Best Split Pea and Ham Soup Recipe — For Chilly Evenings

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A hearty, budget-friendly soup that warms both body and soul

The best split pea and ham soup recipe is thick, hearty, and full of smoky flavor — the perfect cozy comfort food for cold nights.

It was popular among the working class in nineteenth-century England, but a legume soup is mentioned in Greek literature and was sold by street vendors in Athens as early as 400 BC. Imagine after all that time, it's still a favorite in my kitchen today!

What's In Split Pea and Ham Soup

The soup contains dried peas, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, pepper, butter, potatoes, broth, and ham. Here's another tasty thing you can do with leftover ham!

This savory soup brings back happy memories from my childhood. It is comfort food, but it's also very nutritious! It's packed with fiber and protein. It's quicker than you think to make! You do not need to soak the dried peas before cooking, so this soup can be ready in about an hour.

The ingredients for split pea soup are simple and basic, and there are many ways to make it if you have a meaty ham bone left over from dinner; lucky you! Use that as a starter for your soup. I searched for a ham bone or ham shanks at several grocery stores without success, so I settled for a package of ham hocks to add some of the smoky flavor to the peas.

My foodie brother lives near a big city in another part of the country, but when we compared notes on ham shank availability, he said he had no luck finding them in the meat departments of stores in his area. Ham shanks are much meatier than ham hocks.

How To Make The Best Split Pea And Ham Soup

I started the soup by putting a pound of split peas into my large Le Creuset Dutch Oven/stockpot with a couple of bay leaves, freshly cracked pepper, and enough water to almost cover the hocks. I simmered the hocks with the peas, turning them over once for about thirty minutes, then removed the hocks and the bay leaves from the pot and set them aside.

While the peas and hocks were simmering, I finely chopped the carrots, onion, and celery, then made a mirepoix (pronounced meer-PWAH) in a separate skillet by sautéing the vegetables with minced garlic in butter until fragrant and tender. Please include the celery leaves because they have an abundance of flavor!

Mirepoix is a mixture of finely diced vegetables cooked in butter or oil at a low temperature to sweeten, not caramelize. These slow-cooked vegetables make a delightful flavor base for many soups or casseroles. The difference in how the veggies taste after this step is amazing!

Add water, the Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base, the Knorr Select Vegetable Soup Base, or Knorr's vegetable bouillon cubes, and a couple of peeled and diced potatoes. Now add the vegetables to the soup pot with the split peas. Let that simmer for about thirty minutes or until the peas are tender.

I am not paid to endorse the Knorr or the Better Than Bouillon brands, but they have become my go-to products for making great soup. I like how the chicken and vegetable broths combine to create an amazingly tasty base for this old-fashioned split pea soup.

I was also extremely pleased with the small Kentucky Legend ham I chose for this recipe. I added about 2 cups of diced high-quality, smoky ham to the soup just before serving, because I wanted it to be really meaty for our main dish.

If you're lucky to have a nice, meaty ham bone, you will probably have all the ham you need and won't need to buy any more ham for your split pea soup.

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Yield: 10 servings

Split Pea And Ham Soup

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Here is a recipe for a simple and hearty soup that's meaty enough to be a main dish entree. It tastes amazing, and it's loaded with protein and fiber. An excellent use for leftover ham!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• One pound (two cups) of split peas, rinsed and drained
• One 2 to 2½ pound package of ham hocks
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups finely chopped onion
• 2 cups finely chopped carrot
• 2 cups finely chopped celery
• I Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 quarts of cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• Fresh cracked pepper to taste
• One heaping Tbsp of Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base
• One heaping Tbsp of Knorr Select Vegetable soup base or cubes to make one quart of broth
• 2 average Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups of diced or cubed good ham, or more to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse the peas and drain them. Put them in a soup pot with one quart of water, the bay leaves, ham hocks, and fresh cracked pepper.
2. Simmer them for about thirty minutes.
3. Chop the celery, carrots, and onion fine. Saute them in butter with the garlic until they are tender and fragrant. (Mirepoix)
4. Remove the ham hocks and set them aside.
5. Combine the vegetables with peas and their broth in one pot and add one quart of water, the bouillon, the soup base, and potatoes.
6. Simmer until the peas and potatoes are tender.
7. Add the diced ham and meat you can get off the ham hocks, then simmer long enough to heat the ham.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 658mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 5gSugar: 7gProtein: 20g

The peas will break down and thicken the soup. You can adjust the thickness by adding more water or broth if you want. I topped each bowl with homemade croutons and served the soup with a loaf of crusty bread and cheese cubes.

If you’re craving the best split pea and ham soup recipe for cold nights, this one is as cozy and comforting as it gets. Ladle it up with warm bread, gather your people around the table, and enjoy every smoky, hearty bite. Don’t forget to pin this recipe so you’ll have it handy all season long — it’s sure to become a family favorite.

We shift into soup mode when the nights get cooler and the days get shorter. I love how I can cook once, and we can eat twice when I make soup. Some of my most popular soup recipes are: 

Instant Pot Beef Noodle Soup 

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Soup

Beer Chili

Minestrone

What are your favorite soups?

Every recipe here is made in a real, everyday kitchen and written to be clear and dependable. This is the kind of soup meant to simmer gently and be enjoyed without fuss — the sort of meal that makes an ordinary evening feel a little more relaxed.

Serve it warm and share it with the people you love. It reheats well and tastes even better the next day.

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