute rice
• 1 can black-eyed peas, with liquid
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

Directions: Cut sausage into one-inch pieces. Fry the sausage and onions in a small pot until sausage is done.

Add chicken broth and rice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat immediately.

Add remaining ingredients. Place lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.

 Serve with hot sauce, if desired.