This split pea soup recipe is hearty and comforting—a great way to use a ham bone or leftover ham.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Super cozy with smoky ham and earthy split peas in a rich, savory broth.
- Time-Saving Tip: No soaking is needed, so this recipe gets on the table fast.
- Serving suggestions: Serve warm from a crockpot and let guests help themselves. Offer freshly baked cornbread and honey butter to round out the meal.
- Freezing: This soup freezes beautifully for cozy lunches and dinners.
Ingredient Tips For Split Pea Soup
- Peas: Split peas and lentils look the same, but split peas are a little sweeter. You can use either green or yellow peas in this recipe—soaking is not required.
- Ham: Adding a ham bone (or ham hock) adds extra flavor to the broth. You can use a leftover bone from baked ham or buy a ham steak and dice it. Ham can be replaced with smoked turkey.
- Vegetables: Celery, carrots, and onions add a subtle sweetness to this soup.
- Broth: I use low-sodium chicken broth since the ham in this recipe is salty. Herbs add flavor.
Variations: Bulk up the soup for bigger families (and appetites!) by adding peeled and diced potatoes to the pot in Step 3.
Tips for The Best Ham & Split Pea Soup
- Like dried beans, rinse dried peas and check them for debris or pebbles.
- Split pea soup can be cooked in a slow cooker or a pressure cooker.
- Thicken split pea soup by allowing it to simmer uncovered for a little longer.
- Store cooked split pea soup in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
More Ham Soup Recipes
Did your family enjoy this Split Pea Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Split Pea Soup
Split pea soup features split peas and ham simmered in a delicious broth to create a thick and hearty soup.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried split peas yellow or green, about 14 oz.
- 1 meaty ham bone or 2 cups leftover ham, diced
- 4 cups water or additional broth if desired
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Sort through the peas to ensure there is no debris. Rinse and drain well.
- In a large pot, combine peas, ham, water, broth, parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for 1 hour.
- Add in celery, carrots, onion, pepper, thyme, and salt. Cover and simmer 45 minutes more.
- Remove ham bone and chop the meat. Return the meat to the soup and cook uncovered until thickened and the peas have broken down and the soup has thickened, about 20 minutes more.
- Discard the bay leaf and season with salt and additional pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
- This recipe does not require soaking the peas.
- If desired, add 2 cloves of minced garlic along with the vegetables.
- The meaty ham bone can be replaced with diced or chopped leftover ham. Replace at least 2 cups of the water with additional broth for flavor if you do not have a ham bone.
- Thicken split pea soup by allowing it to simmer uncovered for longer. If you’re short on time, some of the peas can be mashed or blended.
- Store cooked split pea soup in the refrigerator for about 4 days or freeze up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 255 | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 630mg | Potassium: 830mg | Fiber: 18g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 3599IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Ham, Lunch, Main Course, Soup
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Cooked it in my 6 qt cockpot. The wife raved about it.
If I wanted to substitute some of the broth/water with the leftover juice from your crockpot ham recipe, how much should I use? I separated out the fat already. What’s left is very flavorful. I used the glaze from your honeybaked ham recipe. It was a wonderful ham!
So glad you loved the ham! The broth from the ham can be quite salty depending on the brand of ham used so I would add it in place of broth and keep the water. Let us know how it goes!
I have made this with smoked pork hocks. I soak them in water overnight to remove some of the salt. Not necessary, but helpful if trying to reduce sodium intake.
Thank you, Holly, for teaching me how to properly cook split pea soup after all these years!!! The texture is silky smooth and so yummy – used a ham hock which gave it a slightly smoky flavour. I followed the recipe as written and this is now my one and only recipe for split pea soup!
So happy to hear that, Audrey! I am glad you enjoyed it.
I made this soup and shared it with friends. Everyone raved about how good it was. Since I used cut-up leftover ham, instead of a ham bone, I used all broth instead of broth and water to add more flavour. I am sure using a ham bone would have been better, but I didn’t have one available. It still worked out perfectly, and the flavour was amazing. I had not made pea soup for over 35 years, and this recipe was easy to follow. Thank you, Holly.
After years of giving away my ham bone I decided to try making split pea soup
I found your recipe and made it
My gosh it is delicious.
I had Everything on hand to make this soup(lucky me).
Thank you for a fabulous recipe.
I make this soup at least once a year when I have a ham bone.
I’ve made your recipe a few times, and it’s a winner! I agree with others. It’s almost better the second day when it’s had a chance to thicken up a bit more. I like to add more carrots. Note to other cooks, when the soup starts to thicken, you’re gonna wanna turn the heat down pretty low because you don’t want the lentils to stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir often in the final hour.
Delicious hearty soup. We have a pork allergy in the family so I flavor our soup with smoked beef kielbasa. I usually add a diced potato with the veggies for additional thickness. This soup is so good the first day, but even better the next day if you can wait that long! Homemade cornbread or crusty bread alongside make complete and hearty meal.
This soup is so easy and delicious. It creamy and packed with flavour.
Wonderful soup…just the way I remember it growing up in Quebec, Canada!
Love your soup. Just like my Momks.
THIS SOUP IS AMAZING A FAMILY FAVORITE!! I MADE A DIFFERENT RECIPE BEFORE AND THE
KIDS DID NOT LIKE IT. THEY LOVED THIS ONE!!!
Delicious hearty soup. We have a pork allergy in the family so I flavor our soup with smoked beef kielbasa. I usually add a diced potato with the veggies for additional thickness. This soup is so good the first day, but even better the next day if you can wait that long! Homemade cornbread or crusty bread alongside make complete and hearty meal.
the best recipe and reminder of exactly how I want my thick soup to be!!
and crusty bread for dunking and using as my spoon takes it right to the Italian table!!
THANK YOU WooooHoooo ☮️
Do you think this would still be good without celery? It’s the only ingredient I don’t currently have on hand. Thanks!
Yes, it would work just fine without celery!
going to try your split pea soup recipe I’ll let you know how it comes out
This soup was delicious ! The only thing I changed was to add extra ham and to simmered the soup a few extra hours. The flavor was amazing. It is a very hearty and rich dish. My husband loved it!