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:
Susie Jeroski
Making it again for the 3rd time. Lifelong pea soup fan and this is the simplest way I’ve ever made it and it is SO darn good its the only way I will make it henceforth. Thank you for this recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Courtney
I haven’t ever made split pea soup, just remembered I loved it as a kid. Follow the steps and wow. Saving this. Thanks for making it like my momma use to
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Erin
Hi! I am wondering why you said not to use the fresh ham bone? I’m only asking because that’s what I just used LOL. My friend gave me a raw hambone from one of their pigs and I wasn’t even thinking about how the ham has usually been cooked first when I make pea soup. I haven’t looked at it yet, it’s slow releasing.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Good question! The timing for this recipe is for the split peas, NOT for uncooked pork. Depending on how thick the pork is, it might need more time to cook fully than indicated in the instructions. It might be fine though! You can stick a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the pork to make sure it’s at least 145 degrees. You also might find that it’s a bit tougher in texture. Hope that helps and hope it works out for you! In the future, for anyone who has a raw ham bone or any raw ham, I recommend cooking it first – you can roast the bones in the oven, this would give it amazing flavor and work really well for this recipe.
Joe Joe
Very good recipe! The split pea was nice and creamy
Used fresh shucked corn instead of carrots. And beef hot dogs instead of pork
Very tasty
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Love those substitutions.
Marilyn A Schultz
Great recipe! Using the instant pot was quick & easy and just as delicious as if making it on the stove!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Hilda
Best Pea Soup yet. I used 1/4 C Yellow Peas and the rest Green. But that was all I changed. Thanks for a wonderful dinner.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it!
Sher
Unbelievably delicious!! The best!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Laura
Followed per recipe, used some left over ham, diced everything, came out perfect! I will for sure use this recipe from now on. I love split pea soup and always ate nothing but canned, not anymore! Easy to make and didn’t take long either.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Rebekah
Wow, this so yummy! I am plant based so used veggie broth and no ham. I added a tablespoon of miso to get that lil extra umami since it’s meatless. So good and SO easy! Thanks for the great recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Love the idea of adding miso for a punch of umami! Great idea, thanks for sharing, and so glad you liked it :-)
Eric
I make this every time after I’ve made a ham. I LOVE it!!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you like it!
Audrey
Excellent recipe! It’s a keeper!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thank you! Glad you liked it :-)
Debbie
Did you soak the split peas overnight?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Nope! Just rinse them off when they are dry :-)
Rebecca
First time making in instant pot. I added nothing extra to the recipe. I did soak my peas overnight and used left over ham bone it came out exactly as I like my soup. Flavorful and delicious. No extra salt or pepper needed. I also used better than broth concentrate so no extra salt was needed. Will make this again using this recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Audrey
No need to soak the split peas. Just rinse them before adding to the pot.
Christine
This was soooooo easy & so delicious. We are fishing in Alaska. Hearty,quick ,warming . Plug in the instant pot on the boat. I’m still afraid of dried beans /peas- you walked me through- it was amazing. Thank you !
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Lori Canner
One of the easiest tastiest pea soups I’ve made. First time round I used the ham bone. This time I’m just using the leftover ham because I needed to use up some of the ham and I wanted some more of this deliciousness! The fist batch was gone so fast I just needed more.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jill Gray
I made this recipe exactly as written and it was delicious.
My Husband had two large bowls and said that is definitely a keeper.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your husband liked it!
Sharon
I appreciate your telling the size of the pot you used. I have a 3, 6, and 10 qt and made a triple recipe useing a large ham bone. I was nearly to the max fill line with 8 cups of broth. The soup was thick but I like it that way I will thin it with broth to reheat. Had I hot had the ham bone I could have added 3 to 4 cups more broth.
When I set the timer I set it for 50 min in error but no problem vegtables were not mushy. Will pay closer attention next time.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it and that this information was helpful for you!
Teresa R.
We’ve been making split pea soup for decades — your recipe hit it out of the ballpark.
Our tweaks:
– Used two large cloves of garlic (pressed) in place of onion.
– Made broth from the ham bone in advance, and used that broth in the soup (did not have the bone in the pea soup itself).
– Used 8 cups of broth.
– Just one bay leaf.
Used your timing. Wow. The flavor was just so so so good.
This is our new family recipe for Split Pea Soup.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So happy you liked it, and thanks so much!!
Keri Lynn
Fantastic in every way! I added a dash of ground cumin, coriander and granulated garlic just to cover the bases. I have so much ham left over from Easter, I will make this soup again and again. Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Carole
We totally enjoyed. We stirred in a little flour and water to thicken. This recipe will become our “forever go-to” split pea soup recipe. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Dana
I was feeling particularly lazy. I skipped dicing my veggies and sautéing them. I chopped big chunks of carrot, onion and celery, put them in the pot with everything else including ham bone and cooked as per your directions. When it was done, I used the immersion blender and voila. Soup. And it was GOOD! I wondered if I would miss the flavour of the butter sautéed vegetables, but this truly was fantastic!
Elizabeth Lindemann
That’s such a great shortcut! So glad you liked it and thanks for sharing your tips :-)
Jean
This version of split pea soup was excellent. I don’t care for the taste of bay leaves, so I used 1 tsp of thyme instead. I probably used 2+ cups of ham and yellow split peas. Yummy!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jeff
Really really good. This one goes on the menu. So simple and easy peasy :). Had to substitute some bacon since we didn’t have enough left over ham. Need the salt and pepper. Glad I read the comments since we opened and washed a 2 pound bag of peas ( only use 1 pound!)
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh wow that was a close one!! So glad you liked the recipe :-)