Easy Split Pea Soup
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Split Pea Soup made with creamy split peas, smoky ham hock, and sweet carrots is a winner winner, soup for dinner!
This classic split pea soup recipe can be made on the stove top, in the slow cooker, or in your instant pot! However you make it, be sure to serve with some crusty French bread and a slice of strawberry pie!
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Split Pea Soup
Easy Split Pea Soup
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Split Pea Soup Ingredients
- Dried split peas – Make sure to rinse the peas off before adding to the cooking vessel as sometimes there is debris in the bag.
- Chicken stock or broth – Learn how to make your own chicken stock.
- Smoked ham hocks – You can typically find these near the spiral hams in your grocery store. They look like large meat knots.
- Finely chopped onion – Sweet yellow or white works best in this recipe.
- Minced garlic – Fresh or jarred is fine.
- Chopped carrot – Often I’ll cheat and grab a bag of julienned carrots from the produce sections.
- Optional garnish – Diced browned ham, diced raw carrot.
How do you make split pea soup? (step-by-step)
⭐ First, add ingredients to cooking vessel, and give a good stir.
⭐ Then, cook until peas have become mushy and onion and carrots are tender.
⭐Next, remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender, depending on your consistency preference.
⭐ Finally, if desired, cut the meat off your ham hock bone and small dice it. Brown the diced ham in a skillet and stir back into the soup.
Instant pot split pea soup
To make this in your instapot, add ingredients to inner liner, stir, and cook on high (manual pressure) for 30 minutes. Allow a natural pressure release. Remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender. If desired, brown diced ham (from hock) in a skillet and stir back into soup.
Slow cooker split pea soup
To make this in your crock pot, add ingredients to inner liner, stir, and cook on high for 4 – 6 hours or low for 8 – 10 hours. Remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender. If desired, brown diced ham (from hock) in a skillet and stir back into soup.
Preparation
Can you make split pea soup ahead of time?
Absolutely, this will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or longer in the freezer. Store in an air tight container for best results.
Heat up the refrigerated soup in the microwave or on the stove top over medium heat. Make sure to stir frequently as it is a thick soup.
Split pea soup without ham hock?
The ham hock adds a ton of flavor and some fat to the soup, so if you want to skip it and make a vegetarian version, you’ll need to replace those ingredients. I suggest adding a tablespoon of seasoned salt and a tablespoon of olive oil. You can also add a drop or two of liquid smoke!
Leftovers and storage
How long does split pea soup last?
It will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or longer in the freezer. Store in an air tight container for best results.
Can you freeze split pea soup?
This recipe freezes beautifully, so you can make a giant batch and put half away for another time. I like to serve it with corn bread or pumpkin biscuits and whipped butter. It’s perfect for cuddling up on the couch when it’s cool out, or enjoying around the fire pit with friends.
Tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions
Is split pea soup smooth or chunky?
This is a personal preference, we typically mash ours with a fork or potato masher and leave some texture, but sometimes I’ll use the immersion blender to make it smooth.
Just make sure to blend before you stir in any meat!
Why do they call it split pea soup?
Well because it’s made with split peas! Green split peas are identical to green peas. To make a split pea, the green pea is peeled and dried. The skin is removed and a natural split occurs.
Do split peas need to be soaked before cooking?
This recipe does not require that the peas be soaked before cooking.
What to eat with split pea soup (serving suggestions)
I love to serve this as a soup and salad meal with our fig and blue cheese spinach salad, maple bacon dijon dressing, and yeast dinner rolls on the side. For dessert a quick cinnamon mug cake is perfection!
If you love soup, try these recipes next
- Savory pumpkin soup
- Beer cheese soup recipe
- Lasagna soup
- Easy stuffed pepper soup
- See all our homemade soup recipes!
More delicious instant pot recipes
- Ham and bean soup recipe
- Mashed butternut squash
- Instant pot BBQ chicken
- Chicken tikka masala
- See all our yummy instant pot recipes!
Other awesome slow cooker recipes to try
- Broccoli casserole recipe
- Crockpot peanut candy
- Jalapeno spinach dip
- Chicken bacon ranch casserole
- See all our easy crockpot recipes!
Tools we love
- 7 Quart Crock Pot Slow Cooker – I’ve had this slow cooker since my husband and I were married in 2003! And it’s still kicking butt! I especially like this slow cooker because it holds one more quart than most other slow cookers.
- Cuisinart 2-Speed Immersion Stick Blender – Literally the best. I use my immersion blender every single day. Alllll the days. Because it’s literally the best.
- OXO Good Grips Garlic Press – Gone are the days of mincing your garlic by hand! This awesome garlic press can both mince and slice! We heart it.
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How to Make Split Pea Soup
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- Dried split peas 16 ounces, rinsed
- 6-8 cups chicken stock or broth enough to cover ham hocks
- 2 smoked ham hocks
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup diced carrot
- optional garnish: diced ham, diced raw carrot
Instructions
STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS
- Add ingredients to a large soup pot and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas and ham hock are tender, about 2 hours.
- Remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender, depending on your consistency preference.
- Optional step: brown diced ham (from hock) in a skillet and stir back into soup.
- Garnish with raw diced carrots and additional ham, if desired.
SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS
- Add ingredients to slow cooker, stir, and cook on high 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.
- Remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender, depending on your consistency preference.
- Optional step: brown diced ham (from hock) in a skillet and stir back into soup.
- Garnish with raw diced carrots and additional ham, if desired.
INSTANT POT DIRECTIONS
- Add ingredients to inner liner of instant pot, stir, and cook on high (manual pressure) for 30 minutes.
- Hit 'cancel; and allow natural pressure release (12 - 15 minutes) until pressure is released, or do a very careful controlled quick release, pausing if valve begins to sputter.
- Remove ham hocks and mash soup with a fork or blend with an immersion blender, depending on your consistency preference.
- Optional step: brown diced ham (from hock) in a skillet and stir back into soup.
- Garnish with raw diced carrots and additional ham, if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Easy Split Pea Soup
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Proof that sometimes I like it smooth!
Originally published 1-2012, 1-2-2018
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Omg thank you so much for posting this recipe! I have left over ham bones from thanksgiving sitting in the freezer that I've been dying to toss into pea stew but couldn't remember the recipe lol.
The recipe looks great. However, I'm on a low fat diet due to vascular disease. Ham hocks are full of fat! I'm able to make changes to most recipes to eradicate the fat, but can't think of how I'd substitute for the ham hocks. Ideas?
To lower the fat, I'd say use some other smoked meat…browned turkey bacon or even smoked turkey sausage. They even sell liquid smoke!
Thank you so much for posting. I'm gluten free and I struggle to find gluten free soups that don't lack flavor. This can easily be completed using gluten free stock. Thank you again!!
This was the best split pea soup, there is a place in California call Anderson split pea soup they make split pea soup, your is a lot better. My husband love it, and my daughter who does not split pea was so surprise how good it was. Thank you
Sounds great and easy. Pinning this on Pinterest so I can save for future use.
Getting ready to make this recipe for the 2nd time. It was a HUGE hit the last time I made it. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing.
yay! thanks so much for commenting đ it's a favorite in our house too.
I don't have half the ingredients and its making me so sad right now, hopefully my hubby will go with me to the store tommorrow to get some.
Recently found this on Pinterest and made it tonight. First time eating split pea soup, it was delicious! Easy to make and my husband and I both loved it.
I'm loving the ham hocks that add soo much flavour. This split pea soup is actually a gorgeous colour and is heading to the top of my soup-to-make list. Thank you for a fab recipe. Sammie. http://www.feastingisfun.com
I boil a ham bone or hocks ahead of time, in just water. How long? As long as you can. let the broth cool and remove the fat that collects. Add to the remaining ham broth, enough liquid to go into the soup. I also add a little ground cloves to the soup.
Thank You April This is Going to be Great . Perfect for the cold winter time.
Phyllis
At what point does the soup start to thicken. Mine has been cooking for 7 hrs and it is still loose some thickening has occurred but not as thick as the pictures shown.
Maybe you didnât put enough split peas . My mom would also change it up abut once in awhile and 1/2 it with yellow split peas to get a colour change as well as a slight change of flavour . She only ever boiled the ham bones with water . But the next time I will try it with added chicken broth .
The soup will be “bumpy” (cooked peas in broth) until you blend the soup up a bit. The author uses an immersion blender and mixes until the soup is very smooth (this looks “thick”). When I was growing up, we just smashed the soup down with a potato masher until it was the consistency we wanted. This is probably why I like my pea soup with a few identifiable “pea” bits in it (nostalgia). The new “stick blenders” do a fast, neat, hassle-free job of making the soup smooth. If the soup is still too thin for your liking, leave the lid off the slow cooker and evaporate some of the liquid.
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I’m one of those who don’t care for peas, but LOVE split pea soup đ Your recipe sounds delicious, especially with the addition of the ham hock and AND the ham garnish!
This pea soup is just perfect for winter! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for finally writing about >Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup in the Crock Pot – Mama Loves Food <Loved it!
love this recipe! I
I canât find ham hocks anywhere
Hi Kaye – Try asking the butcher or someone in the meat department đ