This split pea soup is my all time favorite thing to look forward to after the holidays. We always volunteer to take the ham bone home after Christmas or New Years for this soup! My whole family loves it, even the 3 year old just gobbles it up.
Making the soup:
Start off with some rainbow carrots (my favorite- but you can use just normal carrots too), some celery, and some onion all cooking in butter and garlic. This is going to fill your kitchen with all that savory goodness aroma.
Once the veggies and butter have been cooking for 5-10 minutes, add in the ham bone or ham hocks along with your chicken broth, water, seasonings, and of course split peas. These little guys are so so packed full of protein and nutrient goodness but taste like a good old warm in your tummy comfort food in this soup.
Let all the goodness come to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer on low heat for about an hour and a half. Check the soup and add in your diced ham. I prefer to let mine cook for another half hour at least to get a smoother texture and thickness and just a little more flavor.
Topping split pea soup:
Once you like where your soup is at, remove the ham bone (our dog, Donut, looks forward to this whenever we make it), and don't forget to remove the bay leaves as well. Top this with:
- Garlic Butter Croutons
- Himalayan Pink Salt
- Fresh Black Pepper
- Goat Cheese
- Drizzle of Olive Oil
- Everything Bagel bits (trust me- delicious to dip in the soup)
Vegetarian Option:
If you need your split pea soup to be vegetarian, no problem! Obviously, leave the ham and bone out and replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. There you go!
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If you love this recipe, be sure to check out our Sweet Onion Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that was featured on the Feed Feed next!
The Best Split Pea Soup
This is hands down the best split pea soup! With a hambone and chunks of ham throughout the soup, the flavor is amazing. You can make it vegetarian by leaving the ham out of course and using vegetable broth. This soup is healthy and easy!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Butter
- 3 medium Carrots
- 4 medium Celery
- 1 medium Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 Ham Bone , (or ham hocks, or thick diced ham)
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 3 cups Water
- 1 lb Green Split Peas
- 2 Turkish Bay Leaves
- ½ cup Diced Ham, if using ham bone or ham hocks
Instructions
- In a large stock pot or dutch oven melt the butter on medium heat.
- Dice the vegetables into small pieces and add them to the pot with butter to cook.
- Add the garlic and salt and pepper.
- Once the veggies have gotten slightly soft and savory, add the ham bone (or whatever style you are going with) along with the water, broth, split peas, and rest of the spices and bay leaves.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1hr and 30min. If you like it to be thicker or with a smoother texture cook 30min longer or until it's what you prefer.
- Take the ham bone or ham hocks out if you have use this method.
- Add ½ cup of diced ham (if using the ham bone or ham hocks method) 30min before soup is done cooking. (If using plain diced ham only- cook in the soup for the last full hour)
- Season with extra salt and black pepper to taste and top with butter and garlic croutons. Enjoy getting warm with this amazing soup!
Notes
*Ham brings plenty of it's own salt into the soup, so be sure to do most of the salt adding afterwards to taste.
*Ham hocks or diced ham can be used in the same way as the bone.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 2 cupsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 287Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 1658mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 8gSugar: 5gProtein: 23g
Nutritional information is not always 100% accurate.