Step 1

Chop the onion and garlic and place it in the slow cooker with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.

Step 2

Dump the dry peas into a colander and sift through to remove any stones or bad peas. Rinse thoroughly with water then add to the slow cooker.

Step 3

Add 6 cups of chicken broth (or 6 cups of water and 2 Tbsp bouillon) to the slow cooker along with two bay leaves, 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

Step 4

Place the lid on the slow cooker, turn the power on to High and let cook until the peas are soft. I let mine cook without checking them for three hours and they were perfectly cooked. They may have been done sooner but I didn’t have a chance to check. Black-eyed peas tend to cook faster than other beans.