Split Pea and Ham Soup

Split pea and ham soup is a classic comfort dish that is perfect for a cold day. Make it in double time with an Instant Pot!

Split pea and ham soup is a traditional soup recipe with a tasty rich and flavorful soup packed with veggies and ham, every bite tastes better than it looks.

While some people may not be able to look at split pea soup with ham without thinking of “certain horror films,” this soup actually existed long before then and will continue to live on for decades.

While split pea soup has been a frugal favorite for thousands of years (early reports of a version existing around 400-500 B.C) it hasn’t been until recently that it came to be made in the Instant Pot.

Making Instant Pot split pea soup with potatoes is a great way to get a flavorful soup with minimal time or effort. No more waiting for hours because this soup just needs 30 minutes to cook and pressure release.

One of the best things about split pea soup is that it’s such a frugal recipe. Using leftover ham bones from cooked ham, a ham hock, or some chopped leftover ham is a great way to stretch your dollars and get the most out of a small amount of meat. Even the dried split peas are cheap!

What you’ll need for split pea soup with ham

• Onion
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Celery
• Split peas
• Ham Hock (or another version of ham) *See recipe card notes
• Bay leaf
• Sage
• Parsley
• Broth (ham or chicken)
• Water
• Salt and pepper

How to make split pea and ham soup

• In your Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker, combine all of the ingredients. If you’re using a ham bone, add it in there now too. If you plan on using pre-chopped ham, wait until the end to add it in.
• Place the lid on the Instant Pot and place the vent into the sealing position.
• Cook on manual high pressure for 17 minutes.
• Once the time is up, allow the Instant Pot to come down in pressure with a natural pressure release for at least 10 minutes! If you don’t wait and try to manually release the pressure, the soup will come out the vent. This would be pretty dangerous and a good way to get hurt or burns.
• Open the Instant Pot and remove the ham hock. Trim off any of the ham on the bone and place it back into the soup (yum). If you are using pre-chopped ham you can simply add it into the soup now and allow it to warm up as you stir and let it sit in the soup.

How can I thicken pea soup?

If you find that your soup isn’t as thick as you would like it, you can always choose to remove a cup or two of the soup and run it through a blender or food processor before stirring it back into the soup.

This is an easy way of getting thicker soup without adding anything else to the mix and ruining any flavors we have going on. Just be careful as the soup will be hot.

With a rich and savory split pea soup, you can get a comforting feeling in every bite and it’s perfect for a cold chilly night!