I am pretty sure there is no way to make split pea soup look appetizing. Sorry. I tried my best. Credit for this soup goes to my mother-in-law.. she made this for us a few weeks ago and was kind enough to share her recipe. I love all the different veggies in it. It is very healthy and full of flavor! Thanks Carolyn!
**This makes quite a lot.. if you don’t have a large crock pot, I would suggest halving the recipe.
Crock Pot Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pkg about 2 1/2 c. or 1 lb., dried split peas
- 9 c. chicken broth if you like it thick, use 8 c.
- 4 carrots coarsely chopped
- 3 medium potatoes diced small
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 c. diced ham
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a LARGE Crock Pot and cook on low for about 7-8 hours (or on high for about 4-5 hours). Remove bay leaf before serving. Serve with sliced french bread.
- *This makes a LOT (serves 8-10) so if you don't have a large crockpot you may consider halving this recipe.
I just made this for dinner and served it in some bread bowls, AMAZING pea soup recipe!!! I love it. Thanks for sharing all these great recipes.
One thing I've noticed with other recipes (I've yet to try this one, but it looks great!) is that it can be good to leave off adding the ham until you're nearly ready to serve, because it can make the entire soup very salty otherwise!
Yup, I halved the recipe and it is a good thing I did, it just barely fit into my crockpot! It is a very easy and nice recipe. I am writing about it on my blog today. Thanks for the inspiration!
Delicious soup! My family loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Looks delicious! I love Split Pea Soup 🙂 It’s one of those things that you have to love to appreciate a photo of it…and this photo just makes me hungry (I’m also 6mths pregnant and ALWAYS hungry though, lol). I normally make Split Pea Soup on the stove, but with baby coming I’m going to be needing to use my crock pot more..so I’ll have to try this one soon!
Just made it in the crock pot with a ham bone and all its juices. Hoping it turns out great, have people over for dinner tonight.
Looks delicious and easy! Does this recipe require blending? Or does it look like the picture after cooking in the crockpot?
If you cook it down, you shouldn’t need a blender. If you want it to be a more pureed consistency you are surely welcome to use and immersion blender to get that consistency!
Does the ham have to be fully cooked! I want to cook it on low for 7-8 hours and its country ham so I don’t want it to be too salty. What is your opinion?
Rachel, I have always made it with the ham fully cooked and it has always tasted fine. Thanks for asking!
Made this tonight according to the recipe…but it looked nothing like the picture you posted! Flavor was okay… but it took a spin the blender before it looked even remotely like your pick. Won’t be making this again! Next time it will come from a can! Thanks anyway!
Sorry it didn’t turn out well for you! I don’t know what could have happened :S
Have the soup in the pot with leftover ham and ham bone from Thanksgiving dinner. The smell is awesome. Even our canine kids are sniffing the air with “smiles” on their faces. It’s going to be delicious, I know. Thank you for this EZ recipe. You’ve made our day (and probably tomorrow, too).
Thank you for your comment! I hope it turned out great!
I’ve never made split pea soup before, but it is one of my favorite soups so I’m going to try it this week. Probably a silly question, but I don’t normally buy ham and I’m not sure what type of ham I should use? Do I purchase from the deli, meat counter or elsewhere in the store? Thank you!
You can get it from the deli. I just ask them to cut it thicker because I’m going to dice it for a recipe. A Virginia or Black Forest Ham would work great for this recipe. Thanks for asking!
This is a wonderfully easy soup that taste great…used a meaty ham bone yummy!!!;
I’ve never made split pea soup before but think I’m going to try this recipe this week. My question is, it says to make sure your crock pot is big enough for recipe. I have a 5 qt, will that be big enough or should I just half it?
Thanks!
It makes quite a bit, I think a 5qt should probably be ok.. If you are worried about it you could definitely half it. Sorry that was like no help at all haha, I usually use my 6 qt and it fits pretty well.
Best split pea soup ever! My kids loved an vs and it made plenty for leftovers! Thank you
So glad you liked it!
We loved this recipe! I left out the bay leaf (didn’t have any in the house) and omitted the kosher salt (to lower the sodium). It tasted great!! Thanks!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment!
i’m wondering how this recipe will turn out if I don’t use any meat. Any thoughts? We’re not vegetarian but we don’t eat pork and I don’t know of another meet that would work… Any advice would be great! Thank you!
Hi Amanda.. you could probably leave it out, the flavor just won’t be the same. You could try it with another kind of meat.. but it might taste odd :/ sorry not much help here!
I often replace pork in soups with beef smoked sausage.
That is a great substitution for this recipe. The beef smoked sausage will give the soup a delicious flavor. Thanks for the tip!
I don’t eat pork either, so I always replace ham with meat from a smoked turkey leg or thigh.
For a vegetarian version, try adding in some chopped sweet potato (small dice). I don’t know why but when I have used this method with other soups — such as lentil soup — something about the sweet potato adds just a hint of pork/meat flavor. The sweet potato taste isn’t there but bumps up the flavor of the dish overall.
I recently made this and loved it! However, I recently made a new lifestyle change because of my health. I’m going to attempt my next batch using cauliflower florets instead of potatoes. Do you think it’ll be too drastic of a change?
I think cauliflower is generally a great substitution for potatoes!
I don’t eat red meat (including pork), so I cut up meat from a smoked turkey leg to replace the ham. It smells great already, but won’t be ready for several hours. My tummy is grumbling!
Just made this today was super great! I did swap out the chicken broth fro vegetable broth and nixed the ham for a vegan option…turned out fantastic! Thanks so much!
We’re so glad you liked it! Thank you for the vegan tips!
Did you wash the peas first? I didn’t and now I’m scared I ruined it! I wasn’t supposed to sauté the onions and celerty first, right? Thanks!
I wouldn’t worry too much about not washing them– I have forgotten sometimes too! Usually I like to give them a little rinse, but that’s just me. It shouldn’t ruin your soup though!
I made this recipe this weekend, it was incredible! Thank you!
So glad that you liked it! Thanks for your nice comment!
Thanks for sharing your great recipe, you saved me, we had all the stuff but I hadn’t made it in years, could not remember how I used to do it. I have a great huge crock pot so this looked easier than I had remembered. Its the recipe I will be using from now on, for sure ! We will do it in the dutch oven over the fire when we are camping as well, Thanks again , cook on and keep sharing
You can replace the ham with corned beef but we like the ham particularly when we get a good one
I’m so glad you found the recipe. It’s a great idea to replace the ham with corned beef – that would be fun for St. Patrick’s Day. Thank you!
have you always made this with cut up ham? have you ever tried it with a ham hock? i’m planning to make this tomorrow and thought i might use a ham hock if i can find one but don’t know if it’ll make any difference.
Ham hock would be great, let us know how is turns out!
Have this in my crock right now – can’t wait to have it for dinner. My mother always made this for me when I was a wee lil kid, has always been my fave soup. Your crock pot recipe inspired me to make it on this crisp autumn day. Thanks for sharing !!
Excellent recipe–I cut it
In half but otherwise followed it-and used cubes ham –my husband loves it–he usually adds hot sauce to everything but he said this recipe was perfect as is !!!
And it looked like the picture !!!!
Did you soak the peas first?
Nope! You can definitely try it that way though!
No
I made this soup today and it was delicious. The only problem is that on low it didn’t cook all the way, I had to cook it down on the stove top for 30 min. I would put the crock pot on high to get it to cook thoroughly. Other than that it was the best split pea I have made and really easy too.
I know different brands of slow cookers can vary in temperatures– sorry it didn’t work on low for you! Glad you were able to simmer it down and it worked for you. 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Does split peas soup freeze well? I love bringing previously frozen soups to work for lunch. I’m going to make your soup with the ham bone in it.
Thanks,
Lisa
Ehh, I don’t know if it is something I would freeze, but I don’t freeze much. You can definitely try it and let us know how it turns out!
so far things smell great and look great! On high for about 3 hours.. still doesn’t quite look like the consistency.. how long until it starts looking like yours? 🙂
I am hoping that if I give it a few more hours it will soften up..
Thanks!
It will look like ours once you start stirring it all together when it is finished 🙂
Hello Erica!
I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this recipe. Sooooo easy and soooooooo yummy (always better the second day too!). I really appreciate your responses to commenters, I used a 6 qt crockpot, and even though I had to leave out some of the diced vegetables and only use one ham hock, I was prepared for my pot to be very full. Going to try the potato basil soup next.
Thanks again!
So glad you liked it! <3
OOOPS, meant the PEA basil, ha ha!
I’m trying the pea soup but I don’t have bay leaf can I use oregano
You can definitely try using oregano instead. We haven’t done it that way before but it will probably be ok
Very good. Will make again!
I’ve used this recipe several times and I love it! The only changes I make are I smoke a ham a day or two before and put the ham bone in to let it impart is amazing flavor and I wait until the very end to add the diced ham. That way the ham doesn’t lose all of it’s flavor to the soup. If there is leftovers, they’re fiercely fought over.
Great soup as per recipe , everyone loved it , thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Rick! I’m so glad you liked it!
Every year I make split pea w ham soup. First time I’m using my crockpot for it. This is a great recipe, cant wait for it to be done. The only difference is I have always added 1/2 tsp of marjoram & 1/2 tsp of thyme. The last 2 hrs of cooking I add in 1 to 2 diced potatoes (depending on size of potatoes). The very last 1/2 hr of cooking I’ll add a 1/2 cup of frozen peas since the split peas will break down. Tastes just like my Bucia use to make. Thank you for this easy amazing recipe. Bon appetite!
Thank you Barbi! I’m glad you like the recipe. I like your adaptations to the recipe. Adding marjoram and thyme sounds delicious!
Just turned on the crockpot. Can’t wait for 8 hours to go by. Looks great and already smells wonderful. I used a couple of ham hocks so will need to separate the meat from the bone at the end of the 8 hours. Also added just a small amount of already cooked and chopped ham out of a package from the store. Love Split Pea Soup and am anxiously awaiting a bowl! Thank you for the great crock recipe ~ makes it even easier!
Thanks Linda! I’m excited to hear how you liked it.
This recipe sounds so easy to make ..Can I use shredded carrots..?? thank you !!
Yes, you can use shredded carrots 🙂