This fresh and boldly flavored vegan and gluten free black-eyed pea and avocado salsa is the perfect way to bolster your luck in the new year. It is quick and easy to make and goes great with your favorite chip. It is full of fresh zesty flavor and can be made spicy or mild depending on your preference. Happy New Year, everyone!
In the South, many believe eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day will bring you luck in the year to come. My dad was from Birmingham, Alabama and loved this southern New Year's tradition. Today, I'm sharing an easy way to incorporate black-eyed peas into your New Year's Day menu: Black-Eyed Pea and Avocado Salsa. This vibrant recipe is an easy good luck tradition to start this new decade off right!
Black-Eyed Pea Avocado Salsa Ingredients
Black-eyed peas are earthy and have a similar texture to black beans. In this recipe I paired them with creamy avocado chunks, juicy sweet cherry tomatoes, pungent crispy red onions, tangy lime and fresh herby cilantro. You can add diced jalapeno for some heat too. I love how simple the ingredients are yet they offer so much flavor and bright color to the dip.
What are the health benefits of this Black-Eyed Pea Avocado Salsa?
This salsa-like dip reminds me of a chunky guacamole with some added plant-based protein from the black-eyed peas. You can dip your favorite chip in it or even enjoy it plain as a salad. Either way it is delicious and offers wonderful health benefits. Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of vitamin B1 and a good source of fiber, magnesium, phosphorous and zinc. The avocado adds a cool creaminess to the salsa dip and help to make it more satisfying. Plus, avocado adds healthy fats, dietary fiber and nearly 20 vitamins and minerals such as potassium, folate, vitamin E, C and B6. Tomatoes are low in calories and are high in vitamin A and C and are a good source of potassium. They also offer incredible heart health benefits. Altogether this is one healthy dip to start off your new year!
How to achieve the perfect avocado for this dip
Having a perfectly ripe avocado is key for this recipe. When shopping for avocados look for avocados with no soft spots. To accelerate the ripening process, place the avocado in a brown paper bag along with an apple, banana or tomato and place in the warmest spot in your kitchen. You will know it is perfectly ripe when the skin changes from green to slightly black and it it still firm but yields a gentle pressure. Once ripe you can refrigerate for two to three days.
Now, let’s make this easy black-eyed pea avocado salsa!
This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free, egg-free and dairy-free.
When you make this recipe, snap a pic and use the hashtag #eatingbyelaine on INSTAGRAM to be featured in my stories.
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Black-Eyed Peas and Avocado Salsa
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This fresh and boldly flavored vegan and gluten free black-eyed pea and avocado salsa is the perfect way to bolster your luck in the new year. It is quick and easy to make and goes great with your favorite chip. It is full of fresh zesty flavor and can be made spicy or mild depending on your preference. Happy New Year, everyone!
Ingredients
- 1, 15 ounce can black-eyed peas (no salt added), drained, rinsed and dried
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ½ large red onion, diced
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice from 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
- Optional: 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Taste and adjust flavors as needed. You may want to add more lime juice, cilantro, salt or red onion.
- Serve immediately with your favorite salty chips or as a salad.
Notes
When serving this dip to my kids I omit the jalapeno but it does add some wonderful heat!
I like to chill my ingredients in advance so the dip is cold when I serve it. It is best when fresh. If you want to make it ahead of time I recommend adding the avocado just before serving.
- Prep Time: 5
- Category: Dip
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: Mexican
Dean Specker says
Thank you for posting the black-eyed pea avocado salsa recipe. I cooked a bag of black-eyed peas the other day and wanted something fresh light and quick to do with some of them. This recipe did the trick.
It came together so quick and was enjoyed by the whole family. We barely had enough for left overs the next day.
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this one and everyone gobbled it up! I'm sure it tasted extra amazing with freshly cooked black eyed peas! Yum!