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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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Just made this. Delish. Hubs and 5 year old twins gobbled it up 🙂
The cooking time was perfect – so fast in the Instant Pot! Used a Honey-Baked ham bone which I always use for this soup. I’ve never used butter in split pea soup before and couldn’t taste the difference. Will leave it out next time for a healthier soup. Unfortunately, the thyme overwhelmed the subtle flavor of the soup – it’s all we could taste.
Hi Laurie. Thank you for your comment. Something I have learned recently is that some people are very sensitive to the taste of thyme. Kind of like with cilantro, some people don’t like it, or too much of it. Since this is just 1/2 tsp of thyme, you could omit it, reduce it to 1/4 tsp, or a pinch. I think some brands of herbs & spices, or varieties are stronger in taste than others, too. So sorry this was too strong for you. I hope you’ll make it again without the thyme so you can enjoy it!
Instead of butter I used saved bacon fat to saute the vegetables in which was nice.
I used a mini duo and also used ham hocks. Because of how much space the ham hocks took up, I could only use 4 cups of broth.
What I did was at the end of the cooking time, i removed the ham hocks, added in the other 3 cups of broth and gave it a good stir. It was just fine. I then separated the meat from the ham hocks, tossed the meat in the soup and it was good to go!
Next time I might add one or two teaspoons of soy or Worcester sauce to give it that “something”.
Just got an instapot so was excited to try a recipe for my favorite soup. I found this to be pretty perfect. I am really excited to do more instapot cooking now.
Thank you, Carolyn! I’m so happy you liked this recipe!
Seriously an amazing recipe. The consistency was incredible. I used bacon and blended with an immersion blender. I actually sub a shallot for garlic and was pretty happy with the outcome. My husband who does not like split pea soup ate two bowls before I ate my first one which means it’s pretty good.
Hi Jeremy! I’m really happy to know that you and the hubby liked it! Thank you for your review!
Ohhhhhhhmygosh. I’m in my late 30s, and I grew up loving (and eating lots of) my grandmomma’s pea soup. I received an Instant Pot this Christmas, and I thought, ‘what the heck, why not try this recipe tonight’. It’s 30 degrees here in Mississippi, and that’s COLD for these parts! Ummmmm, flavor? Amazing. And the consistency is insane!! Sooooo smooth and velvety! I know this reads like a porn-intro, but it’s just that good. And I’m sorry, Grandmomma, but this one’s better…
Thank you, Amber! You made me laugh! I guess that’s why they call it food p*rn! I’m so happy you liked it, and I appreciate your review!
I made this recipe tonight and it was awesome,!
The direction were clear, easy to follow and I was beyond pleased with the results. I used a left over ham shank bone instead of the usual hocks. What I did was add 1tsp of Wright’s Liquid Smoke to obtain that nice smoky flavor that one usually gets from the ham hock. I also added 3Tbsp of Sherry and two large potatoes cut into bite size pieces like my grandmother use to do.
This tasted just as amazing as my grandmothers, just easier and much faster!!!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it. Sherry would be a very nice addition!
Another Washingtonian checking in (Federal Way). Yummy, and easy. With a new recipe I always make a mess in my kitchen while I figure out what to do. The next time I know what to expect and can find and use just the minimum equipment, dishes, etc. Also, the second time I know what changes I’d like to make (if any). I think this soup takes LOTS more liquid because when it gets even slightly cool it starts to thicken and could easily be eaten with a fork!! I put some away for leftovers tonight and when cold it turned into something like wallpaper paste, so I added a bunch more stock before I put it in the fridge. However, the recipe itself is outstanding. Oh, I also chunked my carrots to about 1″ (+/-) so there would be actual carrot pieces and just put them in when the recipe directed. They were perfect. Definitely will make again.
Yum! The only problem with this soup is summoning the patience to wait long enough not to burn my mouth. I served it with giant croutons made from a multigrain baguette & it was Heaven! Thanks.
Thank you, Juliet! I hope you didn’t really burn your mouth! 😉
I made this two nights ago and it was the best pea soup I’ve ever made (and I’m a good soup maker!). I doubled the thyme and bay leaves (I think I easily doubled the garlic too but I wasn’t keeping track), and opted for beef broth. I diced the ham and fried it first to bring the flavor out. It was so good it nearly brought tears to my eyes. And it was just as good (and much thicker) on day two. Thank you for a great recipe! It’s going in my “make again” folder.
That’s great, Jona! So glad you enjoyed it!