Black Eyed Pea Picnic Salad

Originally published November 16, 2020. Updated January 2026.

A few years ago, during a guest takeover on Garden & Gun’s Instagram, I caught a glimpse of a simple dish that immediately became a staple in my kitchen. The chef shared a quick reel of his black eyed pea picnic salad, casually listing ingredients without measurements, the kind of recipe you commit to memory rather than write down. I watched it more than once, scribbled notes on a Post-it, and have been making my own version ever since.

If you follow me on Instagram then you know a lot of times in my Meal Plan Monday posts I say that I meal prepped Black Eyed Pea Picnic Salad. This is one of my favorite things to prepare ahead of time to have for lunches and snacks. It is really healthy and actually tastes better after a day or so.

Ingredients You’ll Need

The fresh ingredients that you will need for this recipe are celery, a bell pepper, and parsley. A lot of times people think of parsley as simply a garnish, so they omit it from recipes. The parsley adds a really important flavor to this dish, so be sure not to skip on it! Also, I just want to point out that there is no onion in this recipe. Did you know that a lot of times when people get food poisoning from picnic food, it is actually from the onions? Really!

You’re going to want to do a small dice on the pepper and celery. If you are using the Fullstar food chopper that is all the rage right now, use the smaller dice attachment. And if you don’t have the Fullstar, I recommend getting one. It can be easily washed in the dishwasher.

This recipe calls for canned black eyed peas. Not all canned black eyed peas are created equal. In this case, the recipe called for no-salt, canned black eyed peas, which I have never been able to find. This brand, Hanover, has the lowest sodium content that I can find. I also prefer this brand for this recipe because the liquid in the can is not thick and drains easily. (I use a different brand when not using them in a recipe.) You’re also going to need some Chow-Chow. If you aren’t from the south, Chow-Chow is a relish. Oddly enough, when all of the Covid shortages were happening, Chow-Chow was one of those items that you could not find anywhere. I can still only find it at one local grocery store, and I’m not telling where so that I can get it when I need it. HA!

Save this recipe

Below you will find the complete recipe, which you can print or save to Pinterest for later. I usually double this when meal prepping and keep it in an airtight container. I hope you enjoy it! Please be sure to let me know in the comments if you like it as much as I do.

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