Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham
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
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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, make sure valve is on "sealing," 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, sauté the veggies in a skillet in the butter, then transfer them and add all other ingredients 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 reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It 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:
Just wondering what ingredient is missing, based on all the photos. Looks like chopped parsley is added to make the green flecks in the soup. And the prep photos show parsley I think as well. Can you estimate the amount of parsley to add to the soup so the taste is balanced? Thanks
Thanks for catching that! It is indeed parsley, and it was just used as a garnish. You can absolutely stir some into the soup if you want- I recommend 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Split pea soup is difficult to photograph and make appealing, so a pop of bright green in and around the soup was mostly used for photo styling rather than a necessary ingredient! The soup will be delicious with or without it. I’m going to update the recipe card with the garnish suggestion now :-)
An excellent soup that’s easy to make. I found your recipe about a month ago and made a pot with chicken stock on the stove, substituting bacon bits and white pepper for the ham and black pepper. It was excellent. I made a double batch about a week later for a cousin’s birthday party (catered BBQ with pot-luck sides) was asked for the recipe. I’ve got a pot on the stove now with a chicken bone broth base. This will be a regular menu item here. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you! So happy you like it!
I made this and it came out really runny. Not sure what i did wrong
Hm, that’s weird! Usually the issue is that it’s too thick. When it’s really hot, it will be thicker, and as it cools, it will thicken. Just to be sure- you used dried split peas, right? Not fresh or frozen peas? That would definitely make it really runny. Other than that, if it comes out really runny again, I recommend just letting the instant pot stay on “sauté” for a while so some of the liquid evaporates, or letting it simmer on the stovetop (or just letting it cool off for a little). Hope that helps, and better luck next time!
Made it tonight. I’ve never made split pea soup. Tasted like I remember my moms tasting. My 11&13 year old even ate it and generally liked it.
So happy this recipe worked out for you, and that your kiddos liked it too!
I really enjoyed this soup. I cut down the sodium by using less broth and more water. Also, refrigerated leftovers do require thinning. But this is one delicious soup!
So glad you liked it!
Wonder and delicious! Don’t overcook.
So glad you liked it!
I discovered this recipe late last winter and love it ! So much easier than sitting at the stove stirring and stirring and…stirring some more ! I use a pre-cooked ham steak that I cube into smaller pieces. I also find a crush glove of garlic also adds to the flavor ! A friend’s older Mom fell this afternoon on the sidewalk, breaking her nose and is sore all over. They are getting ready to come home from the hospital and his Mom texted me and asked if I would make a batch of this soup for her as she is on soft-foods for a week until her jaw is healed. I was delighted to have this recipe on-hand for her. Food IS Love – and sometime one of the greatest gifts we can share with friends in need. She has loved this recipe before – and it was the first thing I thought of when she reached out ! Many thanks !
Aw, this comment makes my heart sing. Food IS love, and I really appreciate you telling me how you’ve used this recipe to help make someone’s life happier and easier. So glad you like the recipe, and thanks again for the lovely comment!! Hope your friend’s mom is on the mend and feeling better :-)
So delicious, even my 6 year old picky eater loved it. Used smoked turkey and blended it with a stick blender to make it creamy after removing bay leaves. Thanks!
So glad you and your kiddo liked it! We’re making it in a few days too- my kids loveeee it as well.
I was skeptical of the cooking time but adhered to the recipe. I doubled everything as I have an 8qt IP & wanted to make enough to freeze.
This turned out great! I did add some extra seasonings to my preference, otherwise followed exactly.
So glad you liked it! Thanks so much for sharing that it worked as a double batch in an 8 quart- I’m going to add that to the recipe notes for other readers :-)
Super easy (not that split pea soup is hard) but no problem with uncooked peas like the conventional way. Very creamy…I would think you wouldn’t even need to blend it if that is your preference. Smells like winter!
Thank you! So happy you liked it!
This was a very flavorful soup which I made by the recipe with the addition of one clove of garlic, sauteed in with the onion. Since it was for two people I made one half a recipe. Thanks so much!
So happy you liked it!!
very easy and delicious.
So glad you liked it!
I made this using moong dal (split mung beans) instead of split peas because it’s what I had – turned out great! I also stirred in a cup or so of chopped ham at the end. Whole family loved it, kids asked for it in their school lunch the next day! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you and your family liked it!!
I stayed quite close to the recipe, however, I did add three cloves of minced garlic to the mirepoix. I used a pound of smoked ham cubes (10 oz more than the recipe calls for), which I roughly chopped into smaller pieces. I thought this might be too much, but ended up being the perfect amount for my tastes. Just be cautious in adding more salt, as the ham adds a good amount as it is. Will definitely be adding this one to my “go to” soup recipes.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment and suggestions :-)
I grew up on this soup and was skeptical about it being done in the IP and tasting as good simmered slowly on the stove top for hours, but of course it was. Love this recipe and my Instant Pot!
The instant pot almost never disappoints! So glad this worked out for you!
I made this twice now (one yellow & green). Really good! My family only enjoys it seriously thick, I set instant Pot for 25 minutes and natural release 15 which came out perfect for us, pretty smooth. I did a lazy & added two pieces of kosher turkey cut bacon slices to sub out pork; did have to add 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt to make up for the salty ham. Hubby still added salt! We do in live in a high altitude region. Thank you, can’t believe I don’t have to watch and wait over stove top anymore!!!
Yay! So happy you and your family liked it!
Amazing! This is going to be a staple for me.
Thanks so much! So glad you liked it :-)
Great recipie! I added some leek and a bit of garlic! Will make again…and again!!!
Thanks! So glad you liked it!
Oh! Adding a leek sounds delicious!! Thanks for the idea!
We like a smooth soup so at what point should I use my immersion blender? When it is all done I guess?
Yes! After it’s all done you can purée it if you wish ? hope you like it!
For the Vegan or vegetarian version add cubed smoked tofu before serving.
Wow, that’s a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing that suggestion!
I’ve carried a recipe around for 30 years from a chef in my hometown. I made this tonight and it is now my new favorite. Really delicious and not too thick.
Oh wow, what a wonderful comment to get! Thanks so much, and I’m really happy this recipe worked out so well for you!