Ham & Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Did you know January is National Soup Month? I didn’t know about it either, but apparently, it’s a real thing. It was started by the Campbell Soup Company back in 1984. It was created to to celebrate the comforting, nourishing, and versatile nature of soup during the cold winter months, encouraging people to enjoy or create their own hearty bowls of goodness.

Soups are nutritious was of using up leftovers. They warm us up on cold, chilly days or nights. They can be a good, balanced meal all unto themselves, especially my soups that I pack with all kinds of hearty goodness. 🙂 There are endless soup possibilities too. Anything goes. Some of the world’s most popular soups are:

• chowders
• phos
• gumbo
• ramen
• borscht
• wonton soups
• noodle soups
• chili

I make all kinds of soups. I make them from everything, and use everything I have. Back in my restaurant days, eons and eons ago, my chef and I would actually plan our menus using a lot of leftovers for the chilies and soups. We had to have soup and chili options everyday, and every restaurant wants to use up as much of their inventory as they can on a regular basis. So one way to not have a lot of leftovers is to add them to soups and chilies. We certainly did that all the time too. Our soups and chilies always got rave reviews, though in all honestly, all of our foods did. 🙂

My most recent soup was made from my big batch of my New Year’s black-eyed pea and ham salad. Keeping Our New Year’s Traditions I am doing my best to ensure we will have good luck all throughout the year.

I made a BIG batch of black-eye pea and ham salad for our New Year’s Day meal, and needed to turn it into something else. Soup it was. I added celery, carrots, garlic, more onions, more ham, spinach and tomatoes.

For my broth, I mixed ham broth with salt, pepper, 2 TBSP of ketchup and a couple of tsp of Worcestershire Sauce.

I cooked the vegetables that needed to be cooked in olive oil until they were al dente.

Then I added the black-eyed peas and ham salad and the additional ham I cut from the bone. Once I cut off all the ham I could, I made my ham broth from the bone. When the broth was ready, I mixed in the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce then added it to the pot. (Dorrie and Juneau enjoyed the remainder of the meat that I was able to get off the bone after I made my broth too).

I brought it all to a boil, then reduced the heat to a simmer and allowed it to continue to cook, for an additional 30-40 minutes, stirring the pot every now and then; though anyone who knows me knows I like to stir many pots all the time, but I digress. 🙂

The spinach and tomatoes came right at the very end, not long before serving the soup.

The end result was a delicious, healthy hearty soup that was definitely a meal by itself. All that was needed was some homemade bread on the side, which I did too. I made a pesto bread that paired perfectly with this delicious bean soup. 🙂

When the weather is cold outside, warm yourself up from the inside out with a hearty bowl or two of soup. Any kind of soup will do. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.