Making Split Pea Soup in the Slow Cooker is so easy and perfect for busy weeknight meals. It’s also freezer friendly, so you can make a batch and freeze the leftovers for another night.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
I love using smoked ham hocks in pea soup, it gives the soup a wonderful smoky flavor, but if you don’t have ham hocks you can also use a leftover ham bone, ham steak or even smoked turkey leg instead. You can see my stove top Pea Soup Recipe, and I also have an Instant Pot Pea Soup version which is great if you want to speed this up!
When I make this on the stove, I use more liquid, which you can see if you compare recipes. Since you don’t have any evaporation when you use the slow cooker, I always cut the liquid back. This soup is super easy to make, the only prep is sautéing the onions and garlic, which you can do the night before if you want to turn this on in the morning and head out the door.
Slow Cooker Pea Soup Tips and Variations
- If you can’t find smoked ham hocks, use a leftover ham bone or ham steak.
- If you don’t eat pork, you can swap the ham for a smoked turkey leg.
- To make this vegetarian, leave the ham out, swap the broth for vegetarian broth and add more salt.
- To freeze pea soup, let the soup cool then transfer to freezer safe containers in portions and label the soup with the date and time. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator then reheat on the stove or microwave.
And since so many are asking, although I have and love my Instant Pot, I still love my slow cooker! I have the 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker (affil link). I love it because you can adjust the time you want it to cook, and it automatically turns to warm when it’s done. It also has a probe for meat that automatically shuts off when done. I hated my old crock pot, it burnt everything and my food had a weird taste. This slow cooker is so great, I actually own several!
How To Make Split Pea Soup in the Slow Cooker
More Soup Recipes:
- Kale and Potato Soup with Turkey Sausage
- Leftover Ham Bone Soup with Potato and Cabbage
- Slow Cooker Pork and Gandules Stew (Pigeon Peas)
- Chicken and Avocado Soup
- Cheeseburger Soup
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock
Ingredients
- 16 oz bag of dried split peas
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium chopped onion
- 2 - 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 1 smoked ham hock about 11 ounces (assuming 4 ounces meat removing bone and skin)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and drain the peas in a colander.
- In a small skillet, saute onions and garlic in oil over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer to the slow cooker and add peas, carrots, ham hock and chicken broth, cover and cook on LOW 10 hours, until the peas are tender.
- Remove ham hock and season with black pepper.
- Discard the skin of the ham hock and shred the pork off the bone, add back to the soup.
I’ve made this twice, once in crockpot & once stovetop; I actually liked crockpot better because peas seem to break down better and was smoother than stovetop. Making this again tomorrow in crockpot. I use a ham steak as easier for me to find than a ham hock. Delish!
Why do you have to saute the onion?
This recipe was delicious!!! My leftovers thickened up a whole lot after being refrigerated… almost to a paste like consistency. Any tips on how to avoid this?
I want that fancy wooden spoon you have! Where did you get that?
Made this with an enormous ham hock that I picked up from the butcher. I think it was 2.5 lbs. Wouldn’t like to meet the pig it came from. *lol* Added 50% more carrot, onion, garlic and 8 cups of homemade beef broth that I was looking to use up. Filled a tea ball with peppercorns and fresh rosemary and threw that in as well.
Cooked for about six hours on low when I noticed that the peas were falling apart. Applied an immersion blender to smooth it out a bit and added back the shredded meat. Excellent. Made about 18 cups in total … enough to eat this week and about ten cups are going in the freezer from when my son comes home from uni. :o)
It’s easy and delicious!
I use a 16-oz. ham steak (cut into 1/4 inch cubes) with every batch of soup. Adds flavor and meat to the recipe without needing to remove a bone later
Also added:
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
1/2 – teaspoon dried oregano, thyme, and marjoram
2 tbsp. dried parsley
1 cup diced potatoes (add just before serving if precooked)
.
I made this today. As with others who noted cooking times, I found that mine was completely done at 6 hours cooking on low. Both the split peas and carrots were totally soft. We weren’t quite ready to eat dinner so I turned the crockpot to “keep warm”. I did sneak a taste or two, you know just to be sure it was edible😜😜😜😜. It was delicious😋😋😋
Do you think this would cook well on HIGH maybe 4-5 hours?????? Or is it necessary to do it LOW? Made this once before and it was amazing!!! Wanted to make it tonight but short on time.
I did it on high and it was just about 5 hours. Just for anyone else wondering. 🙂 I don’t add ham because I don’t like it which makes it zero points. So good!
How can I make this lower salt? Does a smoked turkey leg have less salt?
not sure?
Delicious! The points are not exactly accurate- I got 8 smart points on green when i put into WW. But this is still a low point option meal!