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Creamy, smooth, and easy to make, this Crockpot Split Pea Soup with ham is a classic recipe you must try in the slow cooker. The ingredients come together to make a hearty soup that is sure to be enjoyed by the whole family.
If you love split pea soup, then you may also enjoy my Slow Cooker Chickpeas and Slow Cooker Black Eyed Peas, or Slow Cooker Lentil Soup.
Table of Contents
Why you should try this
When you’re looking for a unique way to cook a vegetable-heavy meal, slow cooking a few veggies combined with a delicious chicken or vegetable broth makes for an awesome recipe and pure comfort food. This soup also has a quick prep time and the cooking time is nice and long, which leaves you with plenty of time for getting everything else done for the day and providing a great meal for dinner.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Dried Split Peas – One pound of dried peas, make sure there are no rocks or dirt clumps in them as you add to the slow cooker.
- Vegetables – Diced carrots, onions, and celery are diced and used to make the perfect split pea soup.
- Ham – Diced ham can be freshly bought or you can use leftover ham.
- Dried Herbs – Dried thyme, fresh rosemary, and a bay leaf go great with split peas.
- Chicken Broth – This will flavor the soup and add the right amount of chicken flavor.
- Seasonings – Minced garlic, salt, and black pepper ensure the taste of this soup is well-balanced.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add the split peas, vegetables and seasonings to the slow cooker.
Step Two – Pour over the chicken broth and water. Cover and cook for 8 hours without opening the lid.
Step Three – Take a whisk or spoon and stir the soup when the cooking time is up. The peas will dissolve into the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
What to serve with this:
- Pea soup can be served with a side of Italian bread or a crusty bread of your choice. Try my Slow Cooker Focaccia Bread.
- It also pairs well alongside a fresh garden salad.
- When it comes to toppings, you can add sauteed ham cubes, sour cream, freshly ground black pepper, or a drizzle of olive oil. Don’t forget the saltines or oyster crackers.
How to make this vegetarian:
- If you would like to make this vegetarian, omit the ham.
- Then substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Split pea soup is very healthy, and using diced ham instead of ham bone cuts back on fat in the recipe. Though this soup is healthy, it still tastes like comfort food!
Yes, there is no difference between yellow and green peas other than the color. Though, some say yellow split peas are slightly sweeter.
No! The slow cooker will soften them perfectly into a velvety, silky soup.
After split pea soup has been prepared, it thickens when the lid has been taken off or refrigerated. Add a splash of water or chicken broth and stir, and the soup will be a perfect consistency again.
Want to use a ham bone instead of ham? Use one large or two small ham bones to replace the diced ham. Shred the ham off the bones and add to the soup when the cooking time is up. Discard the leftover ham bone and fat.
You can make this into a freezer meal! You place all the ingredients in a ziplock bag (except the water) and freeze until ready to cook. Thaw, add contents of the bag to slow cooker, add water and cook as directed on the recipe card.
Split pea soup will keep the fridge for up to five days or three months in the refrigerator. You will need to add water to thin out the soup, for it will thicken considerably after storing.
Can I use Hurst’s Hambeens Spilt Pea Soup Mix in this recipe?
- Yes, though Hurst’s Spilt Pea mix package size is 20 ounces compared to the 16 ounces of split peas that I use in this recipe. Add 1 more cup of water if you use Hurst’s Split Pea Mix.
- Omit the chicken bouillon if you use the included ham seasoning packet. Be sure to wait until the end of the cooking time to add the ham seasoning packet.
More slow cooker soup recipes like this one:
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Stew
- Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana
- Slow Cooker Ham and Beans
- Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
- Slow Cooker Homemade Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Soup
- Slow Cooker Black Bean and Kielbasa Soup
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Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz. dried green split peas, sorted and rinsed (about 2 ¼ cups)
- 2 cups cubed ham
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 rosemary sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley, chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Add the split peas, ham, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, chicken broth and water.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or on LOW for 8-9 hours.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste (you may not need salt at all, depending how salty your ham is). Add more water if you soup thickens too much.
How to Video
Sarah’s Notes
- Yes, though Hurst’s Spilt Pea mix package size is 20 ounces compared to the 16 ounces of split peas that I use in this recipe. Add 1 more cup of water if you use Hurst’s Split Pea Mix.
- Omit the chicken bouillon if you use the included ham seasoning packet. Be sure to wait until the end of the cooking time to add the ham seasoning packet.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I haven’t made the soup yet but I would like to know the difference in taste between all the alternate spices that could be used in the comments: marjoram, bay leave, thyme or oregano – thank you
It will taste like the spice you use. I prefer thyme for this recipe over all the others.
When this in the crockpot can you make dumplings and add them before the soup is done when I makes it on the stove I adds them half hour before it’s done.
Great, simple fool-proof recipe. Don’t have to stand in front of stove all day, as a old truck mechanic I give this recipe the highest marks!
I really love this recipe. It uses considerably less ingredients than the recipe I was using but it’s just as good or better.
For those who would like to substitute vegetable broth, I’d suggest buying a bag of Vegeta All Purpose Seasoning and Soup Mix. It’s a vegetable bouillon powder that’s widely used in Eastern Europe. You just add a level teaspoon to a cup of warm water and you have a cup of vegetable broth. I’ve compared it to vegetable broth made with Better Than Bouillon vegetable flavor bouillon and the broth I made with Vegeta was just as good or better and less expensive. I bought a bag of Vegeta on amazon.com and paid 17.99 plus a few cents tax for a bag weighing 4 pounds and 6 ounces. This amounted to 26 cents an ounce.
Thank you for the amazing recipe!!! So easy to make and so yummy!!!
Nice recipe! I love doing pea soup in a slow cooker, having been burned more than once when a drop of pea soup “lava” had unexpectedly popped out of a big pot of it cooking on the stove, just as I’d lifted the lid to stir it!!! That stuff can be absolutely treacherous! Slow-cooking it is really the way to go pea soup, and it turns out so perfect and wonderful too!
I often use 1/2 of a Polska kielbasa in pea soup instead of ham, or when I don’t have a ham bone, and freeze the other diced half for making another pot later on, or to use in an omelet, a loaded veggie & chicken broth soup, or a lentil soup. Kielbasa is very versatile and gives pea soup a wonderful flavor! I mostly use Hillshire brand of Polska kielbasa, because it’s easy to find at the store, but any Polish kielbasa would work.
I buy Johnsonville kielbasa because it’s 100% pork. I just bought several packages of smoked pork neckbones specifically for making soup but when I use them up I’ll give your suggestion a try.
Hi I’m 82 yrs old and in an assisted living facility which I love except that the food is yukky, so I’ve been making soups and am ready to try some new recipes. We don’t have kitchenettes (We have what I call “ettes” so about the only thing I can do is use my Crockpot for cooking. I’m interesting in cooking things other than soup, and there are 6 of us who count on my giving us real food at least once a week but its tricky cuz we only have a tiny little sink in the bathroom to wash up in. I’m interested in finding a Nacho recipe using my slow cooker cuz we all love nacho’s. We do have microwaves but without ovens Nachos seem sort of difficult to do. Can you help steer me in the right direction so that maybe we can still have nacho’s?
Hi Judy, this is my favorite recipe for “nachos”. Since you can’t brown the meat, I’ve heard of some people cooking the ground beef on high in the slow cooker (probably 2-3 hours), then crumbling, then continuing with the recipe. (or you can leave the beef out, it’s such a great recipe). https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-taco-dip/
I know of someone who often cooks ground beef in their microwave, breaking it up and stirring it around to help it cook more evenly, as they go along at 1 minute or 30 second intervals microwaving it on high, I think. I can’t actually recall the details, since I’d only witnessed it being done once, many years ago, but it had seemed to work ok. You might need to do it 8 oz. at a time, or possibly experiment with using 50% power instead of on High, to prevent over-cooking the beef, but it might be worth trying, at least. There are probably some microwaving tips online about cooking ground beef, also.
Hi, Judy! Maybe you already know? There r liners for slowcookers in grocery stores to buy! Might make cleanup easier since you have sm sink…enjoy! Minika
I only have extra large bullion cubes. Do you think one will be ok instead of two?
One should do it.
Thank you!
Do you think it would taste alright if I added some celery? Also can I use chicken stock instead of chicken bouillon cubes?
Yes! Will be great with celery. And chicken stock instead of water works great.
Thank you!!! Merry Christmas!!