Slow Cooker (or not) Split Pea and Ham Soup
with baguette / green salad
This cozy soup is a Cook Smarts classic, last featured in 2015.
Smarts #1: The ham will impart a lot of flavor to the soup, so be sure to get ham with flavors you would like - honey roasted or smoked, etc. If you’d like to top the bowls of finished soup with some extra chopped ham, reserve a small amount before adding it to the soup.
Smarts #2: The thickness of the soup will vary depending on how much the peas break down, so you may need to stir in some more stock or some water at the end of cooking.
Ingredients
- Onions - 1, diced
- Carrots - 8 oz, diced
- Ham, thick deli-sliced - 6 oz, chopped
- Thyme leaves - 1 tsp
- Oregano, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
- Stock, any type - 4 cups
- Split peas, dried - 1 cup
- Bay leaves - 1
- Sour cream (opt) - for serving (sub plain or Greek yogurt)
- Baguette - 1, sub any crusty bread
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 1 1/2 tsp
- Honey - 1/2 tsp
- Oregano, dried - 1/4 tsp
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
- Grapes - 1 cup, halved
- Mixed greens - 5 oz
- Pistachios, shelled - 1/4 cup (sub any type of nuts)
Nutrition Facts
Choose Cooking Method
Prep
- Onions / Carrots / Ham - Prep as directed. Combine onions and carrots. Store ham in its own container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and dried oregano (portion for salad). Add olive oil while whisking. Season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Combine onions, carrots, ham, thyme leaves, dried oregano (portion for slow cooker), red pepper flakes, stock, split peas, and bay leaves in the bowl of a slow cooker. Cook until split peas are completely soft, on high for 2 to 3 hours or low for 5 to 6 hours.
- Grapes - Halve grapes.
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Make
- When soup is done cooking, discard bay leaves. Taste and season with some salt and pepper. If the soup is very thick, thin it with some more stock or water.
- Just before serving, toss greens, pistachios, and grapes in vinaigrette until dressed to your liking.
- Divide soup between bowls and top with sour cream. Serve soup with salad and bread on the side. Enjoy!
Prep
- Onions / Carrots / Ham - Prep as directed. Combine onions and carrots. Store ham in its own container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and dried oregano (portion for salad). Add olive oil while whisking. Season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Grapes - Halve grapes.
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Make
- Heat a Dutch oven with some oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and thyme leaves with some salt. Saute until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in ham, dried oregano (portion for soup), red pepper flakes, stock, split peas, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- When soup is boiling, reduce heat to a low simmer and cover. Simmer, covered, until peas are completely soft, 40 to 50 minutes.
- When soup is done cooking, discard bay leaves. Taste and season with some salt and pepper. If the soup is very thick, thin it with some more stock or water.
- Just before serving, toss greens, pistachios, and grapes in vinaigrette until dressed to your liking.
- Divide soup between bowls and top with sour cream. Serve soup with salad and bread on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
Yum! We added a ham hock because we had one and cooked it for 10 hours on low. So good. The salad was also really good too!
1 Helpful34 reviews
So savory and delicious. I added celery. I followed others’ lead and used the whole 16oz bag of split peas and cooked it longer. It was on low in the crockpot for 8.5 hours before the peas were soft enough. Made sure there was enough stock to cover it all. About 6 cups. I also went to the honeybaked ham store and bought a meaty ham bone. Put the bone in the crockpot and added the meat in at the end. Perfect.
0 HelpfulThis was surprisingly delicious! Kids and adults both liked it. Followed previous suggestions to brown the ham first. Did it in the IP using the timing suggested in an earlier comment (20 min, quick release).
0 HelpfulI used more ham, and I browned it first. I added the onions and carrots to that before adding everything else. It's delicious, cheap and easy and I love the side salad!
0 HelpfulSo, so good. I used the whole bag, added leftover mushrooms and blended it smooth with my stick blender. I needed to add more water but that was just to get the consistency I wanted. Can’t wait to make it again!
0 HelpfulSo easy, so good. My 5 year old says that this is her favorite meal ever and wants to have it weekly. I'm inclined to agree for at least a little while... I used cubed hamx2 from the deli section at the grocery store (lunch meat and hotdogs).
0 Helpful