Indulge in a comforting and flavorful bowl of Split Pea and Ham Soup! This delightful and tasty soup is perfect for using leftover ham and is easy to make with simple ingredients.
This is the best soup I have made in a really long time! I have been craving split pea soup for a while. So, when I had a ham bone left over from our Easter dinner, I knew I had to make one of my all-time favorite soups.
If you don’t have a ham bone, no need to worry! I include instructions on how to use ham hocks or smoked shank too!
How To Make Split Pea and Ham Soup
Start by rinsing the dried split peas (click here if you missed the section on soaking split peas for soup). Once rinsed, set aside.
To make it, simply follow the instructions in the step-by-step instructions below. Just make sure you taste the stock before making the soup. Some ham is super salty, and you may need to add half water and half stock (like I did in the video).
If you don’t have a ham bone or leftover ham, you can use ham hocks, ham shank, or joint instead. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Then, add the hocks or joint to the pot and brown the meat on all sides.
Cover with eight cups of water and add a rib of celery, one carrot, an onion, and some black peppercorns to the pot if desired.
Bring to a boil, and lower the heat to low. Simmer the mixture for 2 to 3 hours, removing any foam that forms on the surface. Once done, remove the ham bone and vegetables from the pot, and strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve.
Chop the carrots, onion, and celery into bite-sized pieces.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add one large chopped yellow onion and sauté until they become translucent. Add two finely chopped garlic cloves and cook another minute.
Add one pound of rinsed dried split peas. Followed by the ham bone, ham meat (or the ham hocks or shank).
Tie the parsley and bay leaf together with some kitchen string. Add three chopped medium-sized carrots and three chopped stalks of celery, along with the herb bundle and eight cups of ham stock.
Add half a teaspoon of smoked paprika and pepper to taste (save the salt until the end, as ham may be quite salty).
Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer; cover and cook for 30 minutes. Be sure to stir often, as the split peas can stick to the bottom. Stir three peeled and diced potatoes.
Cook until the soup is thick and the peas are to your desired consistency. This can take 30 to 40 more minutes, depending on the brand of peas you use.
Remove the pot from the heat and carefully remove the herbs and the bone (if using and then discard it). If using ham hocks or shank, remove the skin, discard it, and then remove the meat from the bone.
Shred the meat and add it to the soup. Mix and return the soup to the heat to reheat as needed.
Sample the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. If using, stir in a teaspoon of vinegar, then taste again and adjust the amount of vinegar to your liking, as it can help enhance the flavors in the soup.
Serve and enjoy.
Update Notes:
Split peas soup will thicken when chilled. When reheating, additional stock will most likely be needed to thin it out again.
Freezing: Split Pea Soup freezes well. Allow the soup to cool before freezing (don’t leave it at room temperature for over an hour to avoid harmful bacteria).
Portion the soup into freezer bags or freezer-safe containers or fill an airtight container as much as possible (to avoid too much air being trapped) and freeze stacked on top of each other.
Erren’s Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
This recipe was originally posted in January 2015 but was republished in 2023 with new photos and content.
