Split Pea Soup

At a glance

What stands out: Warm, comforting, and straightforward to prepare, this split pea soup is a standby! Ready to eat in just over an hour, split pea soup is a straightforward recipe to make. It needs little attention and can cook longer if you’re not ready to serve it.

How long it takes: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: Dutch oven or soup pan
Servings: 6

Split Pea Soup With Ham

Hearty. This straightforward split pea soup recipe is a hearty soup that will satisfy your entire family. It’s filling and nutritious and will warm you from the inside out. Add carrots, celery, onion, and ham and you have a speedy and straightforward nutritious meal. From-scratch split pea soup is so much better-tasting than canned split pea soup!

Economical. Not only is this soup satisfying, it’s also budget-friendly. Split peas are economical and can be stored in your pantry a long time. Keep a bag handy for those times when you need a good dinner idea. We also like to freeze leftover ham (or a ham bone) so we have all the fixings we need to make this soup.

Great for sharing! Split pea soup is nice to share with others too. Make a big batch of soup and gift a container of it to a friend who may need a little “soup hug”.

Why Add A Bay Leaf?

One of things that makes this soup special is a flavorful bay leaf. You may wonder why in the world you put a little green leaf into a big pot of soup, only to take it out again before eating the soup. Doesn’t seem to make much sense, does it?

However, when you sample a spoonful of this straightforward split pea soup, you’ll get that this simple bay leaf imparts a subtle but essential flavor. It partners well with the fresh thyme and parsley which accompany it.

Serve it with warm, crusty from-scratch whole wheat bread or no-knead Dutch oven bread. From-scratch corn muffins with herbs and cheddar are a great go-along, too.

Prepping Split Peas

As you know, many, if not most, dried legumes need to be soaked overnight so perhaps you’re wondering if you have to soak the split peas before cooking. Split peas (green or yellow) do not need to be soaked. When split peas are processed, the hard outer shell is removed and then they are cracked in half.

Simply rinse the split peas, green or yellow, and sort out any foreign material that may have slipped in. They’re ready to cook and they’ll cook quite quickly, much faster than other legumes that aren’t split.

Incidentally, if you have a pressure cooker or slow cooker, you can eliminate the soaking step when you cook legumes such as black beans or pinto beans. Try our Instant Pot pinto beans, Instant Pot black bean soup, or crockpot refried beans.

Ways to change it

• Make it vegetarian. Omit the ham and substitute a good quality vegetable broth for the water. To enhance the flavor of the soup, add a couple cloves of garlic and a smidge of smoked paprika. A couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast will give the soup great flavor, too.
• Use a leftover ham bone. If you happen to have a ham bone lying around (or in your freezer), throw that in and this soup with be taken to a whole new level. The recipe card has instructions for making the soup with a ham bone. One of the comments below mentions that you can buy meaty ham bones at Honey Baked Ham stores. That sounds like a great idea!
• For a smoother soup: Use a blender or a hand-held immersion blender to give the soup a speedy purée (before you add the ham). You probably don’t want the soup completely smooth so remove 4 cups of the soup, purée it, and return it to the pan.
• Add cumin. If we're feeling crazy, we add a touch of cumin because it is one of our favorites. Try it, you may discover cumin is one of your favorites, too. We got the idea from our red lentil soup recipe. Like split peas, red lentils are a speedy-cooking legume.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Get a head start. Prep the veggies the day before. Store them all together in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Make double batch. Another time-saving trick is to make a double batch of the soup, as long as you have a large enough pan, or you could use 2 pans. You can freeze half for a later meal. You can also freeze the soup in individual sized containers. Thaw one in the fridge overnight and pop it in your lunchbox to take to work or school.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: To store split pea soup, transfer it to storage containers and let it cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate; the soup will keep for three to four days.

Freeze: Split pea soup can be frozen for up to three to four months. You will notice a slight change in texture. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Reheat: Gently warm the soup in a saucepan until heated. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave at 50% power until heated.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #92. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

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Chicken Corn Chowder (lighter!)

**photos updated September, 2019

• Yield: 6
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour
• Total: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion)
• 2 to 3 medium carrots, diced (about 2 heaping cups)
• 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 2 cups dried split peas, sorted and rinsed ( 16 oz. bag)
• 6 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• 8 ounces diced ham, and/or ham bone (see note)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Add rinsed peas, water, bay leaf, and thyme. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until peas and vegetables are soft.
3. Add ham and parsley, stir to combine, heat until warmed through.
4. Remove bay leaf prior to serving. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.

Notes

With a ham bone: If using a ham bone, add it when you add the peas and water, so the bone can simmer in the soup. It will add great ham flavor. Remove it before serving.

With cooked ham: we you’re using ham cubes or leftover ham, wait until the end to add it. It becomes tough and flavorless if you simmer it with the soup the whole time.

Vegetarian split pea soup: This soup is reliable for vegetarians or vegans. Just leave the ham out and replace the water with a good quality vegetable broth. To enhance the flavor, add 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced, and ½ teaspoon smoked paprika.

Cooking tip: Go ahead and use those stalks of celery in the middle of the bunch, and include the leaves. They’ll add extra flavor.