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This crockpot split pea soup is loaded with vegetables, fiber, and protein. It is very healthy, creamy, and full of flavor! It’s way better than the canned stuff.
Featured with this recipe
- Crockpot Split Pea Soup Ingredients
- Method to Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Steps to Making Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Tips for Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storing Crockpot Split Pea Soup Leftovers
- More Crockpot Soup Recipes
- How to Make Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Crockpot Split Pea Soup Recipe
Crockpot split pea soup is rich, warm, nourishing, and incredibly flavorful. It is the perfect soup to warm you up from the inside out on a chilly day. What I love most about making split pea soup in a crockpot is that you can just dump all the ingredients in and forget about it.
This slow cooker split pea soup has all your vegetables, meat, and beans to make a well-balanced meal! Make this crockpot split pea soup after a special occasion like Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. When you have already made a ham. Leftover ham is the perfect way to use that meaty ham bone. The rich flavor from the ham bone will take this soup to the next level. It is a healthy and delicious dinner.
Crockpot Split Pea Soup Ingredients
This split pea soup is simple to make and is loaded with fresh ingredients!
- Hambone – Use a leftover ham bone if possible. Simply add the ham bone to the crockpot with the other ingredients and let it simmer away. It will add a depth of flavor. Remove before serving.
- Peas – Dried green split peas will cook in the crockpot. Find these in your local grocery store near the dried beans aisle. They are small sized and have a pretty bright green coloring.
- Chicken broth – This adds flavor but also gives the soup a warm liquid. You can also use chicken stock.
- Vegetables – Slice carrots, potatoes, celery, onions into slices and chunks. Try to make each type of veggie uniform to the others. This will help the cooking process to be more evenly distributed.
- Ham – Diced ham is cooked in the crockpot. The chunks of ham add texture and protein.
- Garlic – You always need a little garlic! It goes a long way and gives a savory flavor.
- Bay leaf – We love to add bay leaves for an extra boost of richness and flavor. Discard bay leaf before serving.
Method to Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
The crockpot is always a great way to cook soups! It gives the soup balance as well as cooking it all together and allowing the ingredients to blend together. Cook on high or low for this soup depending on the timeframe you have available.
- Add – If using a ham bone, add it to a large crockpot first. This will take up most of the room in the crockpot.
- Slow cook – Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours.
- More meat – When the soup is done cooking, remove the ham bone cut off any good, meaty pieces, and add them straight back to the soup.
Steps to Making Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
If you need to speed up the process of making this soup, throw all the ingredients in a large Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Make sure to add the liquids first so you don’t get a burn notice. Do a quick release, give it a quick stir, and you are ready to eat!
Tips for Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Veggies – It is okay to substitute! I love all the different veggies in this soup. But you can add or subtract any veggies you like.
- Large batch – This soup makes a huge batch, so if space is an issue in your Crockpot, I suggest cutting the recipe in half.
- Vegan – To make a vegan version of this recipe, omit the ham and swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth or water.
- Salty flavor – Don’t over-salt! Especially if you are using a ham bone, a lot of that salty flavor will come out in the soup. Wait to salt until the very end and always salt to taste.
- Bacon – Try it with bacon instead of ham or add it alongside the ham!
- Blender – If you prefer a smoother texture, you can use a blender or food processor to smooth it out after cooking. Be careful to do this in small batches because it’s hot! An immersion blender also works great. Puree the mixture until it is at your desired consistency.
“I’ve always had a hard time getting my kids to eat anything “green”, but they tried this & actually went back for seconds! Very rich & flavorful!”
-Rebecca
Frequently Asked Questions
For this recipe, no. They simmer long enough to become perfectly soft and creamy. I do like to give them a good rinse before adding them to the pot though. Just to rinse off any random debris.
I like to always make my split pea soup on the thicker side and add more broth at the end to thicken it if necessary. It is easier to thin out the soup rather than thicken it. However, if you need to thicken your soup after it has cooked, you can stir in some instant mashed potato flakes (or leftover mashed potatoes).
You could use half water half chicken broth if you are worried about the salt. You can always add more later if it needs more flavor!
Read Next: The Best Soup Recipes
Storing Crockpot Split Pea Soup Leftovers
This split pea soup recipe makes a large batch and you are likely to have some delicious leftovers. Placing the leftovers into small portions is helpful or in large bags depending on who and when you will be serving the leftovers.
- Refrigerator – Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing – This also freezes nicely so if you make a full batch and can’t eat it all within a few days, freeze it in individual freezer-safe containers. It’ll stay nice and fresh for up to two months.
- Reheating – Reheat slowly on the stove or in the microwave.
More Crockpot Soup Recipes
How to Make Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone (optional)
- 1 package dried split peas about 2 ½ cups or 1 pound
- 9 cups chicken broth if you like it thick, use 8 cups
- 4 carrots coarsely chopped
- 3 medium potatoes diced small
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 cups diced ham
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- If using a ham bone, add it to a LARGE Crockpot.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours. Discard bay leaf before serving.
- Serve with sliced French bread.
I made this for a SOUP-ER-BOWL spread and it was well received. I used 8 cups of broth and for ham I bought a ham steak that I chopped up. I also bought some cubed ham but I left it out so as to not overwhelm with the ham. I think it would have been fine. For my taste, a little more salt would be fine. The amount of pepper was just right.
All ingredients in pot, can’t wait. I make this without potatoes, but I’m thinking now the potatoes are used for thickening. Oh well, next time if it’s too thin.
Made it last night. So freakin’ good! And she’s right. Don’t over salt. I’m a salt lover and just used the 1 teaspoon she suggests. No additional salt needed at the end. It was amazing and I’m going to continue to enjoy it over the next few days! I grew up on split peas (enjoyed differently) because we Cubans love our chicharos, but I’ve also always loved me a good split pea soup with ham! This was my first time making it and I’m so glad I did!
Currently making it, however, quickly after putting al ingredients in I realized I could barely fit 6 cups of broth in it without it overflowing. My mom
Made the same recipe last week and she didn’t have that problem. I realized why- she has a 6 quart crock pot, and mine is 3 quarts. I wish you Had specified the size of ‘large’ because I would have adjusted the serving. For anyone making this- make sure your crock pot is 6 quart or larger.
I always make this after making a ham. I shove the ham bone in and after the time is up the meat literally falls off the bone. Then I take out the ham and carrots and shove an emulsion blender into the crockpot to blend everything else together, re-add the meat and carrots for texture. Because I use the ham bone, I don’t use additional salt. Delicious!
love this soup
Made this today per the recipe exactly less one cup of Broth if preferred thicker. Got two slices of pit smoked ham from butcher I cubed and it turned out perfect. Very satisfied and will be cooking it often.
This is my favorite soup to make in the slow cooker! Pure comfort food!
I’ve always had a hard time getting my kids to eat anything “green”, but they tried this & actually went back for seconds! Very rich & flavorful!
It’s still in the 90’s here, but I am so excited for soup! I’ve made this in the past & it was so tasty!!
Yummy soup! I would make this again. Thx for recipe. Kathryn
My ham is salty already….with the chicken broth is it going to make the soup too salty?
You could use half water half chicken broth if you are worried about the salt. You can always add more later if it needs more flavor!
I love this recipe. It has never failed me. Anyone I’ve served.it to requests the recipe.
I do have a question. What is the serving size the nutritional facts are based on?
Yay! We are so glad you love it as much as we do! It serves about 10 people, so 1/10th of the soup!
Love this recipe!! How would you make it in the Instant Pot? 🙂
We haven’t tried it in the Instant Pot! But let us know how it turns out if you do try it!
I had same problem as person who commented earlier……my peas never softened. After nine hours on low and then four on high, they never softened.
I had this same problem, once, realized it was because the peas were old. I have a problem with stockpiling food. 🤷♂️ We will never starve 😂
Delicious and very easy!
First-time visitor here at the North Pole (MN) I have been searching for a split-pea/ham soup recipe for a long time. I found your site recently, read all the reviews and have everything all ready to go! Since becoming a widow 6 years ago, and homebound, I have had to retrain my brain from big family style to cooking for one. The biggest factor is that I am originally from Boston/NY and Italian!! I stick out like a sore thumb here in the Midwest. I love to cook, especially anything fresh!!! So now, I share my “Sunday Dinners” with friends. The temps are in the ’40s this weekend (May 19?) so what better time to make this soup! I will keep you posted!
Yes please let us know! Thank you for sharing your story with us. That is so nice that you are able to get together with friends and cook a big meal! We hope this soup is a hit with them!
Excellent … made with all homemade chicken broth. Tried to post a picture but could not. Recipe is a keeper.
We would love to see a pic. Feel free to post it on Instagram and tag us!
Excellent … made with all homemade chicken broth. Tried to post a picture but could not. Recipe is a keeper.
We would love to see a picture! Feel free to post it on Instagram and tag us, that way we will for sure see it!
Have this in my crock pot now, it smells good but it’s soupy and I only added 8 cups of broth how can I get to thick? Thanks
It should thicken up by the very end. It looks soupy at first but when you stir it up it will thicken a lot. Hope this helps!
Wow, just made this soup yesterday. It is absolutely delicious. I love split pea soup and have never tried making it myself, but now that I have, I don’t want to ever go back to canned! I did not add the extra salt because my broth already had enough. Also, if you are getting your ham from the deli, asked for it thick sliced and 1 lb. should be just the right amount! Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Becky- thank you so much! I am so glad you liked this recipe so much. I honestly haven’t bought the canned stuff in years because you really can’t beat how easy this is to make! Thanks for such a nice comment 😀