Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

5 from 1 vote

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Thick, hearty Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with ham, carrots, and celery. Serves 10, cooks hands-off on low 8–10 hrs or high 4–6 hrs.

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Total Time8 15

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: crock pot soup with split peas, slow cooker split pea soup, split pea soup slow cooker

Servings: servings

Calories: 198kcal

Author: Sara Nelson

Equipment

slow cooker

Ingredients

16 ounces dried split peas or 20 ounces for a thicker soup; see Note below
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water 1 ½ cups if using 20 ounces of split peas; see Note below
2 cups cubed ham store-bought or leftover or 1 meaty ham bone
3 carrots peeled then diced
2 celery ribs diced
½ large yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme

Optional Garnish:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Prepare Soup:

High Instructions:
Rinse peas and drain well (soaking them overnight first is optional). Combine all soup ingredients excluding parsley in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours. If desired, to thicken more, after 4 hours of cooking on high, cook with the lid off for an additional 1 hour.
(Personally, I cook mine covered on high for 4 hours and then uncovered for about another 1 hour.)
Low Instructions:
Rinse peas and drain well. Combine all soup ingredients excluding parsley in a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
(If you have extra time, you can continue to cook longer to further soften the ingredients and for the flavors to further develop. It really just comes down to how much time you have.)
Final Steps, Garnish, and Serve: Discard bay leaf. If you used a ham bone, remove it, pull off any meat, chop it, and stir it back into the soup. If you’d like a thicker consistency, carefully blend soup using an immersion blender until desired consistency is reached. Stir in parsley, then carefully taste test and add salt and pepper based on taste preferences.

Video

Notes

Amount of Split Peas and Amount of Water: Use 1 cup of water if you add 16 ounces of split peas. If you use 20 ounces of split peas, use 1 1⁄2 cups water. If desired, add more water towards the end of the cooking time to thin the soup out.

Bone-In Ham Note: If using bone-in ham, keep the bone in the soup until the soup has finished cooking. Remove from the soup when removing the bay leaf.

Refrigerator Storage: Refrigerate the soup in an airtight container within 2 hours of cooking, and use it within 3 to 4 days.

Freezer Storage: Freeze it in portions in a freezer-safe container, and it’ll be good for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

Reheating: To reheat, pop it in the microwave, stirring every minute or so until it’s heated through. You can also reheat it in a pot on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally. If the soup has become too thick in the fridge, thin it out with a little water or broth.

Nutrition