Black-eyed peas are the traditional New Year’s Eve food associated with prosperity in the Southern United States.
They are commonly served on New Year’s Day or around the New Year with greens, cornbread, or pork. In the best-known Southern combination, the peas symbolize coins or prosperity, while greens can suggest paper money. The dish called Hoppin’ John, made with black-eyed peas and rice, is especially associated with the tradition.
The custom has deep roots in African American foodways and Southern regional culture. One commonly repeated historical story connects black-eyed peas with survival during the American Civil War, when other food supplies were scarce. However, the exact origin of the New Year symbolism is not established by one universally accepted event.
Lentils are also associated with prosperity in several other cultures because their shape resembles coins, so they are a plausible alternative in a global question. The specifically Southern United States answer is black-eyed peas, not lentils.