Split Pea Soup with Ham

Yellow split pea soup is my girls' favorite, so they are always pleased to hear that it's on the menu.  I love it just as much as they do because it's so comforting to eat on a cold day. 

Plus, it's filled with protein and fiber!  It's also low fat and diabetic friendly as split peas are a low glycemic food.

Questions

Is homemade this recipe healthy?

Yes, it most definitely is!  Read our nutrition label after the recipe to get all the facts.

• High in dietary fiber: helps keep you full and can eliminate cholesterol in your blood.
• High in vitamin K: helps trigger blood clot formation to protect you from blood loss from a wound.
• High in potassium: helps support your metabolism, regulate your blood pressure, and improves your nervous system.
• High in magnesium: helps with proper muscle function and blood pressure control.
• High in iron: helps promote healthy red blood cells.
• Lower in sodium: reduce sodium by using no salt chicken broth and adding only the salt you need.

Do you need to pre-soak the split peas?

No, you don't need to pre-soak or parboil the peas.  Just make sure your pot is simmering for 1 ½ hours.  If you decide to pre-soak the split peas, it will reduce the cooking time by half.  Don't use split peas that are very old and dried out as they won't cook as well.  If you are at a high altitude, you'll need to increase the chicken stock.  If you choose to use any water to thin your soup, don't use hard water as the minerals can stop the peas from softening.

How do you thicken soup?

• Cook with the lid off, so the extra liquid evaporates.
• Puree half of the soup, add it back to the pot, and stir.
• Add more rinsed dried spit peas, but give plenty of time for them to cook.
• Add diced potatoes.
• Make a slurry of cornstarch to water or chicken stock (1:3 ratio).

Can I make this in the crock pot?

• Reduce the ingredients for this recipe by half.
• Put all the ingredients, except the quartered onion, in a large crockpot and stir.
• Nestle in the ham bone.
• Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 10 hours.
• During the last hour of cooking, remove the bone and let cool.  Shred the meat from the bone and put it in the pot.
• Discard bay leaves before serving.

How to Make

Gather the ingredients.

Pick out any green peas, then rinse.

Place the peas and chicken stock in a large pot along with the spices (marjoram, bay leaves, salt and pepper).  Put in a quartered onion and a meaty ham bone.

Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for an hour.  Remove the meaty ham bone and discard the quartered onion.

Pour in the last 3 cups of chicken stock.

Stir in the chopped onion, carrots, celery, chopped ham, and a little bit more salt and pepper, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes of simmering, taste it.  Adjust seasonings if desired.  Stir then cover and simmer 15 minutes more.

Once the meaty ham bone has cooled, cut off the meat and finely chop it.  Add half of it to the soup and reserve the rest for garnish.

Remove the bay leaves and garnish with chopped ham, parsley or green onion.  Serve hot with some buttered crusty white bread.  Enjoy!

This recipe tastes amazing when served with one of our crusty white bread recipes like our easy white mountain bread.  It is pictured below with our Irish boxty bread.  Just break off a chunk and scoop up some yummy soup.

Variations

• Get a smoky taste by adding smoked paprika, liquid smoke, or smoked portabella mushrooms.
• Need this vegetarian?  Replace meat with other smoky taste options and use vegetable stock.
• Want it sweeter?  Add parsnips or additional carrots.
• Want other garnish options?  Try crumbled bacon, croutons, sour cream, fresh thyme leaves, or green onions.

Pro Tips

• Don't have a ham bone?  Use 2 ham hocks or 2 cups of cubed country ham.
• Don't like the color?  Use half green peas and half yellow split peas.
• Need it thinner?  Add more stock or unfiltered water.
• Want a smoother texture?  Use a blender in batches, immersion blender, or potato masher.
• Need to cool it quickly for freezing?  Put the pot in an ice bath in your kitchen sink.

These other ham soup recipes will have you coming back for another bowl.

•  Leftover Ham and Bean Soup
• Smoky Cheese, Potato, and Ham Soup
• Dill Pickle Soup

The pleasure of a 5 star review would be greatly appreciated.

Recipe

Split Pea Soup with Ham

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5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Brooke
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
• Yield: 20 cups 1x

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Description

Split pea soup with ham is an easy recipe that makes the best use of your leftover holiday ham bone.  Cook this freezer friendly homemade soup on the stovetop or in the crockpot.  Make a big batch of this cold weather comfort food for your family to enjoy!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the Soup

• 3 14-ounce bags dried yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed (1.19 kg)
• 15 cups unsalted chicken stock (reserve 3 cups for the end) (3.55 L)
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 4 teaspoons salt (reserve 1 teaspoon for the end)
• 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper (reserve ½ teaspoon for the end)
• 1 meaty ham bone (reserve some meat for garnish)
• 2 cups yellow onion, chopped (288g)
• 1 ½ cup carrot, chopped (227g)
• 1 cup celery, chopped (123g)
• 2 cups smoked ham, diced (270g)

For the Garnish

• Reserved ham from bone (86g)
• ⅓ cup sliced green onions or flatleaf parsley

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Instructions

Stovetop Instructions

1. Pick out any green peas or little pebbles from the dried peas, then rinse them in a colander. There's no need to soak them.
2. Place the peas, 12 cups of chicken stock, the quartered onion, bay leaves, marjoram, salt, and black pepper in a very large pot.  Nestle in the meaty ham bone, then cover and bring to a boil (roughly 15 minutes) then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. While the soup is simmering, use a food processor to chop up the carrots, celery, and onion.
4. After an hour of simmering, remove the bone from the soup and place on a plate.  Discard the quartered onion.
5. Add the last 3 cups of unsalted chicken broth, onions, carrots, celery, chopped ham, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.  Stir.  Cover with the lid askew and simmer for 30 minutes on medium low, stirring occasionally.  After 15 minutes, taste.  Adjust seasonings if desired.  (If you like the soup thinner, add more unsalted chicken broth or filtered water.)
6. When the bone has cooled, cut off the meat and finely chop it.  Add most of the ham to the pot, but reserve some for garnish.   Taste and adjust the salt or black pepper as desired.  Discard bay leaves before serving.
7. Garnish with finely chopped ham, parsley or green onion.  Serve hot with fresh crusty bread.

Crockpot Instructions

1. Reduce the ingredients for this recipe by half.
2. Put all the ingredients, except the quartered onion, in a large crockpot and stir.
3. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours, or on low for 10 hours.
4. During the last hour of cooking, remove the bone and let cool.  Shred the meat from the bone and put half of it in the pot.  Reserve the other half for garnish.
5. Discard bay leaves before serving.
6. Garnish with chopped ham, parsley or green onions.

Notes

• Substitute with 2 ham hocks if you don't have a leftover bone.
• Use half green peas and half yellow if you want to change up the color.
• Add more stock or unfiltered water to thin the soup.
• Use a blender, immersion blender or potato masher to smooth the texture.
• Put the pot in an ice bath in your kitchen sink, if you need to cool the soup quickly.  Make sure the pot has cooled down some so there is no damage done to the pot or sink.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Canadian

Keywords: ham leftovers, split pea soup

This post was originally published on September 22, 2017.

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