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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.
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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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Just turned the por on pressure, hoping it’s as good as it smells.
Can yellow split peas be used instead?
Yes they can.
turned out great. skipped the stock since i had a meaty leftover ham bone. made homemade croutons to top it off.
Croutons what a great idea! Thanks!
Fabulous! Super delicious and easy. This will definitely be added to our top recipe list.
This soup came together so easily. It was a great way to use up leftover Easter ham. I had split yellow peas on hand so I used those, and I actually prefer the way they look. I didn’t even have carrot on hand so omitted it and my husband still declared this in “the top two” of my soups – – and I make a lot of homemade soups! I couldn’t find my thyme so I used herbs de province, which tasted great. Savory would be good in this too, I think. Between the ham, bacon and chicken broth, I didn’t add any salt at all and that was fine. I added some to my bowl but I like salt; nobody else did. I’m saving this one!
This is delicious, I left out the ham because I don’t like it in soup. I really liked this and it was excellent with a sourdough roll. Thank you for the recipe!
My favorite soup! I will make it tonight. I don’t have any ham, so I may try a big piece of fat back, ( as we say down South ) or thick cut bacon to my Northern friends. I’ve never made it in an instapot, only in a slow cooker. Thank gosh it will be ready so much quicker! Yummy, I can’t wait!
This soup was fabulous. I followed the directions using ham hocks. Used liquid smoke as well. I will definitely make it again when we have leftover ham. A top ten and fast. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Can I cut this recipe in half and still use the same cooking instructions and cooking time? (There are only two of us and we aren’t big eaters so we tend to get stuck with too many leftovers!) My guess would be yes, but I thought I’d double-check first. Soup looks delicious, can’t wait to try it! Thank you.
Yes!
Hi Sandy, I’m excited to try this recipe in my instant pot. I just realized my prom hocks are fresh, not smoked. Can I use them in this recipe?
Thank you
Yes, you can still use them. Maybe add a little liquid smoke or some smoky bacon if you want the accent of smoked flavor.
Delicious! I did increase the amount of thyme, but that’s the only change! This was a very thick and tasty soup.