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 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:
Tamara
This soup is so good, my husband and kids really liked it and they only like a handful of soups. I’m determined to find more that they like! Perfect for leftover ham bones after the holidays.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your family liked it! Here are all the soup and stew recipes on here – https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/category/soupsstews/ – my favorite is Greek Lentil Soup and the Chicken and Dumplings! Hope you find something else good to make :-)
Anna Jurgeleit
Super easy and so delicious. I doubled it, and added a little water, a tiny bit of salt and pepper.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Leslie Pocklington
Best soup ever!!!♥️
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
mike
I wonder if there is room in the 6qt instant pot to 1 1/2 × the recipe?
Elizabeth Lindemann
That’s a good question – I don’t want to promise anything but I THINK you would be safe doing this. Good luck!
Lina M
If using split green peas instead of yellow, would the cooking time be the same? (I love green pea soup!) Thank you, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Lindemann
You can use either and it’s the same exact instructions! Hope you like it :-)
Rae
Followed directions and found it was very easy and family enjoyed.
The surprise for me was it didn’t need to be pulsed. It came out of IP creamy.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Carmen
Why did mine turn out so watery? Split pea should be more like poreage.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm, not sure! My guess is this: depending on the brand/age of your split peas, they can cook faster or slower, or absorb more water. It could be that the brand you used just didn’t work as well. Whenever I’ve made this it thickens up a lot- sometimes too much and I need to add some water! I’d try again with a different brand or just add less liquid next time. Hope that helps!
Cathy
Easiest and best pea soup I have ever made!!! Only modification I made was I doubled it!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Teri T.
Great simple tasty recipe!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
jennie
This soup is so simple and full of flavor!! I always add extra veggies and cut up some potatoes that needed using up. Absolutely delish!!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Steve G
I’ve never had SP soup previous to this, and my significant other explicitly did not like SP soup. Nonetheless, we both found it delicious! Made exactly as the recipe stated (subbing sliced, smoked ham for the hock/bone at the recommended amount). Kudos and many thanks! My in-laws, who I originally intended the soup for, were blown away!😃👍
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad this was a hit with everyone!
Erin
Delish! Flavor is perfect! Mine came out SUPER thick though. Not sure why lol
Elizabeth Lindemann
I think this might have to do with the brand of the split peas – I used another brand the other day for this and it came out much thinner than usual. You can always add some water or more chicken broth if it’s too thick! And it thickens as it cools as well. Hope that helps and glad you liked it!
Erin
I figured it out LOL. I grabbed a 2lb bag of peas instead of the 1lb. Was very VERY hearty! Can’t wait to try it with the correct amount :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
Haha! That would explain it :-)
Jodie
This is an awesome and easy recipe. My mom usually makes me split pea soup after Easter. This year I decided I should learn to do it. I found this instant pot recipe and couldn’t be happier. I Ave vegetable broth on hand so that is what I used.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Debi
It was delicious. I added 2 potatoes diced and there was no need to sauté any of the veggies before.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Bob
Easy to make and loaded with flavor.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it!
mamadee621
My husband made it for me – comfort food, you know – and it is AMAZING! Yum.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Matt Bracc
I doubled recipe in 8 qt… do I adjust cook times?? Thx!!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
You should be OK with the same cook times!
Jodi Hartman
This soup was so quick and easy! I had a ham bone frozen from Christmas so that was perfect! It didn’t need any additional salt and I used unsalted butter. Amazing smokey flavor. I wil never make it on the stove again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Stephanie
I never actually leave reviews for recipes, but this one was so good and so easy that I had to! Love how simple this was in my instant pot, and it has tons of flavor. I bought pre-diced carrots/onions/celery to make it even easier. Thanks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Claudia
Thank you for a terrific recipe! Because we are vegetarian and kosher I used a vegetable stock, olive oil, and 8 Kalamata (Greek) black olives to give it a smoky/salty flavor. This will be a regular item on our menu!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it, and love the idea of adding olives! Sometimes I add vinegar to split pea soup (or lentil soup) and I bet the olives gave it a similar flavor. Great idea.
Sherry Remillard
This soup is fantastic. Followed directions using ham bone and 6 oz ham. Loved it.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Grace15
I made this today but had to make a few modifications because we are snowed in. I didn’t have a ham bone or ham so I added a tsp of smoked paprika for a hint of smokiness. I also added 1/2 tsp of dried thyme and 1/2 tsp of celery salt because my celery had become limp in the fridge! I doubled up on the carrots to compensate. The texture of this soup is creamy right out of the pot (typically I make split pea soup on the stove and use my immersion blender to thicken it up some but I didnt have to with this!). Highly recommend this recipe…will try again with ham soon!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it and love your modifications!
Bernida
If I double the recipe, do I doublr the cook time…making it now so hope you can get ry back to me. Thanx
Elizabeth Lindemann
Sorry for the delayed response – just moved across country and am catching up on comments! Hope it turned out OK and the answer is no – you shouldn’t need to double the cooking time.
Tracy
FYI : If you wrap your celery in aluminum foil it will stay nice and crisp for 3 weeks in the fridge and also putting your limp celery into a glass of water will crisp it up again 90 % of celery’s content is water
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great tip! I do the soaking in water thing for wilted greens and herbs too. Works really well!
June Pike
Excellent soup!! Thank you for the recipe. I added cubed turnip and a couple of potatoes cut in half. Increased the amount of broth and voila! Just as I remember from childhood. 😋 So quick and easy. I love my instant pot!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Sharon R Vinson
I followed this recipe exactly & added a ham hoc. The ham hoc did not cook enough to cut any meat off the bone so I couldn’t add any meat to the soup. Next time I will cut up some ham instead.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm, is it possible your ham hock was raw instead of cooked/smoked? Using raw ham in this recipe won’t work because the cooking time is too little to fully cook the ham. Be sure to check that it’s smoked ham that you’re using. Hope that helps, and cutting up ham works really well too!