Split Pea Soup
Whose kids like split pea soup? The color is a yucky green. The gloopy texture can be off putting to a lot of people and the name is not a favorite among many. Peas are often the butt of childhood vegetable jokes. So why did my kids think that split pea soup was delicious? I have no idea but I was just glad they did and counted it as a parenting win even though I had absolutelynothing to do with it.
Split pea soup is one of the easiest things to throw together at the last minute when I don’t have a plan. Shelf stable bags of split peas can sit forever in my cupboard. I always have onions and garlic and carrots around. If I don’t have chicken broth around, I have Better than Bouillon in the back of my refrigerator. Sometimes, I have bags of leftover chopped ham in the freezer and sometimes I don’t. When I was young and working at our family delicatessen we used tongue in it. Because it was a beef product it was more appealing to our clientele. Other times I don’t use meat in it at all.
So, recently when my 21 year old daughter started talking about split pea soup fondly, I was prepared. I had everything in the house to make a batch for dinner. There was even had a fresh bag of garlic butter croutons that we all love on top of our pea soup. I dragged said daughter into the kitchen and taught her how to make slit pea soup. Will she ever decide to make it again? I’m not sure, but at least I taught her how to make a nutritious and inexpensive dinner. She better live somewhat close to me because I’m guessing she really wants mom to stock her freezer with homemade dinners and soups like split pea soup.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
Stove top Directions
- 1 cup Smoked Ham chopped
- 8 cups Water
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 teaspoons Chicken or Vegetable Bouillon or just use 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth and 4 cups of water in place of the 8 cups
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 3/4 cup Carrots finely diced
- 1 small Onion finely diced
- 1 clove Garlic finely minced
- 16 oz Green Split Peas
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Several Grinds of Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring ham, water, bay leaf and bouillon to a low simmer. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Set aside.
- In a soup pot heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add carrots, onions and garlic. Saute for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add broth mixture to the vegetable mixture and add split peas.
- Bring to simmer, cover and cook on medium low for about 1 hour and 15 minutes stirring occasionally. (Add more water if soup gets too thick)
- Add salt and pepper. Stir well to break up most of the remaining split peas.
Instant Pot
- On medium saute mode,heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add carrots, onions and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off saute mode'
- Add, ham, water, bay leaf, bouillon and split peas to the IP. Cook on manual pressure for 22 minutes.
- Natural Release cool down for 15 minutes.
- Open lid. Add salt and pepper. Stir well.