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I don’t care what time of year, what weather, what I ate the day before, I’m in the mood three things: curry, sweet potatoes, and black-eyed peas. Put them all together, and I’m on cloud nine. I always see recipes for bean curries made with chickpeas and lentils, but nothing is better than a creamy and rich black-eyed pea curry. Black-eyed peas are tender, buttery, and full of flavor. Cook them with warming spices, coconut milk, and tomatoes, and you’ll never want a curry made with those other beans again!
Table of Contents
Black-eyed peas are my favorite bean by far––and I LOVE all beans. They conjure up memories of New Year’s Day feasts made by my Nana. In my family––and so many other black families––you cannot start a year without eating slow cooked black-eyed peas for luck, vegan collard greens for money, and vegan cornbread to sop it all up. But it wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized black-eyed peas can be eaten throughout the year in myriad dishes.
If you love curry, also check out my Jamaican Chickpea Curry, Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry, Thai Pumpkin Curry, and Sweet Potato Red Lentil Curry.
Serving Suggestions
This sweet potato black-eyed pea curry might be as good as it gets. This is one of those recipes that I’d surely serve at my restaurant if I had one. I’d garnish it with quick-pickled onions, and serve it with this simple braised cabbage recipe. The flavor is out of this world!
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Sweet Potato Black-Eyed Pea Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch knob ginger, minced
- 1 red or yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 14- oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 lb black-eyed peas, soaked 6+ hours
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2-4 cups of water + 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable bouillon paste OR 2-4 cups vegetable broth, ONLY FOR USE IN STOVE-TOP VERSION
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
- 1-1 1/2 tsp salt
- Garnish with black pepper, lime, and fresh cilantro
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté on high, and add the coconut oil.
- Add the spices and toast for about 30 seconds.
- Add the garlic, and ginger, and stir. Cook about 30 seconds, or until garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook until they are translucent.
- Add the diced tomatoes, black eyed peas, coconut milk, and salt.
- Cancel the sauté setting, and set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 25 minutes.
- While the beans are cooking, roast the sweet potatoes. To roast: toss the cubed sweet potatoes with 2 tsp of oil, then spread them evenly onto a baking sheet and sprinkle salt over them. Roast for 35 minutes at 375°, or until tender.
- Once the beans have cooked for 25 minutes, allow it to natural pressure release fully. If you are in a hurry, allow it to natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes.
- Stir in the roasted sweet potatoes.
- Season to taste with more salt, and black pepper.
- Serve with brown rice and garnish with black pepper, fresh lime, and cilantro.
- If you liked this recipe, please take a moment to rate it. Thank you!
Stovetop directions
- Warm the coconut oil in a large pot.
- Add the spices and toast for about 30 seconds.
- Add the garlic, and ginger, and stir. Cook about 30 seconds, or until garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook until they are translucent.
- Add the diced tomatoes, black eyed peas, coconut milk, 2 cups of water + bouillon paste, and salt.
- Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 40-45 minutes until the beans are tender. Add more water or vegetable broth to thin if necessary.
- NOTE: Add the sweet potatoes 20 minutes into the beans cook time.
- Season to taste with more salt, and black pepper.
- Serve with brown rice and garnish with black pepper, fresh lime, and cilantro.
- If you liked this recipe, please take a moment to rate it. Thank you!
Delicious! It’s become one of my husband’s favorite meals. Full disclosure, I often use butternut squash because I don’t like sweet potato but either way, this recipe does not disappoint.
Stovetop …..do you bake the sweet potatoe?
I make this pretty often and I roast the sweet potato or butternut squash(it’s delicious with this as well) and add it to the pot at the end. This fish is delicious and it freezes really well.
dish*
Turned out delicious!
This is definitely one of the best recipes I’ve ever had. I make it often when having dinner guests…everyone raves and wants the recipe. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed!
Thank you for sharing that, Denise!! I am so thrilled you like this recipe. If you haven’t yet, please leave a rating on the recipe too. I really appreciate you 🙂
I’ve made this recipe many times exactly as written and it’s always a huge hit…I love it. I have a question about the water/broth – is it omitted if using the instant pot? I’ve never added it, but now questioning if I’m supposed to. It’s only added in the stovetop instructions. Anyway, thanks for this amazing recipe!
Hi Denise!! Good question. Yep, omit in the IP recipe so it isn’t too watery.
I am so glad you love this recipe. If you haven’t yet, please leave it a rating 🙂 Thanks!!
This now a go to recipe yummmmo
Thanks for sharing this delicious looking for recipe, I was actually looking for same recipe
I made this for New Year’s Day and man oh man was it good! I cut the recipe in half because we were tight on fridge space but I clearly should have made the full recipe since my family is already asking me to make it again! It was so delicious and easy which is my favorite combination! This will definitely part of our weeknight meal rotation!
Can this recipe happen without an instant pot? Looks delicious.
Just made this tonight. Delicious, I added cauliflower and cooked it on the stovetop with plain Greek yogurt and oatmilk. Enjoyed it.
We made this last night on the stovetop, using two 16 oz bags of frozen black eyed peas. At Step 4, after adding the onions and spices, we added the frozen peas, along with the tomatoes and milk – and held off on the broth. Covered and simmered 30 mins or so.
We cooked the sweet potatoes in the oven as instructed, then simply stirred them into the pot once the black eyed peas were done.
Heaven.
Fantastic! I love the addition of the peas in there. If you haven’t yet, please leave a rating on this recipe. Thanks!!
What can you use in place of coconut milk?