Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
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.
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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!
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!
I am always looking for the flavor & texture of my mother’s spit pea soup & I found it! I was hesitant about using broth instead of water but it was great. The soup had good flavor & it thickened nicely in the crockpot after 8 hours. I had a fabulous ham bone that was on sale for the best price at our local grocery store. Thanks for another great recipe!
I only have leftover ham without the bone. Will that work in this recipe?
Yes I use much less. Just enough to flavor it
Yes I use much less ham. Just enough to flavor it
This was super yummy. But I think the points are incorrect for green.
I am trying to track my calories and macros with the MyFitnessPal app so I added all the ingredients into their recipe function…I’m getting different numbers for calories and WAY more fat per serving. What am I missing? Does skinny taste provide a breakdown of nutrition per ingredients? Thanks!
what does 11/3 mean for serving size?
It’s 1 and 1/3 cup.
Tasted good but it came out really thick. I would probably add more liquid if I make it again.
I bought fresh pork hocks to put in the soup. Hoping that is going to be ok! Also adding some liquid smoke.
Delicious and easy! I used smoked turkey wings and cooked on low for 8 hours.
We made it today for dinner. It was delicious!! Definitely something we will make again. 💜
This recipe was seriously so good!
I just plugged this recipe into Weight Watchers recipe builder. I am “green”. It comes up as 10 pts.
Why do you sauté the onions and garlic beforehand? Can you just toss them in the slow cooker?
Just a quick observation for clarification. The slow cooker version of this recipe lists 2 points for green, but the stovetop version lists 9 points for green. Pretty sure the slow cooker version needs edited. Wonderful recipe regardless!
Just a little correction, I got 8 Green SmartPoints for this recipe. Peas are not a ZeroPoint food on the myWW Green Plan. Thank you for all you do! I LOVE your site and recipes!
This recipe is fantastic! Just a note, you only need to cook it on low 8. Don’t need to wait until low 10.
Delicious! I’ve never had split pea, it was never really appealing to me but gave it a try because it was a fairly low point soup. It’s is so yummy! Set it in the AM came back to delicious soup.
This was so delicious. Perfect for a cool day!
Go for the smoked turkey leg in this one! Gives the soup a great flavor. It is a warm, comforting and filling soup with protein and loads of fiber. I would use about ten oz turkey leg meat, not 16 or its over powered with the flavor. This one is on our regular rotation.
I made this a couple of months ago and it was absolutely easy and delicious!! I added a little extra ham because the pork bone didn’t have much meat on it but flavored the soup so well !
Hi.
Do u soak the peas the night before or do I put them in dry??
Thanks
If I used sausage, should it be cooked first? Is ham hock cooked? I’ve never used it before…
Its smoked, a smoked sausage would be great here.
So I just made a pot. I did do it on the stove. Same thing but I just simmered it for two hours. I used yellow split peas instead of the recommended ones. Turned out very well. Would share a picture but there is no option on here to do so.
This is a must try so I will put this on my list. My slow cooker is getting old though so I !might have to invest in a new one. Not sure about the instant pot. Waiting to see how others like it fir st, before I buy I one. Can this be done in the oven as well and if so at what temperature and how long would you say? Anyone?
I used Smoked Bacon. Worked really good. Amazing recipe.
did you cook it first or put it in raw?
Hello Gina. I’m super excited to make this recipe for my mom, it’s her favorite but I don’t have a slow cooker. Do you know how to do this with an instapot?
Yes ! Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Where did you get the cute Staub bowls?? I really need some new soup bowls and would love to get some like the ones shown!!
Made this exactly as written. After 5 1/2 hours on low in my crock pot, my peas were baby food & this was SUPER thick. Not sure if my crock pot cooks too hot or what went wrong. It tastes fine, but there’s absolutely no texture to this other than what the ham provides.
It could be your slow cooker may run hot, mine were still firm after 8. Could also be the peas.
Goya makes ham concentrate powder add 1 packet same flavor love it
Made this today – holy moly! So flavorful, and my hubby and son both went in for seconds! (OK, so did I!!)
Do you put the ham hock in the crock pot to cook with the skin on the hock? Or take it off before putting in crock pot to cook? I have never used one before. Thank you!
With the skin, remove it after.
This was so easy to make and very good! Will be making this again!!
Love this recipe! So fast & easy to assemble. When I’m feeling industrious/have time, I’ll puree 1-2 cups of the soup & stir it in to remaining soup for a smoother texture. Personally, I like my soup “chunkier. “
We don’t eat ham. . . any suggestions for something else to use for that extra flavor?
Smoked turkey leg or even smoked turkey kielbasa!
Do not understand your comment re ham hock? Do you mean 4 ozs of the 11 oz hock should contain 4 oz of Ham? Also where is stovetop recipe? TIA
On the back of the pea bag
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA Thanks for the laugh!
yes, it’s mostly bone and skin. That’s what I had, so I am sure it will vary.
I take a two hours and the stove at just a simmer. I used yellow split peas instead and it turned out very well.
This is just a general question/comment, not about a particular recipe. In the last several weeks I have noticed the three recipes featured at the end of the post have remained the same. Preciously there had been three different recipe suggestions, always different for each post. I looked forward to these because they always led me to new choices. If someone can tell me why this has been changed, I would appreciate it.
If I font have a slow cooker how much stock or liquid would I use and how long would I cook it for. You said if you compare receipe but there are no stove top instructions that I can see.
The link to the stove top recipe is embedded in the text all you have to do is click on it and the stove top recipe should pop up- alternatively you could always search for it from the drop down menu
I’d like to make this with a leftover ham bone. Does this change the points value? Hambones seem pretty fatty.
We love your recipes, thanks!!
I’ve never seen ham hocks like the ones pictured here ;~(, I use them often. Will definitely make this recipe – I love split pea soup, thank you for sharing, Gina.
A little confused is it 2-3 cloves of garlic or 23? 23 sounds like too much even for this Italian 😂
yes 2 or 3 cloves
Hi Gina- I want to make this split pea soup as my husband and I love bean soup. We don’t eat ham, and are not keen on turkey, so do you think putting some frankfurters in there would give it the smoky flavor? I use Hebrew National low fat franks… by the way, I’m not on WW or any real diet, but I love your recipes!
Thanks.
Sure any smoked meat, sausage will be great!
I am looking forward to making this! I am assuming that there are 2-3 cloves of garlic and not 23? LOL
yes 2 or 3 cloves