This is a fabulous “throw it all in the slow cooker” Pea and Ham soup. There’s no need to cook the onion separately – it “sautés” itself in the fat from the ham hock that rises to the surface. Thick, hearty soup broth infused with incredible flavour from the ham bone!
A worthy ending for your leftover Christmas ham bone, or use store bought. Make this in your slow cooker or on the stove!
Pea and Ham Soup
I’ve always said that Lentil Soup is the least sexy looking soup in the world.
But in hindsight, I think Pea and Ham Soup should take that title.
I mean, think about it. A sparkling white Corn Chowder is pretty. A Thai Tom Yum Soup is colourful and vibrant. Creamy Carrot Soup is a cheerful bright orange colour. And a fiery red Laksa looks as bold as it tastes.
But Pea Soup? It’s brown more than green. Kahki at best.
So no, it’s not glamorous.
But this ugly duckling is seriously delicious. One bite, and you won’t be able to stop!!
What goes in Pea and Ham Soup
Here’s what you need for pea and ham soup. I’ve used a store bought ham hock here because I used up all the ham bones I managed to score from friends and even mere acquaintances. Yep, when it comes to rounding up ham bones, I’m shameless!!
Make sure you use a ham bone with plenty of meat because more meat means more flavour imparted into the soup – and more shredded ham!
Green split peas – these are just dried peas that are halved (split!) which means they cook faster and there’s no need to soak overnight (such as with most types of beans for things like Southern Baked Beans). They taste quite neutral, slightly earthy, and it absorbs the flavour of whatever they’re cooked in – in this case, ham! When cooked for a long time like we do here (in order for the ham meat to be ultra tender), they become creamy and thicken the soup;
WATER, no broth – the ham bone releases so much flavour that all we need is water for the soup broth. How good is that??!!
I love how economical pea soup is when made using leftover ham bone because the broth just needs water – no stock!
The Ham Hock – ham bone
If you’re wondering what a ham hock is, it’s a ham bone. And it is literally the bone inside a leg of ham, left after carving off all the ham (ie the cold cuts sold at delis). So it is already cooked – well, smoked.
If you buy one, you’ll find it looks a lot neater than a scrappy leftover leftover ham bone from a homemade Glazed Ham. The store bought ones are cut neatly then from the looks of it, they are re-smoked to seal the surface of the pink meat part.
Where to buy ham hocks
Store bought ham hock is sometimes sold over the counter and delis, otherwise it’s vac packed and sold with ham and similar items in the refrigerator section.
Make sure it’s meaty!
While store bought are intentionally nice and meaty (to flavour the soup and for plenty of shredded ham), leftover ham bones have been known to be picked clean by Ham Monsters. So if your ham bone isn’t meaty enough, just add a hunk of ham into the soup as well – just to ensure you get enough flavour into the broth.
Do the same if your store bought ham hock weighs less than 1 kg / 2lb. 🙂
Alternative: give the broth a flavour boost with a dash of stock/bouillon powder.
Just place everything into the slow cooker then turn it on
No need to sauté onion separately beforehand. In this recipe, the onion will rise to the surface and “sauté” in the ham fat. I’ve tried it sautéing onion first, then using my method and there is no difference in flavour.
The peas will be so soft they become creamy. So blitzing is optional. What I like to do is partially puree the soup using a handheld blender stick. This way you get the best of both worlds – a smooth, creamy soup broth with soft bits of pea and veg bits!
How long to cook Pea and Ham Soup
Make sure you slow cook Pea and Ham Soup in the slow cooker for at least 8 hours, but 10 hours is even better (on low). The ham meat should literally fall off the bone and be shredded with a touch.
Easily shreddable ham is an indicator that it’s been cooked long enough to release a ton of flavour into the broth!
Are split peas good for you?
They are! They’re high in fibre and protein, can help reduce cholesterol and are low in fat. But split peas are a higher carbohydrate vegetable so watch your intake if you’re on a low carb diet.
What to serve with Pea and Ham Soup
A hunk of warm crusty bread (preferably slathered in butter) is literally made for dunking into this thick soup.
In fact, forget spoons. Imagine eating the whole thing using bread as your feeding tool of choice?? 🙌🏻 For homemade, try this quick no yeast Irish Soda Bread or yeast free Sandwich bread. If you’ve got the time, make this crusty Artisan Bread – pretty sure it’s now officially the world’s easiest yeast bread! (It’s no knead, very foolproof).
OR – if you want to go all out, upgrade to Garlic Bread or CHEESY Garlic Bread!
Things to dunk into soup
If you’d like to add a side salad, try it with a Cucumber Salad for lovely contrasting crisp freshness, or for something different (and totally fabulous), a French Carrot Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing! – Nagi x
PS Some recipes dress up Pea and Ham soup by adding spinach or frozen peas at the end to make the soup colour greener. I choose to celebrate the unattractiveness and focus on flavour, flavour, flavour!
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Pea and Ham Soup (slow cooker or stove)
Ingredients
- 500g / 1lb dried split peas (Note 1)
- 1.2-1.5kg / 2.4-3lb ham hock (aka ham bone), bacon hock or MEATY leftover ham bone (Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp salt (start with less, adjust later)
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 bay leaves , dried or fresh
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , peeled and finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks , finely chopped
- 8 cups (2 litres/qts) water
Garnishes / serving:
- Parsley , finely chopped
- Crusty bread for dunking!
Instructions
- Place peas in slow cooker, push ham in. Scatter all ingredients around the ham bone, then pour over water.
- Slow cook 8 to 10 hours on LOW or 6 hours on HIGH. (Or 2.5 hours on low on stove, 1 h – 1 hr 20 min pressure cooker/Instant Pot on HIGH)
- Remove ham bone, shred ham meat. Discard bone and fatty skin.
- Remove bay leaves. Use a stick blender to blitz 2 or 3 times – thickens soup but doesn’t make it completely smooth (my preference, you can blend completely if you want).
- Return ham into slow cooker, stir. Taste and add more salt if needed (soup gets lots of salt from ham).
- Serve garnished with parsley. Serve with crusty bread for dunking – make a quick Irish Soda Bread, Garlic Bread or upgrade to Cheesy Garlic Bread!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More ways with leftover Ham Bone!
Here are other recipes I’ve shared made using ham hocks. They make an amazing way to flavour broth!
And more chunky, hearty soups
Life of Dozer
This is what he does on cleaning days – he gets sick of trailing me up and down the stairs as I whizz back and forth between floors with brooms and mops and vacuum cleaners so he eventually just plonks himself down halfway on the landing.
Don’t you love how relaxed he looks while I’m hot, sweaty and exhausted from manic cleaning??🙄
I have a couple questions. Last time I made pea and ham soup I found the hock very fatty (unfortunately I couldn’t see that – the rind covered a lot of it) the end result was I had to remove a lot of fat from the cooked hock and then used bread to soak up the fat floating on the top. Could I have removed the rind and then fat or would I have lost flavour?
Also I saw recipe for a ‘quick’ pea and ham soup. It suggested using a piece of ham and there were some sautéing of vegetables and boiling then adding frozen peas and blending it all. I couldn’t imagine this tasting like pea and ham soup! As you’ve mentioned in notes split peas in the soup don’t taste like peas. I’m just wondering what your thoughts were on using frozen peas?
I boil the ham bone for a few hours first and take it out and take the skin and just keep the meat and put it in the fridge.
I leave the soup stock overnight to cook and then scoop all the fat off the top and discard
Then I reheat and add all the other ingredients to slow cook
I don’t like all the fat in soup either
I am an “after the cooking grease skimmer” as I like to allow all the ingrediants to impart their flavors into the soup, even the fat (fat is flavor). I let the soup “settle” for around 30 mins at the end of the cook, then take a large spoon and skim away the excess grease… Everything left is just flavor.
Sorry, I forgot to say how much I am enjoying your recipes. Thank you. (say hello to Dozer and give him a pat and a hug from me)
I would like to thank you Nagi for ALL your recipes.I have tried a lot and they are all fantastic and repeated often in our house.You are our go to for all our cooking adventures
Thanks again
I was hoping to cook this in my oven, what temp and how long would you suggest please? Thank you!
Can I use smoked Turkey leg?? I’m not a ham eater
I think that would work well Jessi! N x
Very easy to make and perfect on a wintry afternoon.
This recipe is absolutely amazing…. So simple and utterly delicious, I don’t blend at all and use the yellow peas. I haven’t tried with the green but love it so much with the yellow I’m not sure I want to alter. Love your recipes Nagi
I don’t have any bay leaves on hand. Is there anything I can substitute?
You can leave them out Kaye! N x
I made some soup yesterday, did not add any salt, but it is soooo salty. Have added more water but still soooo salty there. Is there any way of getting the salty taste removed?
Your ham bone must have been very salty Christine! You can dilute it with water or cook some additional peas separately and add them in to up the volume/dilute the salt level. N x
Firstly, thank you for your advice. I remember my Mum used to boil first then fry, even Sausages. So I boiled the ham hock then made the soup. Turned out beautiful.
Great recipe for a delicious and comforting soup.
Keen to make this, Would four bean mix and kings soup mix ruin the flavour if I added them?
Hi Leonie – I don’t know what kings soup mix is! N x
Its ok haha a NZ product. I used them and it is devine. Turns out the mix had split peas in it anyway. Yummmy soup.
That’s good to know for the NZ readers – thanks!! N x
Getting colder and thought I’d make this over the weekend. Turned out great especially seeing my butcher smokes their own ham hocks!!
Oh wow!! Lucky you – how’s the bacon?? I love a good smallgoods producer!! N x
The bacon is good.. But it is here is Brissy…. a bit far for you!!
The best thing is you walk by( if you can) and smell all these delicous bacony aromas!!
Mmmmmmmm bacon!
Hi Nagi, my favourite soup in the world. I have been making for years. I always add a bunch of mint to the cooking process. I’m not sure if it’s my grandmothers addition, but it’s delicious
Michelle
Thanks for that tip Michelle – mint and peas is a classic combo so I can see how that would work! N x
I just used your recipe for crock pot pea soup/ham bone but had to cook on stove. Ham bone was to big for my crock pot, done a faster than the crock pot and looks delicious.
thank you
Well I hope you got a lot of soup from a bone that size!! Enjoy!! N x
I made this recipe to the T and cooked for 6 hours on high, and ended up with the best pea and ham soup I’ve ever had (sorry Mum!!). I went for a walk at the 4 hour mark, as I was walking back to my apartment I could smell the most delicious savoury scent from outside the building. Pretty sure all my neighbours were jealous!!
Woo hoo!! Way to make the neighbours jealous!! N x
Can I use bag of dry whole peas instead of split peas for this soup using slow cooker? Thanks so much ! Looks delicious
Nagi, my peas are greener than yours in pea and ham soup.
Split peas can be green or yellow and vary from region to region! N x
Hi Nagi, I’m cooking this at the moment on the stove. I brought the water up to boil and have then turned it down to simmer for the next few hours. Is this correct?Also, should I have the lid on or off? its not in the recipe and I’m not a confident cooker 🙁
Hi Deborah – that is correct and you can simmer it for the 2.5 hours with the lid off. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally and add more water if it looks like the liquid level is getting too low. N x
Thank you for your response and the soup is delish
I made this yesterday, but only had soup mix (split peas, pearl barley). the ham was AMAZINGLY soft, but the soup is gluggy thick. How can I thin down without losing flavour? I was just going to thin down with water, but wanted your perspective before I did so. Thank you very much 🙂
Hi Wendy – you can thin it with water or extra stock if you have any on hand. It’s very flavourful so should be ok! N x
I made this in the Instant Pot, 15 minutes on manual, 15 minute NR then QR. Delicious! Perfect for hungry teenage boys on a cold and rainy night.
Thanks for this, the recipe says 1-1.3hrs in instant cook! Other recipes said 15 mins, I think I’ll go with the later. Nagi is your instructions correct for instant pot?
Thanks for that feedback S!! N x
Would you substitute chicken broth for the water or not?