Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup like mom used to make with tender split peas, smoked ham bone and vegetables. Enjoy a hot bowl of this hearty, protein packed and affordable soup on a cold winter day!

Our other favorite high fiber soup recipes are simple red lentil soup, pressure cooker black bean soup and pressure cooker lentil soup.

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Hearty homemade split pea soup! Its ingredients are simple and versatile. Make with smoked ham bone, cubed fresh meat or ham, affordable soup bones or it is perfect for turkey leftovers.

Along with borscht, beef barley soup and chicken noodle soup, my mom and grandma had split pea soup on their regular dinner rotation. In Ukraine, we served it with homemade croutons.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving and I used turkey pan drippings and meat to give my mom’s split pea soup recipe a makeover on the blog.

Ingredients for Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup can be vegetarian or with meat.

• Meat: A ham bone, any soup bones or turkey (carcass) leftovers. That’s what adds richness for the best split pea soup. But good old chicken works.
• Split peas: Green or yellow split peas and no need to soak. Split peas might look like green lentils to some but they are not. Both are legumes but lentils cook much faster.
• Vegetables: Onions, carrots, celery and potatoes. In Ukraine we didn’t have celery but added diced potatoes to soup recipes. I suspect because everyone grew their own potatoes.
• Fresh herbs for garnish: Dill, parsley or green onion are great. If I had to choose, I would pick parsley.
• Umami flavor for vegetarian pea soup: If you want to make vegetarian or vegan pea soup without ham bone, season with 1 tbsp smoked paprika at the end. It adds a lot of umami flavour.

How to Make Split Pea Soup

There is detailed recipe card below. If you have Instant Pot, make my pressure cooker split pea soup instead.

• Saute veggies: I recommend to use large pot or dutch oven you can saute veggies in and add remaining ingredients to make a one pot meal. If not, skillet and pot works too. Saute onion, carrots and celery for 5 minutes. 
• Add meat, water and seasonings: Add soup bones (meat), water, bay leaves and peppercorns. It is important to bring this mixture to a boil to reduce cook time. Also skim any foam with a mesh strainer. I used leftover turkey bones with meat and a few cups of juices + fat from roasting the turkey. Or skip all together and use smoked paprika to season the soup.
• Cook soup: Add split peas, bring soup to a boil again and cook for 1 – 1.5 hours or until split peas are soft and partially broken down. 
• Season: After discard bay leaves and season with pepper and garnish with green onion, dill or parsley. Season more to taste, if necessary.

Serving, Storing and Reheating

Serving: Just like lentil soup, split pea soup is high in fiber and carbohydrates, so it is quite filling on its own. Men and kids who require more calories, can enjoy it with a toast or crackers. In Ukraine, my aunt served soup with croutons.

Storing and reheating: Split pea soup can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Keep in mind it thickens within few hours after cooking and in the fridge afterwards. Just reheat desired amount in a pot on low heat while stirring. You will see soup slowly becoming of original consistency.

Freezing: Pea soup freezes beautifully because there are no tender veggies. I recommend not to add potatoes to a pea soup if you plan on freezing. Once thawed, potatoes do not taste good.

Pea soup is a one pot meal on its own that sticks to your ribs. Enjoy!

More Hearty Soup Recipes

• Healthy chicken and wild rice soup
• Vegetable soup recipe
• Slow cooker lentil soup
• Sorrel soup

Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup like mom used to make with tender split peas, smoked ham bone and vegetables. Enjoy a hot bowl of this hearty, protein packed and affordable soup on a cold winter day!

4.95 from 20 votes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 255

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Print Recipe Save RecipeSaved Recipe Rate Recipe

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 cups green or yellow split peas rinsed & drained
• ▢ 1-2 lbs ham bone, any soup bones or turkey (carcass) leftovers
• ▢ 1 large onion finely chopped
• ▢ 2 large carrots chopped
• ▢ 3 large celery stalks chopped
• ▢ 1 tbsp oil
• ▢ 8 cups water
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 5 peppercorns
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ Ground black pepper to taste
• ▢ Green onion dill or parsley, for garnish
• ▢ 1 tsp smoked paprika for vegetarian version only

Instructions 

• Preheat large pot or dutch oven on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion, carrots and celery; sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add soup bones/meat (if making vegetarian – skip), water, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and skim foam (if any) with a mesh strainer.
• Add split peas and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 1 – 1.5 hours or until split peas are soft and partially broken down.
• Season with pepper and garnish with green onion, dill or parsley. Serve hot.

Notes

• Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Keep in mind it thickens within few hours after cooking and in the fridge afterwards. Reheat desired amount in a pot on low heat. 
• Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on a stovetop covered on low.
• Split peas: Green or yellow split peas and no need to soak. Split peas might look like green lentils to some but they are not. Both are legumes but lentils cook much faster.
• Vegetables: Onions, carrots, celery and potatoes. In Ukraine we didn’t have celery but added diced potatoes. 
• Fresh herbs for garnish: Dill, parsley or green onion are great. If I had to choose, I would pick parsley.
• Umami flavor for vegetarian pea soup: If you want to make vegetarian or vegan pea soup without ham bone, season with smoked paprika at the end. It adds a lot of umami flavour.
• Serving: Split pea soup is high in fiber and carbohydrates, so it is quite filling on its own. Men and kids who require more calories, can enjoy it with a toast or crackers. In Ukraine, my aunt served soup with croutons.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 366mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 6g

Course: Soup and Stew

Cuisine: Ukrainian

Author: Olena Osipov

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