Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup (w/ Ham)

This comforting and easy slow cooker split pea soup is fast to prep in just 5 minutes, and is made with simple ingredients like green split peas, vegetables, and ham (or a ham bone); without any pre-cooking required. Let me show you how simple it is to make!

Split Pea Ham Soup in the Slow Cooker!

You know those dishes that take you right back to how you felt as a kid? This soup is definitely one of those nostalgic recipes for me. It’s the kind of soup that’s made for going back for seconds and dipping hunks of warm, crusty bread right into the bottom of the bowl to soak up every last drop. After slow cooking for hours, the split peas get super tender and soak up all the aromatic flavors from the broth, vegetables and ham.

And even though it tastes like it came from your favorite restaurant, I love that it’s ultra easy to prep and is a super simple dump and go slow cooker recipe, so you only need to throw a handful of simple ingredients into slow cooker and hit start! I personally like making this slow cooker split pea soup with ham or a ham hock, especially when I have leftover slow cooker ham (pro tip: make this soup in the same slow cooker you used to cook the ham and save on dishes and effort!). And, if you’re not in the mood for ham and want to make a stunning vegetarian slow cooker split pea soup, I’ve included those instructions included as well.

Process & Tips for Easy Crockpot Split Pea Soup

For this crockpot split pea soup, we’re using simple hearty ingredients that can stand up to a longer cook time, such as carrots, celery, onion and split peas. Along with classic split pea soup ingredients like flavorful garlic, smoked paprika, bay leaves and vegetable stock. Once you’ve chopped all your veggies, simply add everything to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on high for 4-5 hours (or on low for 7-8 hours).  After it’s done cooking, you add a splash of red wine vinegar to lift all the flavors and you’re ready to grab a spoon & dig in. And remember, if you want a thicker soup, let the soup cool a bit and it will thicken up quite a bit.

A Few Variations to Try

• With Ham: Add 2 cups of diced ham to the soup along with the split peas and vegetables prior to cooking. If you’re looking for a simple and delicious recipe try my brown sugar glazed ham. It comes together in the slow cooker with just 5-ingredients!
• With a Ham Bone: Add 1 ham bone to the soup along with the split peas and vegetables prior to cooking. Remove the bone, pick off any meat, add back to the soup, and discard the bone after cooking.
• Vegan: Follow the recipe as written, without adding ham or a ham bone, and be sure to use vegetable stock.
• Vegetarian: Follow the recipe as written, without adding ham or a ham bone, being sure to use vegetable stock.
• With Bacon: Saute 1 pound chopped bacon in a large pan over medium heat. Drain the bacon fat and discard or set aside for another use. Add half the cooked bacon to the soup along with the split peas and vegetables prior to cooking. Top the cooked soup with the remaining cooked, crumbled bacon.
• With Potatoes: Add 1 cup diced potato of choice, such as waxy yellow or Russet potatoes to the soup along with the split peas and vegetables prior to cooking.
• Yellow Split Pea Soup: Use yellow split peas in place of green split peas in this recipe.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

• Split peas: I love split peas in soups. They’re super hearty and a very economical pantry staple. Yellow split peas will also work. If you want to use lentils, I recommend this slow cooker lentil soup.
• Bay Leaves: While not absolutely necessary, bay leaves add extra flavor to the broth.
• Smoked paprika: Smoked paprika adds a nice smokey note to the finished soup. If you don’t have smoked, sweet paprika can be substituted.
• Red wine vinegar: I love how red wine vinegar pairs with the other ingredients in this recipe. But you could also use balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar in its place.

This Recipe Is…

Dairy FreeGluten FreeNut FreeVeganVegetarian

5 stars (16 ratings)

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup (w/ Ham)

by Robyn Conley Downs

Servings: 6

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 5 hours hrs

Total: 5 hours hrs 2 minutes mins

This comforting and easy slow cooker split pea soup is fast to prep in just 5 minutes, and is made with simple ingredients like green split peas, vegetables, and ham (or a ham bone); without any pre-cooking required. Let me show you how simple it is to make!

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Ingredients

• 1 pound split peas, rinsed and picked over
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 cups diced carrot
• 3 cloves garlic. minced or finely grated
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 quart chicken stock,
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups diced ham, or 1 ham hock

To Add at the End

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Equipment

• Slow Cooker

Instructions 

Slow Cooker Instructions

• Add the split peas, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, smoked paprika, salt, broth, water and the ham or ham bone (if using) to a 6-quart slow cooker, stirring to combine.
• Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8. Do not remove the lid during the cooking time.
• Uncover, add the red wine vinegar, and stir to combine. Remove the ham bone (if using) and discard. Taste and add additional salt or vinegar if desired. Note: this soup may be on the thin side at first. In testing, I turned my slow cooker completely off at the end of the cook time, leaving it covered to sit for an hour. During that time it cooled slightly and was significantly thicker, making it the ideal thickness. For this reason I recommend allowing an additional hour for cooling if you prefer a thick split pea soup.

Notes

• Yellow split pea soup: Use yellow split peas in place of green.
• Too thin: This soup thickens quite a bit as it cools, so if you want a slightly thicker consistency, allow it to cool for 30 minutes or so before serving. 
• Serving suggestions: Chopped flat leaf parsley, freshly ground black pepper, hot sauce, crusty bread
• Too thick: Add a splash of stock or water upon reheating if it’s too thick.

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 (of 6), Calories: 299kcal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 735mg, Potassium: 964mg, Fiber: 22g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 7482IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 73mg, Iron: 4mg

Nutrition disclaimer

Did you make this recipe?If you do, be sure to share it on Instagram and tag me at @realfoodwholelife so I can see!

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