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.
Did you know commenting and rating recipes is one of the best ways you can support your favorite food bloggers? If you made this recipe, please click the stars below to comment and Rate this Recipe and/or share photos on social media using the hashtag #bowlofdelicious or tagging @bowlofdelicious!
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:
Frank Luke
It was fabulous. Last minute decision to make it , I used pork bullion and cut up pork brats. Wow what flavor everything else was to recipes. Definitely will do this again. Next time I’ll probably do it on a day when it’s not 100 degrees outside
Frank Luke
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Dana Galagan
The best part about buying a ham and using the heck out of it, is using the ham bone for Split Pea soup! Once I tried this recipe in my Instant Pot, I knew I’d return to it again and again. It tastes exactly the way Split Pea soup should taste. Perfect as is, no changes necessary. Thank you!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Deborah Killinger
This is so easy, delicious and healthy especially with home made bone broth.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
kent
made this a few times
tweeked it a little with garlic and double ingredients
it is great and leftovers to seal a meal for Hunting Camping and cold winter days !!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Sarah
Probably the best and easiest Pea and ham soup I’ve ever made!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Mark warncke
Add sliced polish sausage or Viennese sausges
Elizabeth Lindemann
Great tip, thanks!
Victoria
I make this recipe at least once a month (if not more). My husband and I love it! I’ve started adding some dried parsley and garlic powder, but it is great without those additions. I usually use a ham steak and it is plenty flavorful with that.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Michelle
I plan on making this today. I will rate it once I make it. I’m just wondering if whole dried peas and not split would work for this recipe?
Elizabeth Lindemann
The recipe timing and liquid is written for split peas, not whole peas. I’m not sure about timing or liquid modifications for whole peas. If you try it successfully, I’d love to know what you did so I can add it to the recipe notes! Good luck :-)
Michelle
It ended up a trial and error effort. I used your instructions first. When that didn’t work I used the bean/chili option on the instapot. When that didn’t work I used the slow cooker option in the instapot. Finally, success! The soup is delicious.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks so much for reporting back! Glad it worked out for you!
Sheree
Soo delicious. I now buy a spiral ham just to make this amazing soup. Freezes well
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Rebecca B
Read the recipe and comments this morning, made it for lunch hosting my dairy-free, gluten-free friend, and not only was it delicious but she felt special and loved that there was something just for her that met her needs. I used the bone from a honey-glazed ham, and it made the perfect balance of slightly sweet and very savory. No additional salt was needed. So delish!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Crystal
Super tasty, my son’s only complaint was that I didn’t make more! Wanted to leave a review as sometimes people rate a recipe without trying it. We tried it and are making it again within the same week! 😂
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your son liked it!
Stephanie Deeley
I have fresh ham hocks. Should I adjust the cooking time?
Stephanie Deeley
I didn’t mean to leave one star. Haven’t made it yet. Sorry!
Elizabeth Lindemann
No worries! I edited the comment to reflect no rating. Thanks!
Elizabeth Lindemann
The ham should be fully cooked before adding to the soup. If you cook it longer to cook the ham fully, the peas will overcook. You could do this by boiling it in water until it’s cooked, and you can use that water in place of or in addition to the chicken stock! Hope that helps.
Bernida
Can I double the recipe? I ha e the largest size instant pot…would I need to add more time or not?
Elizabeth Lindemann
There’s a note about this. An 8 qt. should suffice for doubling it. And no, you don’t need to adjust the time. Hope that helps!
Dee
Delicious and couldn’t be easier. I didn’t sauté -just added everything into the InstantPot. Added 1t crushed red pepper and no salt. Came out perfect!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Sarah M
So I am wondering if I can still use this recipe with whole green peas. I got them from a food drive. And can I use back? I don’t have any of the other substitutions at the moment. Would I just cook the bacon first before adding to soup? And do you know if I would need to cook it longer? I’m guessing I would since they’re whole. I also have an 8 quart instant pot. Love easy one pot meals that I can just walk away from! Busy mama here. lol
Sarah M.
I meant to say, can I use bacon instead of ham or other substitutions?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Looks like you already got your answer with another comment, but for anyone else reading, yes! Bacon can definitely be used.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Soaking the whole dried peas before cooking would probably work well! I can’t say for sure as I’ve never tried it but after you soak them, I think the timing in this recipe would be a good place to start!
Mary
Would you use the immersion blender after or leave as is???
Elizabeth Lindemann
I personally leave it as is as I like a little texture to my soup. Others use an immersion blender to puree it. It’s up to you!
Julie
This is my go-to Instant Pot split pea recipe. I cook the ham bone alone in the Instant Pot because it is easy to sort out with all of the other peas and veggies. I add 8 0z of cut up ham when I make the soup using the ham stock from cooking the ham bone. The one thing I am adding to many soups these days is coriander. It adds a delicious citrusy flavor to the soup. I toast up my homemade sourdough Kalamata bread and then I call everyone for dinner. Thanks for a great recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! That homemade kalamata bread sounds amazing!
Jackie Smith
This is such a wonderful recipe. My family loves it. Thank you so much
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Christine F
So easy and so amazing, this turned out absolutely perfect. I’m sure it is brilliant exactly as written however I threw in some smoked “holiday kielbasa” with the ham and about 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme. Just yum.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Anne
Hi! I don’t have celery but I do want to add potatoes, as one of my other pea soup recipes I’ve used adds potatoes at the end. Have you ever tried potatoes with this recipe? I’m so excited to try it tonight! Thank you!!
Elizabeth Lindemann
I think you can just throw some diced raw potatoes when you add the split peas and cook according to directions – should be fine!
Suzanne R.
The best split pea soup I’ve ever made!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!