This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe is a great way to make use of that leftover holiday ham bone. Cooking it low and slow is the best method for creating creamy, delicious split pea soup.
I love ham bone recipes. There’s just something so old-fashioned and right about turning something that might otherwise be discarded into another delicious meal. In our grandparents generation, people would have never considered throwing a meaty ham bone in the trash, so why should we? Recipes that involve leftovers can become as traditional in your home as the holiday meal they stem from.
This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup is one of my favorite recipes to make the day after Easter thanks to my sis, Marj. She has lots of good ideas and this is one of them. Love ya, sis.
I look forward to cooking up a batch of this comforting soup with the bone from my Maple Glazed Spiral Ham, Classic Glazed Ham, or Slow Cooker Ham.
Table of contents
Healthy Comfort Food
Split peas are rich in soluble fiber which, in addition to helping to keep our cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check, also makes us feel full and satiated for a good long time. A bowl of Split Pea Soup is a stick to your ribs meal that is high in protein but low in fat. To avoid excess sodium, be sure to use low-sodium broth and only season lightly with salt.
Ingredient Notes
- Green split peas: A one pound bag of dried green split peas, rinsed well and drained.
- Vegetables: Carrots, celery, white or yellow onion, and minced garlic.
- Herbs: Fresh Italian parsley, fresh thyme, and a dried bay leaf.
- Seasoning: A little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Ham is quite salty so I always use salt sparingly and then taste and season as needed at the end of the cooking process.
- Ham bone: A meaty ham bone from your leftover holiday ham or a store-bought ham bone or ham shank.
- Broth: Low-sodium chicken broth
How to Make Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Layer the ingredients, through the ham bone, in a slow cooker in the order listed.
- Add about 4 to 5 cups of chicken broth, just enough to cover the ingredients. Reserve the remaining broth for later. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally during cooking time.
- Let it cook until the peas have softened to your liking and the soup has a nice, creamy consistency. Remove and discard the bay leaf and remove the ham bone.
- Tear off any remaining meat from the bone and return it to the slow cooker. Use a spoon to lightly mash some of the peas against the side of the slow cooker and stir until nice and creamy, adding more broth, if needed, to reach the desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.
FAQ and Valerie’s Tips
If you are cooking your split peas in a slow cooker or Instant Pot, there is no need to soak them in advance. Just put them in a colander, give them a good rinse with cool water, and pick through them to remove any small pebbles or debris.
Cooking split pea soup in a slow cooker with a ham bone results in an exceptionally creamy soup infused with smoky, meaty flavor. If you’re in a hurry, you can make this recipe in an Instant Pot in a fraction of the time with a great result. See the recipe card for the detailed instructions.
If you don’t have a leftover ham bone, check the meat counter at your local grocery store for a ham hock or shank. If you omit the bone altogether, I recommend purchasing a ham steak so that you can add 1 ½ to 2 cups diced ham at the end of the cooking time. Just be aware that the the soup will be missing the unique smoky flavor that only comes from cooking with a ham bone.
If your split peas are still crunchy, they need to cook longer. Check them periodically and add additional broth, if needed, so they remain covered in liquid through the cooking process. Just like dried beans, split peas require a slow, long cooking time in order to become tender. When cooked in a slow cooker, the dried peas will break down and transform in front of your eyes into a beautiful, thick and creamy soup over the course of 6 to 8 hours. The longer you let them go, the creamier your soup will be. And, this my friends, is a good thing!
Storage Tips
- Refrigerator: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Split Pea Soup freezes exceptionally well. Freeze the completely cooled soup in freezer-safe containers or plastic storage bags and use within 3 to 4 months. I like to store it in serving size portions so we can pull out just one or two servings for an easy lunch.
- Reheating: Thaw frozen Split Pea Soup overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it in microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. Thin the soup with a little water or chicken broth, if desired.
More Ham Bone Recipes
- Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup
- Baked Beans from Scratch
- Instant Pot 15 Bean Soup
- Instant Pot Navy Bean Soup
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Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounces dried green split peas, rinsed well and drained
- 2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 ribs celery, diced (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup diced white or yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as needed
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 meaty ham bone, see notes below
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth, or more, as needed, divided
Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
- Layer the ingredients, through the ham bone, in a slow cooker in the order listed. Add as much of the chicken broth as needed to just cover the ingredients, about 4 to 5 cups. Reserve the remaining chicken broth for later.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally during the cooking time and add additional broth only if the level drops below the ingredients.
- When the peas are tender, remove the ham bone and transfer it to a cutting board. Pull off any remaining ham, tear it into small pieces, and return it to the slow cooker. Discard the ham bone and bay leaf. Use a spoon to lightly mash some of the peas against the side of the slow cooker and stir until nice and creamy, adding more broth, if needed, to reach desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.
Instant Pot Method
- Set a 6-quart Instant Pot to SAUTE and toggle to MORE. When it displays HOT add 1 tablespoon oil (vegetable or canola). Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Hit CANCEL.
- Add the remaining ingredients, including all 6 cups of the broth. Secure the lid, select MANUAL, and cook on HIGH pressure for 14 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the Instant Pot to do a natural release for 10 minutes and then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and remove and discard the bay leaf. Transfer the ham bone to a cutting board. Use a fork to pull away any ham from the ham bone, chop it into pieces and add back to the soup. Discard the bone. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, as needed.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerator – Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freezer – Split Pea Soup freezes exceptionally well. Freeze the completely cooled soup in freezer-safe containers or plastic storage bags and use within 3 to 4 months. I like to store it in serving size portions so we can pull out just one or two servings for an easy lunch.
- Reheating – Thaw frozen Split Pea Soup overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it in microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. Thin the soup with a little water or chicken broth, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on April 9, 2015. It has been updated with new text and images.
More Comforting Soup Recipes
I make it with whole yellow peas. Fabulous
UPDATE! The soup is delish and will be a favorite! I would cut the salt down next time. Also, adding the HOT broth (see previous comment) cut the time in half. I could have easily cooked it on low setting. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay! So glad it worked out and thanks for the tip!
This is in the pot! I didn’t quite have 8 hours to cook, so I put peas and spices in the pot, turned it on high to heat up. Heated broth to boiling separately and threw in veggies, poured all over peas in crockpot. I figure that will shorten the cooking time some. You need alot of broth, as mine is almost gone (soaked in to the peas) after 1 1/2 hours of cooking. It is going to need much more than 6 cups, so be prepared!
This recipe that you make is a real Dutch tradition. We eat this every winter, for generations long. But instead of the sellery, we use celeria and leek.
I think leek would be delicious in this! Thanks Johanna 🙂
Valerie, In the 38 years that I have been cooking for my family, this is by far the best pea soup I’ve ever made. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
That is a huge compliment, Jan. Thank you so much and I’m thrilled to hear that it worked out so well for you 🙂
I’ve been saving this recipe for a few months and just decided to buy a ham hock to try this out. But i had never read the comments until now and am nervous about the cooking time. Could you maybe list what kind of slow cooker you used for the split peas? That might help me in case we are using the same one. Thanks!
Hi Scarlett. The recipe was tested in an older model Rival Crock-Pot. As you can see from the varied comments, the recommended cooking time worked perfectly for some and was off for others which just goes to prove that each slow cooker can be different. If you are concerned, do as I’ve indicated in the recipe notes and check it after several hours. If it appears to be cooking faster than you’d like you can reduce the temp to LOW at that point. Please let me know how it worked out for you 🙂
Hi Valerie. I just wanted to let you know about a problem with this page (and probably others). I was reading the recipe on my tablet (which is basically my recipe book!), but could not make your sign up for newsletter pop up go away. I’m sure it’s not intentional, but someone could fix that, I’m sure 🙂
Thanks!
Pamm
I’m so sorry this happened, Pamm. There should be a small x in the corner that you can click to close that box. I’ve sent an email to my mobile site developers so they can be sure everything is set properly, just in case. If this happens again, please let me know. Thanks so much!
I had the same issue with a Walmart pop-up. It would not let me leave, so had to start my comment over. ?
There should be no popups on my site at all on either desktop or mobile. Please let me know if you see this again so I can investigate! Thanks, Tammie.
Hello! Can i use frozen peas for this recipe?! Im looking forward to trying!
Hi Jamie. This recipe and cooking method would only work with dried split peas. You might want to try doing a Google search for pea soup using frozen peas.
I have made split pea soup on the stove top but I love to be able to throw things in the slow cooker. I cooked your recipe per instructions in my slow cooker and it turned out great. As you suggested, I checked it during cooking and did add a little more chicken broth towards the end which I often have to do when I cook this soup on the stove too.
Excellent, Missy! It’s always good to keep a close eye on a recipe like this on the first go-around. I’m glad it worked out so well for you 🙂
I made the crock pot split pea” soup with ham. I cooked for 5 hrs. It was absolutely delish. Thank you.
Hi Valerie!
I’ve never had split pea soup, but have always wanted to (it always smells so goooood). My hesitation is that I am a picky eater with texture issues, so I’ve never had the guts to just try it!
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, especially since I have a nice, meaty HoneyBaked ham bone left over from Christmas, but I’m wondering … if I have an aversion to gritty textures like beans and potatoes, should I cook this more or less? (Or is it even possible to avoid that sort of texture with this kind of soup?) Should I pop this into the blender at the end, before adding the ham back in, to cream the grit away?
I’d appreciate any insight–thanks!
Hi Bree. I like it really creamy too. That’s why I cook the heck out of those split peas! I recommend letting it cook for the recommended amount of time to ensure they soften to your liking – just watch it and adjust your slow cooker heat accordingly. I’ve never tried blending the soup but it really shouldn’t be necessary if it is cooked long enough. Although, you could always do that if you feel it is necessary. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!
Ohmygoodnessgracious, for my first foray into the world of split pea soup, I am really happy with how this turned out! I cooked the beejeebers out of those peas, and I ended up adding extra broth, for a total of 10 cups, so mine is probably much thinner than “real” split pea soup, but considering that I was more interested in the flavor than the texture, it is spot. on.
I followed your recipe, with just a few modifications, mostly because I didn’t have a crock-pot big enough for all the over-abundance of ham I had, so I had two going–a bigger one with the ham bone and 6 cups of broth, and a smaller one with ham leftovers and 4 cups of broth; I doubled the onion, carrot, garlic, and herbs, and split it between the two crock-pots, but I didn’t double the split peas (because I just wasn’t that brave … further reason why mine is so much thinner); and I added white corn, just because I love corn in soups and I had it on hand. And then I served it in a sourdough bread bowl 🙂 Delicious!
Thanks for the recipe, and all the pointers!
How innovative!
Have you made this recipes on the stove?
Hi Gina. No, I have not but I’m sure there are a lot of recipes out there for a stovetop method.