We love Split Pea Soup and it’s so easy to make in the Crockpot!
This healthy, heartwarming soup is great for dinner but it freezes and reheats well for meals all week long.
A Creamy Hearty Soup
- Kids young and old alike love the creamy, velvety texture of split pea soup, it’s the ultimate comfort food!
- If you have a leftover hambone, it can be added to the soup and it will flavor the broth.
- Any split peas will work but I do love to use Hurst’s HamPeas because it has an extra flavor packet which is great in this recipe.
- This hearty soup is a great meal alongside 30 Minute Dinner Rolls and a fresh salad.
- Crockpots are the ultimate set-it-and-forget-it way to make delicious recipes with little to no prep or clean-up!
Ingredients
SPLIT PEAS: Split green peas give this soup its signature color, texture, and flavor, plus they are high in fiber and protein. You can find them next to the dried beans in your grocery store.
Yellow split peas will work (AKA Canadian Pea Soup), as well as a combination of split peas and lentils. Be sure they are rinsed from small pieces of debris before using.
VEGETABLES: Onions, carrots, and celery are the traditional ingredients for split pea soup, but diced potatoes, sweet potatoes, even frozen veggies like green peas, spinach, cauliflower, or broccoli can be added to the soup. Purée cooked veggies for a thicker soup.
MEAT: Add a leftover hambone, ham hock, or cubes of ham, even smoked turkey can be added.
How to Make Crockpot Split Pea Soup
This Crockpot recipe is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
- Rinse & drain split peas.
- Place in a Crockpot along with the remaining ingredients.
- Cook on high or low (per the recipe below) until thickened and creamy.
Tips
- If cooking for 4 hours on high in the Crockpot, soak peas overnight in clean water. Drain & rinse before using.
- For a different cooking method, try making Instant Pot Split Pea Soup or this stovetop version.
- No need to soak the green peas if they are slow cooking for more than 4 hours!
- For best results, keep the bone or ham hock in until the soup is finished.
- Thin split pea soup by stirring in extra chicken broth, and to thicken it allow it to cook with the lid off for about 1 hour.
Leftovers
Leftover split pea soup tastes better the next day! Keep it in a covered container in the refrigerator and it will last for about 5 days. Freeze green pea split soup in individual quart-sized bags or in gallon-sized bags with the date labeled on the outside. Frozen split pea soup will last about 3 months in the freezer.
Warming Soup Recipes
- Italian Sausage Soup – spicy goodness
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup – comfort in a bowl
- Creamy Potato Bacon Soup – rich & satisfying
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup – vegetarian fave
- Creamy Tortellini Soup – velvety broth
Did you love this Crockpot Split Pea Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 ounces dried split peas green or yellow, *see note
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water *see note
- 1 meaty ham bone or 2 cups leftover ham
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 2 large carrots diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Rinse peas and drain well.
- Combine all ingredients except parsley in a 6qt slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low 8 hours.
- Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- I use Hurst HamPeas Split Peas in this recipe which comes in a 20 oz package. If using a different brand, check the package size. If it contains only 16 oz (1 pound), do not add the additional 2 cups of water.
- Reduce the liquid slightly for a thicker soup.
- If cooking for 4 hours on high in the Crockpot, soak peas overnight in clean water. Drain & rinse before using.
- No need to soak the green peas if they are slow cooking for more than 4 hours!
- For best results, keep the bone or ham hock in until the soup is finished.
- The peas will break down and naturally thicken the soup.
- Thin split pea soup by stirring in extra chicken broth, and to thicken it allow it to cook with the lid off for about 1 hour.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Lunch, Main Course, Slow Cooker, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Best soup ever. Thank you Holly for all the wonderful recipes.
So glad you loved it Ann!
Best ever
This has got to be the easiest soup I have ever made. Delicious! Made with the ham bone, on low all night. Will be making it again, and again…..
So easy and delicious! Even my most pickiest eater ate it!
planning on making, never made split pea soup in crockpot. I use kielbasa in my soup. Been making this way for years, it gives it a different taste and I add hominy’s also. Several people that’s tried it now uses kielbasa instead of ham.
I made this recipe over the weekend on St. Patrick’s Day. it took 8 hours in the crockpot. I uncovered it for the last hr to thicken. this recipe is a hit! so delicious! Thank you!
Can I make this with country ham? We were given a bucket load of country ham packs and I’m desperately looking for recipes to incorporate them. I have everything I need here and don’t even need to go food shopping. PS this is one of my favorite pages !
I haven’t tried this recipe with country ham, but I think it should work well! I would love to hear how it turns out.
I made it last week and I put in about 10 oz of coarsely chopped country ham, it turned out great! The long cooking process just about disolved any fat, and it was not that salty. I was ready to combat salt with acv, but didn’t need to.
Planning to make this in a few days! Suggestions for a side starch and veggie?
Thanks!
Loretta
Hi Loretta, Split Pea Soup tastes great with crusty bread or garlic bread and roasted, steamed, or sauteed veggies!
I have cooked this several times and it is better than what I had made in the past. I use 2 lbs of split peas because we don’t have a 20 oz package in my area. I use only chicken broth (5 cups) and no extra water and have additional broth on hand if I need to thin it. I do check it an hour before it’s done and keep and eye on it. My particular crock pot made it like a puree with no visible peas. I like it less pureed. The peas were still soft but not like a pot of green much. The seasonings are point on. You can add additional, to taste at the end. I didn’t have Thyme so I added a single drop of doTERRA Thyme essential oil and in a prior batch added a little poultry seasoning to get some thyme seasoning in it which was also good. I have since purchased actual thyme and think I like it best with the essential oil. It tasted like the fresh herb. (* additional prepper or savings tip is to get a whole cooked, smoked ham when they are on sale, cut the bone away as the hock and cut some ham chunks from the rest. If you don’t have time or feel like cutting it all up, cut the remainder of the ham in chunks, stick in a gallon freezer zip lock bag and pop it in the freezer for future needs)
Thanks for all the tips, Kristin! Glad you enjoyed it :)
First time ever even eating split pea soup as we are trying to have healthier recipes in 2024. I used a smoked turkey leg to cut back on sodium (found a 2 pack at local grocery). Cooked on low in crockpot for 5 hours and turned out perfect. The flavor and texture was very good.
did you soak your peas overnight?
Best pea soup ever! I added more carrots and celery and thyme. It was so easy and delicious on a cold winter day! This is a culinary winner!
Had a large meaty ham bone so I tried this recipe. Absolutely delicious. Nice color, rich flavor, a hit with my SIL who professed not to like split pea soup.
This recipe is fantastic! Loved the soup! So easy to make. I put chunks of the leftover ham in it after finishing and to cut the salty yaste of the ham I added apple cider vinegar to taste. Yummy!
Can you substitute a ham hock for the ham?
You can use either one in this recipe, Stephanie!
I was really looking forward to making this soup, it was 23 degrees in the morning. I cooked it for 8 hrs on low and it smelled so good. But after 8 hours the peas were still hard. I didn’t soak them overnight since I was cooking it 8 hrs. What a disappointment. We barely each finished a bowl and I ended up throwing it away. :(
I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, Sue!
I would suggest making sure your crockpot is working properly. I do find that different ones cook entirely differently and have actually discarded one before because it never worked correctly. First time making this recipe and cooked 5 hours on low and was perfect. I used dried split peas (Kroger grocery brand, 16 oz so didn’t use the extra 2 cups water) and only rinsed before placing in crockpot with other ingredients.
We just finished your recipe for 8 servings. We,( hubby, myself, and lady (10 yr. old shih tzu loved it so much I just printed your recipe for 12 servings. Hubby commented” no more soup left, for seconds”. I used both green and yellow peas, and soooo tasty. I used a pork hock and lady got the meat off of it and some soup also- (because we quit eating meat about 5years ago.) I will look for more slow cooker recipes on your site.
Holly. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Margaret
So happy to hear you all enjoyed it, Margaret!