The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by eight plant growth-promoting bacterial strains originating from surface-sterilized root nodules of cowpea and garden pea were examined using headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). One hundred and fifty-nine VOCs were detected in the control and bacterial inoculated flasks. Among the VOCs produced by the bacterial isolates, esters (14.46%), ketones (13.83%), alcohols (12.57%) and hydrocarbons (9.4%) were the most prevalent, while other classes of VOCs were detected at lower frequencies. While 33.13% of the compounds were exclusive to cowpea nodule isolates, 38.50% of the compounds were exclusive to garden pea nodule isolates. The compounds that were common between both groups accounted for 28.40% of the total compounds detected. The major VOCs with plant growth promotion potential produced by Enterobacter sp. CPH64, Enterobacter sp. CPK42, Chryseobacterium sp. CPM11, and Stenotrophomonas sp. CPH62, originating from cowpea root nodules were palmitic acid, dimethyl silanediol, hexanol 2-ethyl, 2-methyl 1- butanol and  2-tridecanone, while Enterobacter sp. GP44, Enterobacter sp. GP71, Enterobacter sp. GP84, and Bacillus sp. GP102, from garden pea root nodules, produced the VOCs, viz. 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2,3,5-trimethyl pyrazine, dimethyl silanediol, 2-tridecanone, butane 1-methoxy 3-methyl, hexanol 2-ethyl- and palmitic acid. These compounds have been previously shown to promote plant growth, improve plant defence, leaf chlorophyll content, enhance fruit ripening and mitigate stress effects. This is an early report on the VOC profile of bacterial endophytes isolated from root nodules of two vegetable legumes, viz. cowpea (tropical) and garden pea (temperate).