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
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:
Scott Hansen
Best pea soup recipe I’ve ever tried. Fast, easy, and delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Tracy
I followed the recipe and the peas were not cooked thru with 15 minutes pressure time. I added a cup and a half more stock and did 6 more minutes.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm. Were you by any chance using whole dried peas, and not split peas? That would be my first guess for the culprit. The age of the peas would be next- sometimes older legumes take longer to cook. There sometimes is some variance between brands, age of peas, etc., and 15 minutes has always been enough time for me, but I’m glad you were able to troubleshoot this by adding a few more minutes of cooking time. Better luck next time!
Cathy
Absolutely the best split pea soup I have ever had! Used the leftover ham from Thanksgiving and now I am making more from the bone I froze with ham left on it.
My husband has become addicted to it :)
Thank you
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Lorri U.
Exactly how my Mom made it. I used my Instant Pot. So fast.and delicious.
Thank you! Lorri U
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Stacey
Delicious and easy.. Added one parsnip with carrots since I had it. Will make again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Vicky
I’ve been making this soup for several years, and it never disappoints…we love it!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you like it!
Nicole Q
Just got an Instant Pot for Christmas and this is the very first thing I made. It is so perfect! I have never had a split pea soup that was this good. Thank you so much for the recipe. Very easy to follow especially since I’m a novice.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad to hear it worked well for you! Enjoy your new Instant Pot :-)
Adrianna
This soup was easy and I received so many compliments on it from my parents in law. People went back for not just one but 3 helpings! It’s that good with some crusty bread and I made it with my honey baked ham bone. Delish!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your family liked it!
Kaitlyn
Could canned sweet peas work for this recipe? Would I just adjust the liquid amount and maybe add some peas after cooking?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Canned peas will yield much different results, as they aren’t dried they will need less liquid, and since they’re already cooked and ready to go, using the instant pot to cook them won’t really be necessary (the pressure cooker takes the time of cooking the dried split peas down quite a lot). If I were you, I’d check out this recipe as a reference. You can always sauté the veggies in butter, add stock (maybe half the amount?) and the ham bone, and simmer on the stovetop or use the pressure cooker to make an awesome ham stock base. Then you can stir the drained peas in until heated up on the “saute” mode uncovered to simmer. Good luck and hope that helps! https://thecookful.com/green-pea-soup/
AMac
Great recipe. Made this in my Ninja Foodi. Followed the recipe almost to the letter, except I used about a lb of leftover ham on top of a ham bone.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Lisa
This is a great split pea soup! Very creamy, very simple, and SUPER tasty! It came out perfectly!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Mindy Gibson
Best recipe I have found to date
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Steve
I wanted to try this recipe with a pork hock, but was a bit confused by the additional details you provided just below the recipe. The “full blown” recipe calls for a ham bone or hock. The pork hock I was able to get is uncooked. The additional details below the recipe caution against using “fresh ham” in this recipe. Does this refer to the hock itself, or only when using sliced ham as a substitute? I certainly don’t want to give anyone potential food poisoning because Ive foolishly misinterpreted the instructions. Ive made this recipe previously (using sliced, precooked smoked ham), and it was great…but wanted to go the full nine yards this time.
Please advise, and thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
This is a good question! This recipe is written for ham that has already been cooked – whether smoked or otherwise. “Fresh” ham is uncooked, and the timing does not allow for it to fully cook with the timing. I recommend cooking the hock first – you could probably poach it in water (maybe add some salt, halved onions, garlic, bay leaf, or anything else for flavoring) on the stovetop and then use that homemade pork stock for cooking the soup if you’re so inclined! Hope that helps :-)
Mary
I adore split pea soup. My mom used to make it. It’s good adding some bacon grease and leaving out the ham or smoked Turkey. The timing in this recipe is good. If you want smooth soup use your stick blender or cook longer til peas get really soft.
Thanks for your great Instant Pot recipes!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Marcia Scaggs
This pea soup is now my husband’s favorite! I use large chunks of ham and it is perfect for a cold fall/winter night.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your husband liked it!
Audrey
I just made this recipe so easy and taste great will definitely make this again. I would add garlic
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I like it without garlic personally but it would definitely be easy to add next time you make it!
Lois
So good and so delicious
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Molly
Love this soup & recipe. I added cubed kielbasa since I had it left over. It was delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Lynn Greydanus-Smith
Sub in bacon cut into 1/2 inch strips
Or breakfast sausage cut into 1/2 rounds
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yum, love this idea!
Jess
I was looking for a nice fall comfort food recipe and found this.
Followed the recipe with no modifications (I don’t see the point in rating a recipe if you make multiple changes) and it was delicious!
My teenagers even loved it.
Thank you for sharing
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you (and your kiddos) liked it!
K2
Amazing. One of my new favorites. I used Lightlife smart bacon and made a delicious vegetarian version. Also tend to add whatever veggies need to be used in my frig so it’s different each time! Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Love the idea of using up any veggies you have with this recipe.
Deb
Have spent years trying to recreate my grandmother’s split pea! You did it! Soo good! Don’t change a thing in the recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!