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:
Elizabeth Heindell
This was amazing! I can’t even say more than that. It was just amazing!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Donna
Everyone in the family absolutely loved it!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Lydia
The soup was absolutely delicious. I added two garlic gloves and a teaspoon of red chili pepper to the recipe. Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Shelley Felt
My son-in-law liked this recipe so much that he was eating it for breakfast. Thank you for publishing this.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yes! I love soup for breakfast haha! So glad you all liked it.
Randel Scharf
Used this recipe recently and blew my parents mind away. Second time for the family. Third time, for the money …..
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Nash
My split peas are still hard after high pressure for 15 min and 15 min Natural release. What should I do
Maureen
Wow… you don’t defat this soup? My ham bone has a LOT of fat on it.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Nope! You can’t really “defat” this soup after cooking – everything gets all mixed together and you don’t really see the fat on top (not like skimming chicken broth, for example). I find that if my ham bone is fatty, the fat usually stays pretty intact and I can remove it after. If you’re concerned about it, you can certainly take some of the fat off the ham bone before adding it to the soup. Hope that helps!
Susann
I made this soup using up a ham bone. It was delicious. Not too salty which was great. I have saved this recipe for future batches of soup.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Karen Robinson
I made this recipe using my Tefal Multi Cooker. I used my ham bone from Christmas, a ham hock and 100 gms of diced ham. I really liked the result – excellent flavour. I will make again.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Cindy
This was the very first recipe I made in the instant pot that I got for Christmas last year, and it was so easy. (I was still a bit intimidated by pressure cooking). I made it several times since and just again today to use up my New Year’s ham. My husband has said each time that it’s the best split pea soup he’s ever had, and I agree!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Bridget
Do you have to pre-cook the peas? When I’ve made split pea soup in a slow-cooker, you have to cook the peas for 5 minutes then let them sit for an hour. Can I just put the peas straight in the instapot without pre-cooking them?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I think you’re talking about soaking the peas before cooking them! (for dry legumes, there are long and quick soaking methods, and the quick soak involves boiling for a few minutes and them letting them sit).
I almost always soak my dried beans and legumes, but split peas are the only ones I don’t. Soaking beans cuts down on their cooking time, and it helps break down indigestible carbohydrates (Oligosaccharides) in them (the stuff that sometimes gives people gas when they eat them) but I find that split peas are much easier to digest and the cooking time isn’t an issue with an instant pot.
That said, if you are sensitive to Oligosaccharides in legumes, soaking won’t hurt, but the time and liquid amounts would need to be adjusted for this recipe. That was a lengthy answer to this question – Hope that helps!
Pat
So good and so easy!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Terri
Loved it. I’ve been making green split pea with ham bone soup for many decades. But had never done it in Instapot. I followed your ingredients and measurements, except I had to add 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1/2 T each basil and oregano, because I always add that to this soup, or navy bean and ham bone soup. Also added a shake of curry powder. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know why 😅. I think this is the best pea soup I’ve ever tasted!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! LOVE the idea of adding curry powder!
Jade
Hi there! I want to try this recipe as the vegetarian version, is it ok to use frozen peas instead of fresh?
Elizabeth Lindemann
This recipe does not call for fresh peas – it calls for dried split peas. Frozen peas are just like fresh and would require completely different cooking instructions. You might want to check out this recipe! https://thecookful.com/green-pea-soup/
M Bradley
Love a great split pea soup. This one is great and easy. Saved for sure
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Judi
Easy and delicious! Perfect way to use up my Christmas ham bone, and enjoy on New Year’s Day!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Diana
Hello…has anyone doubled the recipe? I was wondering if one needed to double the broth as well or add a different amount. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Elizabeth Lindemann
You would need to double all the ingredients. Make sure your pressure cooker can handle that amount before you start making it!
Sherry
To much other garbage talk I never found the recipe
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hm, looks like you missed the recipe card at the bottom of the post! It’s right under the written content, about a three-second scroll. In addition, there is a “jump to recipe” link at the top of each recipe post that will conveniently bring you right down to the recipe card (you’ll find this on a lot of food blogs). The content above the recipe card are helpful tips and tricks for making the recipe, but personally I usually skip past that stuff too since I already mostly know how to cook hah! Hope that helps!
If you want to know more about why food blog posts are long, check out this article: https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/why-are-food-blog-posts-so-long/ And in the interest of full transparency, this reader left a one-star review which I deleted since it had nothing to do with the recipe results themselves (I only delete star ratings on these rare occasions- you can read more about my commenting policy here: https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/faqs/).
Violet
Iam only agreeing with Sherry because it is something I have been wanting to say and not just to you for a long time. As you say, I also have been cooking, probably longer than you’ve been born. Maybe you just want the recipe and not someone’s life story, including a grandmother, mother, friend ,etc. way of making the dish. I’ve made Pea Soup very much like yours for many years but like to use my electric stick thing to pulverize part of it after taking out the meat of course. I ve never used my I.P for this soup so was checking out how long to cook it. Thanks for all your tips and for the time spent reading this. Consider it payback. Happy New Year!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked the recipe! And no worries – you’re totally entitled to that opinion! I’ll reiterate – the “jump to recipe” link at the top of each post is there precisely for this point – you can just skip right down to the recipe card if you click it.
As for the “life stories-” you’ll find that in most of my posts, and most other bloggers’ posts now-a-days, that there aren’t really a lot of stories, and instead, more tips and tricks related to the actual recipe. For example, “how to freeze leftovers” or “how to make this in a slow cooker,” etc. Throughout the food blogging industry this has been a shift over the past few years, but for some reason, people still always talk about “life stories” in the content hah! Not to say that doesn’t exist sometimes, but for me personally, I’ll usually just included a sentence or two of personal anecdote about the recipe (if I have one) and move on to relevant, helpful recipe information. Hope that helps explain it a bit more. Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Lori
“SOUPer” easy to make and soooo delicious!! This will be my go-to going forward. Yummy!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hah! So glad you liked it!
Larry
Made this using the leftovers from our Christmas bone-in ham. Outstandingly easy but very, very tasty! Will definitely be making this again!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Debby
Perfect
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Kevin Finnerty
This is my go-to for split pea soup with ham! Excellent recipe and fun to eat with home-made bread!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Karen C.
This is my first time using this recipe and it is the best! Will only make this one in the future. thank You!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Betsy
They sell ham bones at the Honey Baked Ham store near me . Costs about 10$ but lots of meat left on it .
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great tip, thanks!