This Instant Pot Split Pea Soup, made with a leftover ham bone (or any other ham), is a game-changer. The pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half and imparts the flavor of the ham into every scrumptious bite. It’s so simple, but SO delicious. And it’s ridiculously easy to make!
What are split peas?
Dried split peas are part of a food group known as pulses, which include beans, chickpeas, peas, and lentils. I love cooking pulses in my pressure cooker because it takes such a short amount of time, meaning you can start it on a weeknight and have it ready in less than an hour for dinner. My last pressure cooker pulse creation was this Instant Pot Chili, made with dried kidney beans and ground beef.
I love cooking with split peas because they have many of the same health benefits as other pulses, but take a shorter time to cook and don’t require pre-soaking. And they are just so tasty!
And my favorite part about pulses: you get a lot of nutritional bang for your buck. They are one of the cheapest and healthiest foods out there- a whole 1lb. bag of split peas cost me only $0.89 when I made this recipe.
How to make split pea soup with a ham bone
If you’re planning on having ham this holiday season, do NOT throw out the bone! And don’t let the person hosting throw it out either. I fully plan on being “that person” who asks to take the turkey carcass home after Thanksgiving at my in-laws so I can make homemade turkey stock. I don’t care, I am who I am :-)
Adding a ham bone to split pea soup elevates it to a whole new level. There is a ton of flavor in the bone itself, as well as marrow and gelatin, which infuses into the soup as it cooks (which both thickens it and gives it many of the same health benefits as bone broth). And there’s also still likely a lot of meat left on the bone, which will easily come off after letting it simmer in the soup for so long.
Confession: I actually bought a whole ham JUST so I would have the bone to make this soup. Such is the life of a food blogger.
What to do if you don’t have a ham bone
You don’t have to be like me and buy a whole ham just for the bone! If you don’t have a ham bone – since it’s not very often in life that we come across them, is it? – you can definitely just use thick-cut diced ham, or a ham hock.
You can use a smoked turkey leg if you want a pork-free version.
And you can even make this soup vegetarian or vegan by omitting the ham and making a few other changes (see notes in recipe below).
What kind of pressure cooker to use
I made my Instant Pot split pea soup in (you guessed it!) an Instant Pot. It’s a very popular and high-quality pressure cooker, and I’ve been LOVING it.
You can even replace it for your slow cooker (it has a slow cooker setting as well). Pressure cookers not only cut the cooking time of things like pulses and tough cuts of meat wayyyyy down, but I find it also tends to cook things with better flavor than a slow cooker. It also has a sauté function, so you can cook up the mirepoix (that’s the fancy word for the celery, carrots, and onions) right in the pot.
Keep an eye out for black Friday sales- I got my six quart Instant Pot for only around $60 last year (what a deal!).
Don’t have a pressure cooker or instant pot? Just look at the recipe notes below for how to make this on your stovetop or in your slow cooker.
Other Easy Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa with Cheese
- Instant Pot Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Turkey Breast with Lemon and Thyme
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Fish Stew
Here’s a link to all of my pressure cooker/instant pot recipes! For a plant-based version, try this vegetarian split pea soup with potatoes, lemon, and dill.
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Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham
Equipment
- Instant Pot 6 qt. minimum size, see recipe notes for more info.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 ham bone a smoked ham hock or 6 oz. diced deli ham can also be used
- 1 lb. dry split peas sorted through and rinsed
- 6 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth or veggie stock, water, or a mixture
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt and black pepper (see notes)
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker to the "sauté" setting. Melt butter (3 tablespoons) and sauté onion, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the split peas, chicken stock (6 cups), ham bone (or hock or 6 oz. diced cooked ham), and the 2 bay leaves. Turn off the "sauté" function.
- Cover pressure cooker and set to manual, high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10-15 minutes. Then, quick release the pressure valve.
- If you used a ham bone or hock: remove the it from the soup and remove the ham meat that’s still attached to it. Add the ham meat back into the soup.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary (see notes). Serve immediately, or store in your refrigerator for up to 1 week or freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Notes
- A note about salt: if you use salty chicken broth, you may not need to add any salt at all since ham is also usually very salty.
- The peas may take longer to cook depending on their age – the older dried legumes are, the longer they take to cook. This can vary based on brand, how long they’ve sat on grocery store shelves, or how long they’ve been in your pantry.
- If you want to use a frozen ham bone, you shouldn’t need to adjust the cooking time, since ham bones are technically already cooked, you’re just reheating it! Keep in mind though, the colder your ingredients are, the longer it will take to come to pressure.
- For a vegetarian version, omit the ham, use more salt and pepper, and make sure to use vegetable stock or water instead of chicken. For a vegan version, use olive oil instead of butter.
- If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute the ham bone for a smoked turkey leg.
- To make this in your slow cooker, add all ingredients (omitting the butter) to slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, or until split peas are cooked to desired tenderness.
- To make this on your stovetop, sauté veggies as instructed in a large pot. After adding the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for approximately one hour (or until split peas are cooked to desired tenderness).
- Ham usually comes cured/smoked, which means it’s cooked and ready to eat. However, sometimes stores sell “fresh ham,” which means it’s uncooked. Do NOT use fresh ham for this recipe- use already cooked, smoked, and/or cured ham.
- This soup will likely thicken once it cools and is refrigerated, especially if you use a ham bone to make it because of the gelatin. Thin out with water and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- I made this recipe in my 6 qt. Instant pot. It should work the same in an 8 qt., but you may need to cut the ingredients in half for a 3 qt. mini. You should also be able to double the batch in an 8 quart pressure cooker.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Phyllis Smith
Easy to make, absolutely delicious! I had about 2 cups of ham broth in the fridge. I used that plus 2 cups of water and a ham stock cube plus 4 cups of vegetable stock. I didn’t have any celery, but all the other ingredients were there. Going to print this recipe and use it again and again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Ana Lindsay
I love the simplicity of the recipe. It was really easy to follow him tasteful. I followed it to the T. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I will make this again and again. I would have preferred using ham hocks. However, I meal prep for several elderly and it would’ve been too much sodium. I used diced ham that I bought at the store. It was still very tasteful again thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your tips on reducing sodium.
Plessa Walden
I made the soup with green lentils instead of split peas and it was just as delicious I thought.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Love that! Thanks for sharing!
Michelle Daws
This was absolutely divine! It tasted like it had been simmered in a pot all day long instead of thrown together in my insta in 30 minutes. Everyone raved!
I made it almost exactly like the recipe; only difference was I used some of the ham broth I’d saved after making the ham in the insta the day before, and I added 5 cloves of garlic because…garlic! But again, absolutely a keeper!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Darlene
Very good recipe. I added 2 extra cups of hot water twice when reheating. Really liked the Pineapple, rice and ham dish too. Thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and the pineapple fried rice recipe too!
Meredith
I have made this countless times and it is a family favorite! I do had 3 cloves of fresh minced garlic but otherwise make it exactly as described with the instant pot. My 3 year old LOVES it and he gets to stir the vegetables and add all of the ingredients to the pot, so he loves being the chef! Thanks for a great recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jaime
Amazing soup! I did make a few changes. I used about 1.5 lbs of dry, split peas (instead of 1 lb) and for the liquid, I used 2 cups of concentrated beef stock, 2 cups of concentrated chicken stock, and 4 cups of regular chicken stock, and 1 cup of water. Just what I had on hand. Thank you for posting this!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your changes!
Judo
Oh my, my, my this recipe is spectacular! I used a ham hock. And the consistency is perfect! Goin gto look for more of your Instapot recipes!
(I got my Instapot on FB Marletplace for $50, was never used & still in the box. So many are afraid of them and they make life easier!)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I don’t have a ton of Instant Pot recipes on here, so if you’re wanting more, check out my friend Tanya at My Forking Life (https://www.myforkinglife.com/category/pressure-cooker-recipes/) and Bintu at Recipes from a Pantry (https://recipesfromapantry.com/category/recipes/instant-pot-recipes/) – both of them specialize in “gadget” cooking and have tons of Instant Pot recipes!
Keith Hekman
I added an extra cup of broth as the recipe was quite thick.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad that worked well for you!
Judo
Oh my, my, my this recipe is spectacular! I used a ham hock. And the consistency is perfect! Going to look for more of your Instapot recipes!
(I got my Instapot on FB Marletplace for $50, was never used & still in the box. So many are afraid of them and they make life easier!)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I don’t have a ton of Instant Pot recipes on here, so if you’re wanting more, check out my friend Tanya at My Forking Life (https://www.myforkinglife.com/category/pressure-cooker-recipes/) and Bintu at Recipes from a Pantry (https://recipesfromapantry.com/category/recipes/instant-pot-recipes/) – both of them specialize in “gadget” cooking and have tons of Instant Pot recipes!
Anna in Alaska
One of our favorite recipes. We live in Alaska, and flake in smoked salmon at the end instead of using ham. So delicious!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh GOODNESS adding smoked salmon to it?! Now this is genius. Thanks so much for this suggestion, I’m definitely trying this next time I make it. So glad you liked it!
Megan
This recipe was amazing!!! I love bay leaves so I added 3 more but otherwise it turned out beautifully and exactly how described 👏
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Dan C
This recipe is so so amazing – thank you. I used 3 cans of chicken stock, with one of the cans being normal (other two were low sodium), and with a small onion, two chopped up uncooked potatoes, two chopped carrots, and the ham cubes, it was perfectly salted without adding any. The bay leaves really add a nice flavor too. The first time I made it, it wasn’t cooked enough for my liking (i.e. I don’t want to see the peas’ form) so I did 23 minutes pressure cook and 12 natural release and it was perfectly done.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Kim
Its my fourth time using this recipe. I have omitted the ham and it was still delicious. I love to top it with olive oil. I have also omitted the celery when I didn’t have it. still delicious. Sometimes I use bone broth to make this a super-protein rich, high fiber dinner. I love it so much. Thanks for this great recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Love the idea of using bone broth to increase the protein. So nutritious!
Jennifer Wilks Wright
Excellent recipe! I had baked ham with whole cloves… I left about 6 cloves in the soup mixture.. I wasn’t certain of the age of my split peas, so I soaked them in hot water for about an hour. I also added a bit more onion, celery, carrots, and 3 roughly cut potatoes. It is by far the best recipe I have found!Thank you so very much!
Jenny
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I bet the clove flavor was FANTASTIC here.
Sharon
So easy, quick and very tasty.
Thank you 🌸
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
S Kawkeka
Not only is this recipe simple and fast, it’s guaranteed delicious! I added some garlic and a ham bone I had frozen from a previous dinner. Just a perfect dinner in an hour!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Pete
Made this tonight for dinner. Used olive oil instead of butter. Added some dice potatoes. Used diced ham. The family loved it!
Next time, might try reducing the natural release time from 15 to 10 minutes because the soup was a bit in the thick side, but still delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Feel free to reduce the natural release time, but as the soup sits and cools, it will thicken eventually anyway (at that point you can just add a little water or broth!). It may also have thickened a bit more because of the potatoes (a delicious addition!).
Sandy Malloy
This was perfect, so easy and delicious. I didn’t have celery so left it out, and added a half teaspoon of thyme to to sautéed veggies. I used diced ham.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thyme is a wonderful addition.
Peggy
Love the soup and recipe! Instructions were easy and accurate. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Ann
Delicious and easy.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
J
I used diced cooked ham cubes so it was easy
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great idea!