Classic Split Pea Soup with Ham is the soup I crave on cold nights! It’s a comforting soup made with just 6 ingredients not counting salt and pepper.
Classic Split Pea Soup Recipe with Ham
A bowl of split pea soup always makes me think of my childhood. We grew up eating soup almost every day either before our main dish or as our main, depending on the soup. This split pea soup was always a favorite of mine when Mom made it, it was on rotation because it’s healthy and budget friendly. It freezes well if you want to make it ahead for freezer meals. If you don’t eat pork, you can also use a smoked turkey leg. This stove top version is so easy, but if you wish I also have a Pressure Cooker version and a Crockpot Split Pea Soup recipe for when you want to set it and forget it. And if you want a pea soup made with fresh peas, try this Spring Pea Soup with Fresh Herbs.
Ingredients
- You will need a pound of dried split green peas, they come in a bag. Yellow split peas would also work, although I prefer green for this.
- Aromatics: Chopped onion and garlic, for flavor.
- Vegetables: You will need 2 large diced carrots. You can also chop up some celery stalks, if you desire.
- Chicken broth: Use homemade or store bought low sodium chicken broth. You can also use 8 cups cold water with 2 bouillon cubes, instead.
- Seasoning: kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- Smoked Ham: 1 large or 2 small smoked ham hocks or 8 ounces cooked ham, (assuming 8 ounces cooked pork removing bone and skin)*. If you have a leftover ham, using the meaty ham bone also makes a delicious soup. If you’re not a fan of ham, a smoked turkey leg works great too.
How To Make Split Pea Soup
- Wash the peas and drain.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute onions and garlic in 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the peas, carrots, ham hock and chicken broth, then cover the pot and let it come to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once it boils, reduce heat and cook for about 2 hours, or until the peas are soft and thickened.
Make sure to check the liquid and consistency. You may need to add hot water if it becomes too thick. - Remove the ham hock, discard the skin and bone and serve the soup with ham.
Is split pea soup healthy?
YES! Green split peas are super nutritious and healthy addition to a balanced diet. The high fiber and protein content of this soup will keep you full and satisfied.
- High in protein: Split green peas are a good source of plant-based protein, this soup has 27 grams per serving.
- Rich in fiber: Split green peas are high in fiber, one serving of this soup has about 18 grams of fiber. Fiber helps to promote digestive health, regulate blood sugar levels, and reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Low in fat: Split green peas are low in fat and contain no cholesterol, making them a heart-healthy food.
- Rich in vitamins and minerals: Split green peas are a good source of vitamins and minerals, including folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium.
Do split peas need to be soaked before cooking?
No, you do not need to soak split peas before cooking. They cook faster than regular peas because of the way they are processed.
What to Serve with Split Pea Soup
This hearty soup is filling on its own or with croutons, a side salad or a slice of crusty bread.
Tips and Variations
- If you can’t find smoked ham hocks, use a leftover ham bone or ham steak.
- Smoked bacon can also be used to add a smoky flavor, although it will add more fat. Drain the fat before adding the vegetables.
- If you don’t eat pork, swap the ham for a smoked turkey leg.
- To make vegetarian split pea soup, leave the ham out, swap the chicken broth for vegetarian broth, and add more salt.
- If you want to add some herbs, thyme, bay leaves, chopped parsley or cilantro will add great flavor in the soup or as garnish.
- Refrigerate leftover soup in the fridge for up to 4 days. This soup tastes better the next day, you may need to add a little water before reheating on the stove or microwave.
- To freeze pea soup, transfer leftovers to freezer-safe airtight containers after the soup cools and label the soup with the date and name. Freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then warm on the stove or in the microwave.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love:
- Leftover Ham Bone Soup with Potatoes and Cabbage
- Spring Pea Soup with Fresh Herbs
- Slow Cooker Butternut Pear Soup
- 16-Bean Soup with Ham and Kale
- Chicken Barley Soup
Split Pea Soup Recipe with Ham
Ingredients
- 16 ounce bag of dried split peas
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 large or 2 small smoked ham hocks*, or 8 ounces cooked ham
Instructions
- Wash the peas and drain.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute onions and garlic in 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the peas, carrots, ham hock and chicken broth, then cover the pot and let it come to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once it boils, reduce heat and cook for about 2 hours, or until the peas are soft and thickened.
- Make sure to check the liquid and consistency. You may need to add hot water if it becomes too thick.
- Remove ham hock, discard the skin and boned and serve with ham.
It was really good. BUT…my grandma use to take half and blend it and addit back to add creamy texture…is that a good or bad idea?
If swapping for a smoked Turkey leg do you add whole leg to pot like you would the ham hock? Or just add the meat at the end?
It tastes really great! Started it at 930pm and I’m done by 1030 with kitchen cleaned & soup ready for tomorrow! Thank you!
I have made yellow split pea soup for years.
My mother always added celery for extra nutrition, that is the only item missing from your soup recipe.
I will be making some soon, since the cool weather is here.
Adding herbs to the soup, as you have suggested gives more flavour.
This was the PERFECT Pea Soup Recipe – I added Turkey Kielbasa which took it to 6 pts per serving but was so worth it – delicious and filling too!!
Yum!!
Should you cover the Dutch oven during the two hours of simmering? I’m not sure if it is understood that it should be covered so that step was just left out, or if I should leave it uncovered.
How can I convert this recipe to slow cooker?
This soup is easy and delicious! We made it for St. Patrick’s Day, and it was a tasty and fun way to celebrate.
I made this recipe once a year. It’s perfectly warm and filling on wintry day.
Pretty much the same recipe I always use except I add thyme and occasionally one or two chopped up potatoes. My family loves it!
A big hit with the family! The best pea soup we’ve eaten. This will definitely be our “go to” recipe for split pea soup. Threw in a bay leaf for a a little additional flavor.
This has been my go-to split pea soup recipe for several years now. It’s consistently delicious and I always give a couple of bowls to my neighbor/dear friend because it’s her favorite. I add 2 tbsp. dry sherry and 2 tsp. ground thyme for added flavor.
EXCELLENT! I used a ham bone from a spiral ham. It was delicious!
This is honestly the best soup I have ever had! Thank you!
Delicious soup…I love pea soup, the last two attemps to make it were disapointing (one where the peas would not soften) ..this recipe was easy and so delicious.. I’m on my third bowl. 🙂 ,love it!
thank you,
Made this…delicious. Followed the recipe exactly without a problem. For me, it took almost 3 hours of cooking for the peas to be nice and soft and the soup sufficiently thickened. I also added barley, which I love, for more oomph after 1 1/2 hours of cooking. Definitely a winner !
I already made ham stock with water and the bone. Do you think I could use 4 cups of that and 4 cups of soup stock?
I think so!
I bought fresh pork hocks. Hoping that will be ok to use in the soup. Also added some liquid smoke.
Don’t add the hamhock directly with the peas. It falls apart and it is too hard to fish out the inedible pieces of skin. It makes the soup a chore to eat. Instead cook the hamhock separately with the broth for a while for it to soak up the ham flavor. Then remove the hamhock, cut it up, remove and throw away the skin and bone and fat (hamhock fat does not dissolvinto the soup) and add the cut up meat back in.
Once it boils and heat is reduced, do I cover or leave uncovered for next 2 hours?
Hi,
I’m not a big time chef by any means, and actually had the same question as you. I came to the conclusion that it should continue to be covered given the other recipes for slow cooker/pressure cooker are both covered. Actually just making it now so we’ll see how it turns out.
Love pea soup – but not able to find split peas – yellow or green. Can I use split yellow chickpeas instead?
I made mine in the crockpot and it seems very watery and salty. I didn’t add any extra salt. How can l save it
I swapped half of the peas with green lentils and it turned out absolutely delicious! Will make again!!!
I used your idea Becky and loved it – thanks for sharing!
I’m soooooo glad I found this sight…..going to do the split pea soup in the crockpot today….Farmer’s Market……LOVE OREGON’S FARMER’S MARKET’S.
IT’S WONDERFUL EATING HEALTHY 💜😊 Enjoy these recipes with your fam. THANK YOU……NOW LOOKING FOR POTATO SOUP????
Which split peas do you use? The yellow split peas I got at Walmart are 55 points for 2 1/4 cup (16oz)
Are you supposed to soak the peas overnight? Or just rinse them off?
No need to soak. Just rinse off with water.
This looks amazing – do you think you can make it with yellow split peas?
Does this really have 20 grams of sugar.?
No, it is 20g fiber, 9g sugar.
Add 3 or 4 bay leaves for that extra flavor. You will love it.
I have also used smoked turkey thighs which works out great as well.
Terrific recipe! Good hearty soup. Freezes well, I put in individual containers and freeze for future lunches or quick dinner.
Can anyone offer some smart point insight? I entered the recipe exactly as it is written into the recipe feature and it is calculating to 1 sp, although the recipe here states 2sp!
I’m not following WW and stumbled upon this looking for split pea soup recipes if you didn’t have a hambone. Didn’t know you could use ham hocks. This soup is a HIT. Warm, delicious, everything I wanted plus healthful and ON BUDGET. Will be making again this winter for sure!
Great!!
I also want to know the answer to the question that’s been asked if you can do this in the crock pot? It seems like slow and low would make this more flavorful. Also, I’m thinking of adding a little marsala wine to the pot. Do you think it might overpower the soup?
Love this recipe! I also add leftover chopped ham at the end. Leftovers I usually have to thin out a bit with more chicken broth or water when reheating.
Hello. Is a ham bone ok to use? Any suggestions for putting this in a crock pot?
Thanks
I’ve had minor on stove for 2 hrs and it’s still not that thick. Any suggestions?
Depending on the age of the peas it may take longer.
Love it! Came out amazing! I didn’t use a hammock, but I did you a bunch of leftover ham. Will definitely make again.
A family favorite which I make in the Instant Pot.. thank you Gina.
How long did you cook the hamhocks in the instat Pot?
How is this low fat? What a joke
1.5 g saturated fat per serving is low fat
Is there a way to make this without the ham? We don’t eat pork. Thanks!
Did you ever got a replay?
I’m sure you could just omit the ham hock, but I’d add liquid smoke for flavor. Try adding sweet potatoes and herbs like fresh thyme or marjoram.
As per her recipe you could use a smoked turkey leg.
I’ve made it with the ham hock. I use the Goya jamon seasoning and it comes out great. Might try liquid smoke though.
This is the only peasoup recipe I ever use. Last time I pressure Canned it and it was even better. I tripled the recipe and get about 7 quarts of home canned soup and enough for dinner that night. It is the absolute best even my father-in-law who loves pea soup thinks it is the best
Awesome!
It seems like the calories are off. When I take just the calories in 16 ounces of the peas and divide by 6 it comes out to 257 calories each bowl. 16 ounces of dries split peas is 1,546.00 calories.
Is there an update on the caloriea in this soup and also if the serving size is 1 cup?
I’m also curious about the crockpot, can I throw it all in for 6-8hrs on low? Would it need modifications?
If you’re not eating the ham hock do you count it towards the calorie count?
No smart points?
I’ve cooked this many times on the stove and it’s delicious, my whole family loves it! But….Do you happen to know how long I’d need to cook this in an instant pot? I’m assuming it would be on the bean/lentil setting? Has anyone tried that yet?
When I import this into MyFitnesdPal, it says 322 Kcal per serving.
FYI, I just put this recipe into the Weight Watchers recipe calculator. Splitting this recipe into 6 servings with 4 ounces of ham hock it comes to 8 Smart Points, 7 points without the ham hock.
Hi, I’d like to try this in my crock pot. Any idea if it would work and for how long? Thanks
I’m confused as to how each serving only has 22g of carbs. The bag of split peas is 272g alone. Split 6 ways, that comes to 45.3g. And that doesn’t include the onion and carrot added. I’m coming up with about 50g of carbs for 1/6 of the recipe. ;-(
I am looking forward to trying this…but just a note if I may. I used to make pea soup OFTEN for two children I cared for–I bought a slab of Black Forest Ham from the deli and used that for the meat–it did the trick, and BFH is usually low in fat. Would love to try with the ham hock though–Gina–you Rock!
I can’t see how you get anywhere near this low of calories? 16oz of dried split peas is 1550calories alone which at 6 servings is 260calories. That doesn’t include anything else in the recipe?
Thanks for bringing this up, I am going to look into this and see.
Gina, just wondering if you ever had the chance to look into this and if you could gives us the updated info? thanks. Love what you do !
I got 322 cal in MFP.
How much ham? It just says one ham hock?
A ham hock is mostly bone, about 4 ounces of meat.
Yes I was wondering too ………… how many smart points in this recipe? Its a perfect cold day soup. 🙂 one of my favorites.
8 with ham hock, 7 without.
Made this recipe yesterday. Loved it! Thank you so much for sharing!
I just made this, but how many Smart Points is it? I tried to calculate it and it came out to 11!
This is now my go to recipe for split pea soup! My husband and I both love it!
In Canada we use pork hocks (raw pork not smoked or brine d to become pink ham )
. I think it is not the same as you are using but still makes great soup but with no cancer causing nitrates or massive salt .
do you add the ham from the ham hock, or just use it for flavor? I wasn't sure if the ham was included in the points or not.
This is my favorite soup ever!! So delicious and filling, plus it lasted forever since I thin it out the leftovers because it gets pretty thick. I also used diced ham, and used half water, half low sodium broth since the ham made extra salt unnecessary. This is my new go-to soup for those cold fall nights!
This is amazing!!!! How many cups is 1/6 of a recipe – can you guess? I found a REAL low sodium broth at the health food store that has only 70g sodium (as opposed to 650 in the regular ones). It needed some salt added but I don't need 650! lol
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thx!
I have a smoked ham hock, Is that ok to use in place of the regular ham hock?
That should be fine.
Love this soup! I make it to eat for lunch during the week. Thanks Gina!
OH MY GOD!!! This was THE best soup ever. Honestly. I cannot wait to eat this for lunch everyday this week and I'm giving some to my mom and mother in-law too. AMAZING!!! WIll make many times again. YUMMMMMM!!!! yum must try if you are even the slightest bit unsure. I used an immersion blender and then some of the ham pieces fell off. MMM MMMM MMMM! THANKS GINA!!!! ps. I'm on ww and love that you offer all the PTS+ THANK YOU!!!!
Amazingly wonderful soup. It tastes decadent. Thanks for this and all your wonderful recipes!
Mmm-mmmm! Delicious! Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly, including my four-year-old daughter. So easy to make, and no special ingredients to buy. Very easy to make!
This soup is fantastic! I used 6 1/2 cups homemade broth, 2 leeks (white part) and 2 celery stalks. I also yellow peas instead of green. I grew up on the stuff.
Hubby said it was a seller!
I make this ALL the time. I do not saute the onions but throw all if in the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours and it comes out perfect. I also use ham shanks instead of hocks when I'm taking it to a potluck so that it has ham chunks in the soup but the fat content makes the soup on the thin side. LOVE this recipe!!
Hmmmmmm, just made this for dinner. Gina, it is heavenly!! I am craving legumes at the moment, it just hit the spot perfectly! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Awesome soup! Thanks so much!
Wow! This is cooking right now and it is fantastic!!! Thank you so much, another wonderful recipe!
My hunny threw out the ham bone 🙁 but i have alot of left over ham from thanksgiving… you think i can use that instead?
YES!!
Hey Gina, this looks like a great recipe, and it has me asking you to see if you know. I love putting ham hocks in my soups for flavor, but have recently been afraid and wondering if just by sitting in there to flavor the soup any of the fat goes into the soup? Or if I remove it all should I be ok? Appreciate any knowledge! Thanks!
My soup did not turn out very good. My peas never really got soft and I cooked the soup for at least three hours. Do you know what might of happened? My soup looks like lentil instead of split pea. I will definitely try this again! I'm still learning the whole cooking thing!
I just made this the other night and I thought it was delicious! I didn't have a ham bone so I used a large package of chunked ham all ready to go and it came out perfect.
I made this recipe minus the ham hock because I dont eat meat. I substituted with bacon bits that i soaked in the soup as I cooked it (tied them into a coffee filter since I didnt have a cheese cloth on hand!). It came out really well but my only concern is that when I went to calculate the points plus myself, 6 servings was 6 points plus. I divided it further because I usually like to keep my soups around 4 points, so I ended up having to make it into 8 servings for 4 points plus. Luckily the soup was thick enough to add more water so I could divide it out into that many servings.
I made this exactly as instructed. 10 out of 10. Nobody would ever guess this was a healthy version. It's as good as my Mama's family version. Wonderful. Thanks for posting.
Wonderful Soup with a great texture! I used 1/2 cup less chicken stock and did not use salt (bc Ham hock is already so salty) and it is delish! Great to make after you have a leftover ham hock from Easter.
This soup needs a big handful of dried marjoram. 🙂 At least when it's made in a Polish style. 🙂
I love this soup, I use a pork shank, oh mannn it is good!!!
This is delicious. I used canadian bacon as that was the closet substitute I could find at a very picked over grocery store. I also used the mirepox from trader joes (which has celery in it). After I pureed I sprinkled a bit of cumin in because nearly everything in the world tastes better with cumin. Yum!
I think it's about ten cups when I make it, which is about 189 calories per cup. I also use smoked turkey neck and just throw it out after I'm done simmering.
This is the first time I made pea soup. This recipe is easy and delicious so it is a keeper. I added a couple stalks of celery too. Yum.
Made it tonight! Fantastic! My picky two yr old loved it! I blended it at the end with an immersion blender so it would be creamy like in the pic. Used leftover spiral cut ham- trimmed lean. Was fantastic. Served with grilled cheese sandwiches to hubby and daughter. I had with a small side salad. Perfect. Thank you!
This soup is outrageously delicious. I did the points+ using the calculator and came up with 7.6 points per serving. The split peas alone were 45 points for 16 oz. Is there something different about split peas that we don't know about??????
I've been making almost this exact recipe in the crockpot, (and without the oil) but my servings are about 10-11. I use a combo of veg/chicken broth, and even sometimes add water at the end. (I don't like my soup super thick)
When plugged into the recipe builder I get 6points plus including the ham meat. Still a delicious and filling soup for 6 pts!
I LOVED this soup, but now I'm bummed. After reading Sonia B's comment, I, too, entered the ingredients in the the WW recipe builder and 6 servings = 6 plus points…and that's without adding the ham!! I think you need to adjust the number of servings on this recipe to come up with 4 points per serving, especially if you're adding the ham bone.
Delicious soup!! Thanks for another great recipe….:)
So excited to make this. Does it freeze well?
I put this in the recipe builder online, and 6 servings *without* the ham hock or the oil came to 6pts+ per serving. Am I doing something wrong? I was hoping for a 4pts+ soup 🙁
Great recipe!! It was my first time making pea soup…but my husband loves it! It was great! I didn't have a ham hock, but I chopped up a ham steak and put it in the soup instead…tasted great 🙂
Thank you so much for your yummy recipes. I just made this soup so I would have a good healthy something in the fridge for lunches while I am home this week. I used leftover ham from Christmas dinner yesterday. It turned out delicious. I added a little Thyme and red pepper flakes plus an extra cup of water.
I was worried that using a cured ham hock would be a problem, especially from the initial smell coming out of the pot, but after cooking it was delicious!! Thanks 🙂
DELISH!! We doubled the recipe so we could use the extra for lunches. It didn't make it to the end of the week, we all took it for lunches. It was so good. This will be going into our winter meal rotation! So hearty and rich! Thanks you for the service you do for us on our weight loss journey!
Question about doubling the recipe- can you double it with just one ham bone?
This was my first time making split pea soup from scratch. This recipe was so easy and so good! I did cut the ham off the hock before tossing as I like a bit more protein. This one is a keeper! Thank you!
Your blog is great–thanks so much!
I think that adding celery is good in this soup and what are the points minus ham as I dont eat meat?
I just started getting your newsletter every day about 3 months or so ago. I came across this split pea recipe. It is one of my favorite soupds so I tried it today. It is amazing. Perfect balance of ingredients, really tasty.
I had never had split pea soup before, but it is delicious! I made this recipe in my slow-cooker and it was waiting for us when we got home. A-MAZING!
I made this over the weekend and it delicious! I couldn't find a ham hock, so I used a pork shank – which still gave it that smokey flavor. I didn't want to waste the meat, so I cut it off and added it to the soup. Thank you for all the great reciepes!!
Hi Gina, I just made a recipe of shredded ham and have several cups of the broth left over. Do you think that I could use this ham broth instead of the chicken broth? Since ham is so much saltier, should I do half ham broth, half water? I don't want to waste this broth, but I don't want to end up with an over salty spit pea either. 🙂 Thanks so much for your website, I love to peruse it on the weekends as I drink my coffee and I have fixed many of the recipes.
Hi Gina someone asked if you can use chicken.Well when i do mine its all the same a yours but instead of a ham hock i use a smiked turkey wing i feel what gives it that extra special taste is form the smoked flavor.LOVE your site thanks for all the wonderful recipes.Happy Holiday's Merry Christmas
we had this last night for dinner. i used ham rather than hamhock. it came delicious.it was so good my daughter and i have two servings each for dinner. i am look ing forward to eating this soup for lunch today! 🙂 thank you for another wonderful recipie!!
this is cooking in the crockpot as i am typing this comment. the house smells so good i wish i could eat it now!! i dont want to wait for dinner. thank you for another wonderful recipe!! 🙂
I have yet to try your recipe. I've made pea soup w/ham hock before, using onion, potatoes, carrots, bay leaf and some whole allspice. Sometimes it has a bit of an aftertaste, and I don't know why. Would you have any explaination?
Fantastic recipe once again. I've never made split pea soup before but I love to eat it! I followed the recipe but added celery with the onions. I didn't have a hamhock but I did have leftover smoked ham from a family dinner. I placed large pieces of the smoked outer casing (with some meat attached) in the pot and let it cook with the soup. The soup was amazing, it had such a fantastic flavor. Even DH, who is always skeptic of "diet" food loved it.
Gina- Thank you so much for all of your inspiration. Your recipes make "dieting" a lifestyle and I think remove the stigma of diet food! These recipes can be cooked by anyone and they are beyond delicious.
I can not eat ham do to not having a gall bladder anymore would the work with chicken?
try smoked turkey!
Hi Gina, this sounds so yummy that I'm itching to try. I saw the comment about doing this in a slow cooker – adding 6 cups of water and cooking on low for 6-8 hours. With this, are you omitting the chicken broth?
This was such a great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Making this again, needed some easy lunches for the week. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow!! Thank you Gina….
I recently (like 10 months) discovered Split Peas– my mom never cooked with them growing up or anything, so when I found out about them I thought I'd simply died and gone to heaven. I am such a big fan of split peas it is not even funny!! 🙂
I make this also I put it in the crock pot I put beans (not soaked) grated carrots, chicken broth, and a turkey ham that I cube up, onion and 2 tbls oil. my grandson does not like soup, but, he ate two bowls Now when he comes over it has to be on the menu for him. I crock it for about 8-10 hours.
made this soup tonight. Delicious! followed the recipe exactly, no need to change a thing. Thanks for another wonderful recipe! I love your site. I didn't think I could have fun cooking while on a diet. Your site has made dieting fun for me! I have a stack of recipes I can't wait to try! Thank you!
Your recipes are wonderful. I made this soup yesterday. Amazing! I used a left-over frozen ham bone that was about 5 inches long with lots of ham on it. I removed the bone and all of the ham from the soup when done. My question is – do I need to add more points because of the ham bone? I measured the soup and got a little over 8 cups. Thank you Gina for this website!
This soup was amazing!! I had never eaten or made split pea soup before, but my husband is a fan and my sister recommended your site to me. Thanks for the GREAT recipe! I added some chopped ham at the end and served the soup with some garlic breadsticks. Next time (and there will definitely be one!) I'm going to try it in the crock pot.
Oh my God! You don't have to be on a diet to absolutely adore this soup! I just finished a huge bowl of it and, to be perfectly honest, it's the best thing I've ever tasted! Didn't have ham hock so I added some diced slices of ham at the end and it was brilliant! I ate it with some crusty buns I baked yesterday…delicious is such a weak word for it, hihi 🙂 Thanks a lot, Gina! Your website is saving me every time I lack of inspiration 🙂 keep up the greaaaat work!
This soup is AWESOME!! and really easy too. Thanks!
I made this soup a few days ago and it turned out wonderful! Very easy and great on points plus for how filling it is. We added some hot sauce for a little kick.
Made this today and it is honestly the best split pea soup I've ever tasted. I can't wait for dinner…
Ok…made this soup yesterday…simmered it on the stove for a couple hours and mashed it up a bit at the end…
Can I say… TO DIE FOR!!!! My husband and I couldn't believe how unbelieveable this was! I am so happy to have found this! 4 ww points…so easy and FULL of flavor! WINNER in my book!
LOVE your blog…thanks so much!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe, it was a good soup. I made mine in the crock pot, because I just wanted to cook all day and really get the flavour of the ham bone.
Thank you again.
Doreen
If I wanted to just add ham, how much ham (diced) should I add?
Yes, it's 3 points plus without the ham hock.
Anonymous, every little bit helps!
Hi Gina, I'm making your dad's cauliflower soup right now! 🙂 Can't wait to try it…but I really want to try this, also. I'm not sure if you can help me out here… I love split pea soup. But I'm also vegetarian. Obviously I can just leave the ham out and substitute veggie broth for chicken broth… but do you know if this will change the point value any? thanks!!
Gina – using your website I put my husband on a diet that he could handle – lighter lunches and healthy dinners. He has already lost 5lb in the last week, just from me cooking dinners from this website. He isn't ready to give up beer of course. 🙂
Thankyou!
I made this last night, and brought it for lunch today for myself and a colleague. It is deeee-licious! Thank you so much, Gina. I added very little salt, but let the ham hock sit in the soup while it cooled off and that probably upped the saltiness.
I haven't updated this to points plus yet which is probably why it's higher.
Hi, I am looking for WW friendly recipe and I've made your stuff before and loved it. I was inputting this recipe into my recipe builder and the peas alone was 32pts+ and if you divide that by 6 it's 5pt+. That doesn't even include a ham bone. Do you know why my points are so much higher? "16oz dry split peas"
Seeing as how its blizzarding & -30 out at the moment, I'm going to go throw this on the stove!! It's become my favorite Make Ahead lunch for the week… along with your Chicken Taco Chili!! Thanks again for all the amazing tasty recipes, we eat at least 5 'Gina's' a week!
Turkey bacon works well, too — and then you get little pieces of crispy bacon in the soup. Yum.
This recipe sounds delicious. One of my local meat markets also sells ham hocks that are HUGE, with lots of meat on it. I just add a few extra points per serving.
this recipe works well in the crock pot. I use 2 smoked pork chops very lean.
Ham bone or ham hock seems to be a big question here. I just made the soup and it is amazing. Tastes just like the old fashioned one my Mom makes. Anyway, here in Canada a ham hock/pork hock as a LOT of meat on it. So, does the meat go into the soup or not ??
There is some ham on a ham hock, not much though. It give the soup a great intense ham flavor. The sell it separate. If you can't find it, a small ham steak or leftover ham bone would work fine.
this is stupid but… is a ham hock just a ham bone? (the large one) can you buy that separate or do you have to buy a ham first (and pick it off the bone? So i'm assuming this soup doesn't have any ham in it – just the ham flavor from the bone? thanks!
Such a great soup, even my boyfriend loved it and he hates peas 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the great recipes!
You can although I never have. I would use 6 cups of water instead and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Can u make this receipe in the crock pot? If so, would you do anything differntly? Thanks!
so easy to Make and Delicious!!
Great suggestions. I love love love collard greens, especially cooked with ham hocks. And yes, I agree, I discard the bone and fat, any ham that's left is yummy!
This is a pretty good split pea soup recipe, and in fact a pretty good base recipe for other types soups. Just replace the split peas (and carrots) with just about any other type dried pea or bean (leave in the carrots with navy or great northern beans), and you have a great soup. If you use mixed beans, like in a 16 bean soup, add a couple of tbl of lemon juice about 15 minutes before serving. Here in the South, we remove the meat from the ham hock after cooking and put the lean meat back into the pot.
I also keep a container or two of Ham Base in the pantry and use it instead of meat for seasoning. Really reduces the points in a recipe, just add 2 or 2 tsps instead of a ham hock. By the way, the base recipe really makes great greens, especially collards, my favorite!
Oh that's so nice to hear! My hubby and daughter aren't dieting either, so I really need to cook real food. Thanks for the comment!
Oh my god this was to die for. I just love split pea soup I am Mexican and this just brings back memories of how my mom use to make hers. I also love the rest of your other recipes have not made them all but I am very well trying to. I have to say they are all very flavorful. My hubby loves it and he is not on a diet but he loves the flavors in your dishes. He even sends me a text to find out what is on the menu for the evening….lol. So again please keep it up this site is awesome.
My mom made this when I was a kid too, with croutons!
This was the first of your recipes that I have made and I loved it. Brought me back to my childhood…Mom used to make split pea soup. Trying the crock pot chili this weekend.
Yes, 3.5 pts for 9.3 oz.
New to the site and diet. Just made this recipe. It was absolutely fabulous. So excited! Just to get it straight: One serving would be 9.3 ounces which would be 3.5 ww points? Is this correct?
Honestly, I think my error is that it serves more than 6. Not sure… Or the ham hock which is mostly bone?
Hmm, I haven't calculated the points for this in over a year. To be accurate, I'll make this recipe again and get the exact points, servings and serving size. It's really the only way I can do it right, plus I get to have split pea soup for dinner again 🙂 Sorry if I made an error!
I made this soup last night and it is Delish! But this morning I'm trying to add it to my Weight watchers recipe builder. I can't have toast or anything and I wanted to put the recipe in my favorites, when the WW recipe builder counts this, they are saying for 6 servings, this is 6 points. Is this about a cup/serving?
Great recipe! I had NEVER tried split pea soup before…but I will definitely have it again! Thank you for sharing!! 🙂
Yes, anything smoked would work, even some ham just to get the flavor.
Great soup and terrific hunger pain vanisher. If you make it with smoked turkey legs or wings it will have less fat than a ham hock be just as delicious and have less points.
This makes about 7 cups total. So one serving is about 9.3 oz.
I like to know how much is in a serving when I make soups, or stews. Measuring out the servings from a batch of something is a real drag for me. I like to cook, and serve right out of the pot, and when in a hurry, I tend to put the entire pot in the fridge, and serve myself up a bowl at the end of a busy day. Can you give an idea on the amount/serving?
This is really good! I made the recipe on Sat. and froze some of the servings. I went to the store today to get another bag of peas so that I can freeze additional servings.
This was sooooo easy and good! Thanks for the recipe. It was great!!! I couldnt find ham hocks so I used diced ham and added it when I sauted the onion and garlic and it still turned out great! Thanks
I tried it with fried bits of ham and a few drops of liquid smoke because the ham hock wasn't available. It was just wonderful! Chopped cilantro was a nice touch as well…
Jennifer, you are right… 8 cups broth to 2 cups dried peas. Smoked ham hocks give it great flavor, you discard the bone when cooked.
Gina–2 questions about this recipe. First–I’m not familiar with quarts as a unit of volume in recipes. Googled it and a quart is typically equally to about 1 L, or 4 cups of liquid. This soup only makes 6 servings, so clearly that’s far too much liquid. Can you clarify? Second–I have never ever used pork hocks for anything–It’s obviously used to flavour the broth here, but does it get eaten as well or just discarded? Thanks for clarifying–really love all the recipes you post!
We’ll be doing a nice split pea and ham recipe soon. Hope we can keep it low cal. 🙂
It’s 1 lb or 16 oz.
What size bag of split peas do you use? I bought them in bulk and don’t want to mess it up! Thanks!
This is the most appropriate soup to eat when it’s freezing outside. Here in The Netherlands it’s a custom for decades to eat this soup after riding iceskate outside. This soup brings warmth to you.
Thank you for posting!