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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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any replacement for carots (allergy)?
You can just omit them.
Delicious! We made it tonight and used 1.5 tsp celery seeds in place of celery and added 2 medium Yukon potatoes. A pinch of extra salt (for the potatoes) and about 2 small cups of leftover ham. We will definitely put this in the rotation. It’s perfect for anytime, but especially cold and rainy nights. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Delicious! We made this tonight and loved it! We used 1.5 tsp of celery seeds instead of celery and added 2 Yukon potatoes, but otherwise stuck to it (a little extra salt for the potato). We used about 2 cups leftover ham.
That’s great, Shan! Thank you. I haven’t tried celery seeds in soup before. Love them in coleslaw! Nice trick!
I made this for dinner tonight. Best split pea soup I’ve ever made. Made it exactly as you suggested with ham bone and diced ham and Zoup chicken bone broth. We make split pea soup after Christmas and Easter every year. This is our new recipe!
Thank you, Kim. I’m glad you liked it!
So delicious! Made it with leftover Christmas ham.
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but when I opened the pot, there was no liquid left (used 5 cups broth) and the peas were still hard. Help!
Oh no! Did you seal the pot? If any moisture was escaping it would evaporate. I would check your seal and steam release knob. If the pot never came to pressure, it’s possible that it wouldn’t cook all the way, but to be dry? Not sure. Also, did you use the correct amount of split peas, and not more?
Omg this is my first time making split pea soup in my instapot and I must say this was fantastic, I am definitely doing this recipe again! Thank you
Just made this and it is delicious! I used leftover ham and bacon from holiday meals/apps. I am also a celery hater, so I omitted that ingredient…no one is missing it. Only thing I would do next time is cut the salt during prep and add it to taste later. Mine came out salty, but I can probably add some water or low-salt broth to thin it and neutralize some of the saltiness. Fortunately, we are a low BP family, so salty isn’t a dealbreaker. Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s great, Tracy! Thank you!
This was my first time making split pea soup AND making it in my Instant Pot. It is SO delicious and super easy. Thanks for a great recipe. I will make it again!
Woah. This is so good. I can’t stop eating it! I forgot to let the pressure out for almost 25 minutes but it’s still perfect. Thank you!