Last time I made split pea soup it was enough to last me and my husband seven years! Don’t worry, we didn’t save it for that long. It was just a huge pot of soup and after eating all the leftovers day after day we just didn’t have the desire to make anymore of it until now, which is seven years since our last batch of split pea soup.
HERE is the recipe I made seven years ago. Below is the recipe we used this time around. It was delicious! It is still a big batch, but now we have four people to divide it between instead of two 🙂
If you don’t have a ham bone to simmer, just throw in some cubed cooked ham near the end of the cooking time.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dry green split peasÂ
- 8 cups water
- 32 oz (4 cups) chicken broth
- 1 ham bone (with some ham still on it) and optional extra ham pieces (I had a frozen ham bone I had saved from Easter dinner. I thawed it in the refrigerator the night before making this soup)Â
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped small
- 2 large celery ribs with leaves still attached, chopped small
- about 4 medium carrots
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- a pinch of dry thyme (about 1/8 or 1/4 tsp)
Instructions:
- Rinse the dry green split peas under cold water, in fine mesh strainer. Put the peas in a big soup pot with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour (you can use this hour to chop the vegetables).Â
- Remove about 4 cups of the water and discard. Add 4 cups chicken broth to the soup pot. Return to a boil.
- Add the ham bone, garlic, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt, pepper and thyme. Lower heat to a simmer, cover with a lid cook for about an hour or hour and a half, stirring occasionally.
- Remove ham bone and any large pieces of ham and place on a dish.Â
Blend about half of the soup in batches (make sure it’s not too hot for the blender) and return pureed soup to the soup pot (this will help give the soup a creamier consistency). 
- Cut any of the large ham pieces into smaller, bite-sized pieces, and add them back into the soup.
- Serve garnished with a bit of sour cream (or plain yogurt), some chopped parsley and/or bits of ham.
This split pea soup goes great with a French baguette!
*Inspired by THIS recipe.
**You might also like to try LENTIL SOUP and CREAMY POTATO SOUP. Both are delicious!
