Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with ham, or without, is a hearty, delicious soup that is pure comfort food! Make this family favorite crock pot split pea soup recipe on a cold day, or any time you are craving a bowl of rich, flavorful classic split pea soup.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
I have been making this wonderful Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe for more than 25 years. I really don’t think I make it often enough!
This is one of those soups that you can make vegetarian or vegan, or load up on the meat! It’s delicious either way.
Slow cookers are wonderful things! Cooking your meal on a low heat inside a crock allows a nice tender result, the split peas break down perfectly.
The even cooking from the thick crock ensures you wont get a burned meal with such a long cook time.
This is a great meal to toss together before you leave for the day. Maybe prep the veggies the night before so you can just add all of the ingredients to the crock in the morning and set it to Low.
It can cook for 8 to 10 hours no problem. Just add about 1/2 cup extra of chicken broth or water to ensure it doesn’t get too thick.
This crock pot split pea soup recipe is very budget friendly. If you have a leftover meaty ham bone, or some bacon, that will work well for the meat portion. You can also use a ham hock.
If you want to keep it a vegetarian split pea soup, you can add a little liquid smoke to get that nice smoky hint of flavor.
A 1 pound bag of split peas costs less than $2 in my neck of the woods, and carrots, onion, celery, and garlic are pretty inexpensive, too.
This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe makes about 8 to 10 servings, and with a chunk of buttered crusty bread, you have yourself a nice, economical meal!
Classic Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
Slow Cooker Creamy Sausage Gnocchi Soup
Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana
I also have a pressure cooker version: Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with ham, or without, is a hearty, delicious soup that is pure comfort food! Make this crock pot split pea soup recipe on a chilly day, or any time you crave a bowl of rich, flavorful split pea soup.
- 1 lb Green Split Peas, rinsed and sorted (unsoaked)
- Meaty Ham Bone (or meat of your choice. See Below)
- 1 Onion, diced
- 3 ribs Celery, diced
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Thyme Leaves, dried (or 3 sprigs fresh)
- 3 Carrots, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, pressed or finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 7 cups Low Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Broth
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (Optional) for vegetarian version
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt, add last, after cooking, if needed (1/4 tsp table salt)
- 6 slices Bacon, chopped
- 2 small Ham Hocks (Not very meaty, but add a nice smoky flavor and richness)
- 1 Leftover Ham Bone (I like to use this with the diced ham)
- 2 - 3 cups Diced Leftover Ham
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After rinsing and sorting the split peas, add them to the crock pot.
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Add your choice of meat, if using (such as a leftover ham bone, ham hock, etc.)
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Add the onion, celery, bay leaves, thyme, carrots, garlic, and pepper.
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Pour in the broth and stir (Add liquid smoke, if using, for vegetarian method).
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Place the lid on the crock pot.
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Cook on Low for 7-9 hours, or until the peas are soft and creamy.
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When the cooking time has finished, remove the bay leaves and the ham bone or ham hocks, if you used them.
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Stir the soup well, and taste. Add the salt as desired.
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Serve hot. The soup will thicken quite a bit when it cools, that is normal. It will thin out again when reheated.
If you want a Vegetarian or Vegan soup, omit the meat, use vegetable broth, and try some liquid smoke to give the soup a nice smoky hint of flavor.
Calories are approximate as this will vary greatly by the type of meat, or no meat, you choose to use.
RESOURCES TO MAKE Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup recipe and more
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Stan Quick
Leftover ham from Easter so made this recipe complete with bone. No added salt as ham provided enough. I also used the liquid smoke. This will be my go to recipe. Great results.
Scott
I love split pea soup and make it when it gets cold (I live in Hawaii so cold is somewhat relative). If your soup is thin you might remove some of the water that forms on top or (what I do) use some corn starch to thicken. Both work well to thicken this and other soups
Joe
What size/weight for “meaty ham bone”, please?
Sandy
Whatever you have. They come in different sizes, and while you don’t want a gigantic one, you also don’t want a really small one. If you only have a really small one, use it and add some bacon for more meat and smoky flavor.
Marlene
I used smoked turkey wings, lots of turkey meat. Delicious!
Larissa
I’ve made this twice already, currently cooking it a third time and the flavor is so delicious! My whole family comes back for seconds, even my picky kids! I’m trying to figure out how to make it as thick as your picture, because I haven’t been able to get the soup super thick like that. Do you by chance use an immersion blender to thicken it up after the 8 hours cook time? Currently have the ingredients in the crock pot, contemplating running to target to buy one.
Sandy
I don’t use an immersion blender as I don’t want the ham chunks to be broken up. You can try using a little less liquid.
Josh
Add just a very small amount of instant mash potatoes
Sandy
Great tip!
Jennifer J Jones
This was so yummy! I made it for my dad who loves split pea. Thanks Sandy!
Tiani
Can you cook this on high? How long?
Sandy
Yes, about 3-4 hours. Stirring once halfway through.
Robyn Atkinson
Made this with a ham bone. Was not as thick looking as the picture, but maybe will be thicker as leftovers. Was very good though!
Luna Fleig
I made this yesterday and it was great