Split Pea and Ham Soup
The best split pea soup recipe is made with green split peas and ham bone with plenty of vegetables, all simmered to perfection! So hearty, savory, and smoky!
Servings: 8 cups
Calories: 46kcal
Equipment
- baking sheet to sort split peas
- 4.5-quart dutch oven or soup pot
- immersion blender optional for pureeing soup
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce package) Dried Green Split Peas 2 cups
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion diced
- 2 Carrots coarsely chopped
- 2 ribs Celery diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 8 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 Ham Bone or ham hock
- 1 teaspoon Salt or add to taste
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 3-4 sprigs Fresh Thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Sort, rinse, and drain SPLIT PEAS. Set aside. Soaking is not required for this recipe.
- Heat OLIVE OIL in pot on medium-high heat setting.
- Add ONION and sauté until tender.
- Add CARROTS, CELERY, and GARLIC. Sauté a few minutes until tender.
- Add PEAS, HAM BONE, CHICKEN BROTH, THYME, SALT, and pepper to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil for a few minutes.
- Reduce heat and simmer with a loose-fitting lid for 45 minutes, or until peas are cooked through, stirring as needed.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Transfer ham bone to a cutting board. It's hot, so use utensils to remove any ham meat from it and chop the ham into small pieces. Discard the ham bone.
- (optional) Use blender to puree the soup, if desired.
- Add chopped ham back to the soup and continue simmering, if needed. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Serve split pea soup warm and enjoy!
- To store, allow soup to cool completely and refrigerate in an airtight container up to five days or 30 days in the freezer.
Notes
- Green split peas do not require soaking for this soup because they will fully cook in about an hour.
- To blend or not to blend. You can see in my photos that I prefer the rustic texture from not blending split peas. However, I did include an optional blending step in the recipe instructions.
- The amount of meat available from ham bone or ham hock can vary, so I recommend having extra ham on hand to add to the soup.
- To thicken split pea soup, simply allow it to simmer until it reaches your desired consistency since liquid reduces as it cooks. To make the soup thinner, add splashes of broth.
- To freeze split pea soup, allow it to cool completely and freeze in temperature-safe containers up to 90 days, or longer if vacuum sealed.
- Check out the recipe variations too!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 46kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 1182mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2617IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 0.4mg