I Make This Southern Good Luck Soup Every New Year’s

Every year growing up, my family prepared certain foods when New Year’s rolled around. It’s a Southern thing. I’ve continued this tradition on my own, even inviting friends over to come by and partake on New Year’s Day, spreading the luck around to loved ones. 

My family is not a superstitious bunch by any means, and this is the one luck-related activity we participate in. Why this one? It’s part legacy and our proud Southern roots, but it’s mostly that we love the foods themselves. It’s a little like Thanksgiving—it’s a tradition worth repeating because it’s delicious.

What Foods Are Good Luck?

A quick internet search will reveal a surprising number of Southern “good luck foods,” but my family always partakes in the big three: black-eyed peas, collard greens (for money), and pork. Many people make hoppin’ john to get their black-eyed pea intake along with collard greens and potlikker. Cornbread sometimes makes the luck list, and we don’t tend to eat black-eyed peas without it, so it’s included by default.

Many years ago I started making a good luck soup, combining my favorite good luck ingredients to make a flavorful soup that’s comforting in the dead of winter. It’s an easy and tasty way to get all of your good luck in one go.

How to Make My Good Luck Soup

To make enough soup to serve 4 to 6, you’ll need:

• 1 cup dried black-eyed peas, picked through, rinsed, and drained
• 1 large bunch collard greens
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 pound spicy sausage (2 to 3 links)
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 small lemon
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Add the black-eyed peas to a medium bowl and cover with at least 2 inches of cool water. Let soak overnight, or about 8 hours. Drain. Add to a large pot and again cover with at least 2 inches of water. Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the temperature to maintain a simmer. Cook until tender, 45 minutes to an hour. Drain.

Meanwhile, prep the other ingredients. Clean the collard greens, then use a knife to cut out the stems. Chop the stems and add them to a bowl with the diced onion. Cut the leaves into wide strips, then chop. Set aside.

Once the black-eyed peas are ready, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil followed by the onion and collard stems. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, then add the bell pepper and garlic. Cook another minute. Remove the casings and add the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks into crumbles.

Once most of the pink is gone from the sausage, add the broth. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas and chopped collard green leaves and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add a big squeeze of lemon and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Shortcuts and Variations

If you have access to canned black-eyed peas and don’t want to bother cooking dried beans, then you can swap the dried beans for 1 to 2 drained cans and skip the whole first step.

I love serving this soup with cornbread (another lucky food) which makes it a full meal, but you can also bulk up the soup itself. Diced potatoes are a nice addition added along with the broth. 

You can also add rice or pasta, like ditalini—check the cook time and add it that many minutes before the soup is done (for example, if the pasta takes 7 minutes to cook, add it 3 minutes after adding the black-eyed peas). You’ll want to add more liquid to the soup since the rice or pasta will soak up quite a bit.