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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 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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Sandy, once again, I can’t say enough about how PERFECT this recipe is. Every time it’s my pea soup go to 😁. For the umpteenth time – thank you!
I’ve been making this recipe for the past few years and make it at least 2-3x a year. It is absolutely fantastic and the whole family loves it. We use leftover ham, ham bone and liquid smoke and follow the recipe exactly. Excellent!!
Best!
Do I need to thaw the ham bone first or can I cook it from frozen for the same time?
You can cook it from frozen, though I would add 5 minutes to the natural pressure release time.
You can use a frozen ham bone, it will just take a little bit longer to cook.
I left out the garlic we don’t like it. As for the split peas I did 50% whole peas and 50% split peas approx. for a bit more of a pea taste. Turned out great thanks.
Love this recipe. Quick and delicious.
Soooo good!!! Perfect just the way it is 😉
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. It is my go-to recipe for split pea soup! I love the liquid smoke. It really ups the flavor!
Hello: Do you soak the peas in water overnight?
No I don’t.
Sandy spilt pea soup 🍜 awesome delicious 🤤 Easy recipe having for Lunch today, five stars. Usually toss out the bone. Smoked the spiral ham. Made thick is awesome. Your recipes easy follow Directions thank you for Sharing and awesome Recipes
Excellent flavor! The carrots and celery weren’t mushy. Will make again.
Would you use the same time-table for stove-top pressure cooking this soup? I’m making it that way now so I hope it works.
Yes, the stovetop pressure cooker cooks at a higher PSI so it may even be done a little faster.
I’ve made split pea soup in my instant pot b4, but it never came out this good. I think the difference is the simmering of all the parts with the lid on for a few. The other difference was cooking it for 38 min. Most recipes appeared to cook less. It will be my go-to for split pea for now on!