Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Bermuda Peas and Rice
Black-eyed peas and rice cooked with bacon, onion, tomato, and thyme; the Bermudian side that shows up beside fish, chicken, and at every summer get-together.
Bermudian · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 50 min
~354 cal · 10g protein · 67g carbs · 5g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 1g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Bermuda peas and rice is the island's go-to side, black-eyed peas simmered until tender then cooked down with rice, bacon, onion, tomato, and thyme. It turns up beside fried or baked fish, barbecued chicken, and steamed vegetables, and it is a fixture at picnics and summer get-togethers all over Bermuda.
It is a close cousin of Hoppin' John, and its New Year's Day version, called peas and plenty, hides a shiny coin among the beans for prosperity in the year to come, a tradition Bermuda shares with the American South. The island's Portuguese heritage often shows up here too, with a piece of chouriço sausage cooked in alongside or instead of the bacon.
Some Bermudian families keep it vegetarian, cooked simply with butter, onions, and seasoning salt, but the classic pot is built on smoky bacon and a good handful of fresh thyme. Cook the peas first in seasoned water, then let the rice steam in that flavourful liquid.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1 1/2 cups black-eyed peas (soaked dried, or canned and drained)
2 cups long-grain rice, rinsed
4 strips bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
Instructions
1
If using dried peas, boil them with the thyme and a whole garlic clove until tender, about 40 minutes, and keep the seasoned cooking water.
✎ Chef’s note
Cooking the rice in the peas' seasoned water, rather than plain water, is what carries the flavour right through the pot.
2
Fry the bacon in the oil in a heavy pot until browned and the fat has rendered.
3
Add the onion, tomato, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
4
Stir in the peas and rice, then add about 3 cups of the seasoned pea water (or fresh water), and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
5
Cover, reduce to low, and steam for about 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Rest a few minutes and fluff before serving.
Hamilton home tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Hamilton. Hamilton is a pastel Atlantic capital known for a dark fish chowder finished at the table with black rum and sherry peppers. Bermudian cooking mixes British, Portuguese, and Caribbean habits, in codfish breakfasts and cassava pie at Christmas.
🗺️
Bermuda. Bermudian fish chowder takes no flour and no cream, and cooks are emphatic about it: the body comes from long reduction and from the gelatin in fish heads and bones. It is finished at the table with two things, black rum and sherry peppers, the latter descended from a sailors' habit of fortifying sherry with bird's-eye chillies.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bermuda
Codfish and PotatoesBermuda's traditional Sunday plate: salt cod and potatoes with egg, avocado, banana, and a tomato or egg sauce.
Bermuda Banana BreadA dense, moist banana loaf, lightly spiced and buttery, that Bermudians bake for breakfast and afternoon tea alike.
Bermuda Fish SandwichA generous fried fish fillet piled with slaw and tartar sauce on sweet raisin bread, Bermuda's iconic weekend lunch.
Browse all Bermuda recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Bermuda meal
Rum SwizzleDrink
Bermuda Rum CakeDessert
Bermuda Cassava PieDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Bahamian Peas 'n' RiceBahamas
ChifrijoCosta Rica
KimbapSouth Korea
Arroz con GandulesPuerto Rico
Lu Rou FanTaiwan
Cơm Tấm Sườn NướngVietnam
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Lunches from Around the World
Dairy-Free Lunches from Around the World
Nut-Free Lunches from Around the World
Egg-Free Lunches from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Bermuda Peas and Rice?
Black-eyed peas and rice cooked with bacon, onion, tomato, and thyme; the Bermudian side that shows up beside fish, chicken, and at every summer get-together.
Where does Bermuda Peas and Rice come from?
Bermuda Peas and Rice is a Bermudian dish from Hamilton, Bermuda.
Can Bermuda Peas and Rice be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bermuda Peas and Rice recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Bermuda Peas and Rice safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Bermuda Peas and Rice take to make?
About 65 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.