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Instant Pot Split Pea Soup is a good recipe to use for leftover ham! Quick cooking and easy to make, this flavorful pressure cooker split pea soup is one of my most popular recipes. It’s really delicious!
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Turning on the Way-Back Machine, I can recall eating Split Pea Soup when I was still in a high chair! It has always been a favorite soup recipe of mine. This recipe is inspired by my Mom.
Use Leftover Ham
If you cooked a bone-in ham you can use the meaty ham bone to flavor this soup.
If you don’t have a bone, just use the ham meat, cubed. It will still add the flavor you want.
You can also use ham hocks. Best if not frozen.
A Faster Split Pea Soup
When I make Split Pea Soup on the stove, it takes 2 to 3 hours, though it tastes awesome!
I wanted to have a quicker cooking split pea soup, so I adapted my recipe for the Instant Pot®.
Pressure cookers are great for just this kind of recipe, as the flavors are extracted from the ingredients and make the broth taste delicious!
Pressure cookers speed up the process and cook the soup in way less time than on the stove.
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup only takes about an hour, with the sautéing and natural release, so that’s a big time saver! The peas come out nice and soft, and the flavor is very good!
If you want a Vegetarian or Vegan pressure cooker split pea soup, omit the butter (for vegan), use vegetable broth, and try some liquid smoke to give the soup a nice smoky hint of flavor.
Instant Pot Potato Soup
Instant Pot Potato Ham Soup
Instant Pot Zuppa Toscana (Sausage Potato Soup)
Instant Pot Beef Barley Vegetable Soup
Instant Pot Ham Hock and Bean Soup
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If you make this yummy pressure cooker split pea soup recipe, let me know! Please leave a comment with a star rating below. I’d love to know how you liked it!
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Onion, diced
- 3 Stalks of Celery, diced
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ¼ tsp Thyme Leaves, dried
- 3 Carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, pressed or finely minced
- ¼ tsp Pepper
- 6 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth low sodium (use only 5 cups for a thick soup, 7 cups for a thinner soup)
- 1 lb Green Split Peas, rinsed and sorted (unsoaked)
- 1 tsp Liquid Smoke (Optional) for vegetarian version
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt (add last, after cooking, if needed) (1/4 tsp table salt)
Use any of these for your meat (or a combination of them)
- 6 slices Bacon (Optional) chopped
- 2 small Ham Hocks (Optional) Not very meaty, but add a nice smoky flavor and richness.
- 1 Leftover Ham Bone (Optional) I like to use this with the diced ham
- 2 - 3 cups Diced Leftover Ham (Optional)
Instructions
- Turn the pressure cooker on to the Sauté function. Let it warm up and add the olive oil and butter.
- Add the onion, celery, bay leaves, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add the carrots, garlic, bacon or ham, if using, and pepper. Cook for a minute.
- Add the broth and ham bone or ham hocks, if using (Add liquid smoke, if using, for vegetarian method). Let come to a simmer.
- Stir in the split peas.
- Place the lid on the pot and lock it in place. Set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
- Cancel the sauté function and Choose Pressure Cook/Manual, and use the + or - or dial to choose 18 minutes. High pressure. It will take a few minutes for the pot to come to pressure.
- When the cooking time has finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes to naturally release some of the pressure. Then turn the steam release knob to Venting to quick release the remaining pressure.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, carefully open the lid, facing away from you. Remove the bay leaves and the bone or ham hocks, if you used them.
- Taste and add the salt as desired.
- Serve hot. The soup will thicken quite a bit when it cools, that is normal.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Split Pea Soup recipe and more
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Even Goldilocks would love this soup at first bite!
I made it following your recipe, though with a few changes.
— For the meat, I used slices of sweet Italian sausage, which came out very nice indeed, as in addition to the taste, they added a differential texture.
— From other recipes, I added shredded lettuce and shredded spinach. (I think that this made the result Potage St. Germain.) Also highly beneficial. Next time I may add a diced potato, again to complement the flavor and texture combinations. (I don’t think that adding bell peppers would work well, by the way.)
— I know that some recipes suggest using an immersion blender. Not for me. Not for me — as you can tell, I like a soup with different textures as you eat it.
— This recipe can certainly be souped up (sorry) with the addition of hot pepper.
Thank you muchly.
Your recipe is awesome. Today was my first try and it turned out yummy.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Gilles
After almost 3 years of making this soup, it’s finally time for a review. The first time I made it, it was at my husbands request after I had made a whole ham and we had plenty of leftovers. I’d never had split pea soup before but found this instant pot recipe very convenient so we gave it a shot. I was hesitant to even try a spoonful…. Boy was I stupid! My husband and I DEVOURED the whole 8qt pot within 24 hours. I’ve been making this exact recipe every single time we have ham since then and I’m even happy to say that it was our sons first “solid” food! I come back to this recipe every time I make a ham. Looking forward to making it for dinner tonight on this chilly November day. THANK YOU!!
Hi, thank you so much for your comment! I am happy to learn that my family recipe is now part of another family! And your baby’s first solid food!! 😀
Just made the soup and it is really good, next time I will set for less time just because I like some bite to the peas, the 18 min made it all really mushy but will definitely make it again.
High pressure 15 Min. then release Pressure. Try that. Phil
Excellent flavor! I did follow another commenter’s suggestion to only do 15 minutes- and it was still too long. I do like the split peas to be soft, but still with some definition. Next time I’m going to try 10 minutes, with the natural release. Didn’t change anything else – great tasting recipe!
Simply follow the recipe for an excellent result. I like the texture of my split pea soup to be more like a Gratinée so I soaked the peas ahead of time and only used about 4-1/2 cups of broth.G
I am making this soup for my fourth time now. The first time I made it it was wonderful and then I couldn’t find the recipe the next time I made the soup. Did not come out as good. And then I found this recipe again and so I bookmarked it. I have made it one more time after that and I’m just making it tonight. It’s delicious. I usually have a ham bone left over from a meal. Since I didn’t have that for this soup, I just went and bought a ham steak. I’m hoping it comes out just as good without the bone 🍖
Second thing I’ve made with my new IP. Delicious! Will be making the corned beef & cabbage next.
This was delicious and easy!! We will be making ghis again.
I have used this recipe so often to make my favourite split pea soup, I have it memorized. I stray very little from your original recipe. The only difference being us that I only use about 1/2 cup chopped ham. I have been making this every 2 weeks for about a year. Many thanks!
I absolutely love this soup! I’ve made this recipe several times! Such a great alternative to chili in the winter. Thanks for posting!!!
This recipe is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. This is my first time making split pea soup from scratch. I used to make the dried pre-prepared one (high sodium content) but not anymore! I used leftover bacon grease. The recipe and simple and easy. I added chopped macaroni pasta, parmesan cheese, and fresh cracked black pepper to my bowl. It was delicious and perfect on this cold day! Thanks!
Delicious! Great introduction of this “old-timer” to Instant Pot World (3rd use). Made per instructions with following modifications: increased pressure cook time to 22 minutes to account for elevation (9200′), added Worcestershire Sauce at the end (needed something, but it wasn’t salt). Thank you
Thanks for high altitude directions. I always wonder if I should add more time. I usually do, but I’m guessing !
Super quick and easy, I did not have liquid smoke but did have my ham bones and leftover ham, so it was perfect anyway. I like mine thick and this was thick at 6 cups of stock, I have some leftover stock and will use that the add when I reheat. I love putting large homemade croutons on top…..yummy