Ugh, I love me some peas. Mushy peas at Thanksgiving, smashed peas on crostini, frozen peas in a stir fry, and especially peas in soup. I’d attribute my love for peas to my Scottish heritage, but my sister is not a fan – and we shared a womb – soooo… nevermind. It’s cool though, more Perfect Pea Soup for me.
This is a classic split pea soup recipe, adapted from Ina Garten’s Parker’s Split Pea Soup, with heaps of peas simmering alongside red potatoes and carrots. The peas, however, are the stars here. It’s pea soup in its purest form. A sprinkle of dried oregano and a bay leaf – besides salt and pepper – are the sole seasonings, while a low and slow sauté of a whole diced onion and two garlic cloves build depth of flavor.
Now, I totally get, in addition to a 45 minute simmer time for the peas, fifteen minutes is a long time to sauté an onion – but I implore you not to rush this step. You’ll taste the difference in the final product. I save time by waiting to dice the carrots and potato until the onion is working away in the pot. Plus, one pot feeds a crowd or covers dinner for two for half of a week. Totally worth it.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups carrots, diced
- 2 cups red or white potatoes, unpeeled & chopped
- 1 pound dried split green peas, rinsed
- 8 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- salt & pepper
- Add olive oil to a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, 15 minutes. Add the bay leaf, carrots, potatoes, split peas, and veggie broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 45 - 55 minutes, until peas are soft. (Make sure you have a few bubbles going in your pot from a high enough simmer or else the peas might take a bit longer to soften.)
- Remove bay leaf. Place 2 cups of soup in a high speed blender. Puree and return to pot. Season with freshly cracked sea salt and black pepper to taste. Serve hot.
- Soup will thicken as it cools. Add water in tablespoon increments to thin when reheating.
We made this for supper tonight. It was really delicious and super easy. Wonderful, healthy recipe. My hubby loved it. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Joan! I’m so glad you and the hubs loved it.
👋🏼 Hello, can anyone tell me how to make this in an Instant Pot? Thank you so much. Julie K.
I just used the saute feature to start and followed everything exactly. I put it on pressure cook for the soup setting for 45 minutes and let it sit on warm until we were ready to eat. I put a bit of soup in another pot and used the immersion blender to smooth it out and added it back to the main soup. Perfect and delicious!
How many cups of dried peas did you use? I only have a bag here with some already used..so I cannot weigh out a pound. Thanks!!
Hi Arielle, 1 pound is equal to 2 cups of dried peas. Hope you enjoy the soup!
1 pound = 2 1/4 cups
Made this today and loved it! Thank you for sharing :o)
Oh, that makes me so happy, Allyson! Thank you for commenting.
Yum! Can’t wait to make this one on the weekend. Made your Five ingredient broccoli soup the other day and it was amazing!! Living in Canada with -30 temps, I need a good bowl of soup. Thanks!!
Negative 30?! That’s insane! I’m glad my soups are keeping you warm, thanks so much for commenting, Erica.
My mother used to make something very close to this. Instead of potatoes, she would break spaghetti into short strips and add to the pot. How would I adjust the recipe to do this?
Hi Eric, I’m not really sure how you’d adjust the recipe since the potatoes are kind of an integral ingredient in my version. Maybe just half the amount of potatoes and add uncooked pasta during the last 15 minutes of simmer time? Good luck!
Just don’t put the potatoes and add the pasta, in the last few minutes before you turn the soup off. How much pasta I don’t know, maybe a half cup or less..!.!.
I didn’t have any potatoes today, so I added tempeh that I cut into small cubes and marinated in a little bit of vegan liquid smoke and some Salish … it was great in your recipe!! Thanks so much!!
What a cool swap! Thanks for commenting, Jennifer!
Hi Eric,
My mom used to make a very similar pea soup recipe like Kristie’s here, and she would make a separate noodle soup with a chicken bouillon cube and mix the two together afterwards. Sometimes she would use a boxed dry soup mix, which probably had too much salt (that’s over 50 years ago…hahaha). Now I make a veggie bouillon noodle soup. I use soup vermicelli broken into small pieces or you can probably buy a packet of broken noodle for soup and I mix it with my pea soup after they are cooked. The vermicelli soup cooks faster so while the pea soup is on the go it’s easy. I am looking forward to trying this pea soup recipe this weekend though as it looks very tasty.
Read the reviews and would love to try this soup today. Sounds great. I have some barley I’d like to use up any suggestions add more water?
More liquid to hydrate the spaghetti, or cook spaghetti separate then add when drained.
This was my first time making split pea soup. Your recipe photo grabbed my attention and then after reading the recipe and how simple it was, went for it. I do believe you’re right that sweating the onions etc. for 15 minutes is a must. The flavor of the soup was so robust! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Hi, Debra! Thank you so much for your sweet comment and I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup.
I have already made this once and I LOVE it! The only extra I added was a bit of turmeric (I’m on an anti-inflammatory kick). I look forward to making it again very soon. Thank you so much!
So glad you loved it, Lauren! And I love your turmeric addition. I’ve just started drinking turmeric almond milk in the morning and it’s great.
Thank you for the recipe! Looks great! Could this be made in a crockpot? Having a company potluck and the crockpot would be the easiest way to transport the soup.
Hi Amanda, I’d saute the onions first in a pan for the full 15 minutes called for in the recipe and then add everything to a crockpot. Should work out great!
Okay! Thank you! Do you think I should put it in low or high?m and any idea for how long? I’m not the crockpot expert Lol
LOL, I don’t have much experience with crock-pots either, but I’d say high for about 4 hours. Just check it a lot. You want the peas to be falling apart tender.
lol thank you!! I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂 looking forward to tasting it!!
Definitely keep me posted!
This soup is delicious! Sautéing the onions first was an excellent idea, I’m all about flavor layering, it does make a difference in the final outcome of your dish. The bay leaf is also a must, it brings richness and depth as well. Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper!
So glad you enjoyed the soup, Sharon! Thank you for commenting.
Sometimes I try recipes and am so dismayed by how they turn out. This wasn’t one of those times! Super easy and very flavorful, this recipe is one I will use again! Such a great flavor. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Kimberly!
I just made this soup today. It tasted great! So healthy and tasty. I am looking forward to making it again very soon. Thank you!
Should the peas be soaked before adding them to the soup? Can’t wait to make this soup today!
Hi Lital, nope, you don’t have to soak the peas first.
I would if putting in a crockpot, otherwise you don’t need to. Follow directions on the bag.
I made this soup this evening and it was quite good. I used fresh thyme instead of the oregano.
So glad you enjoyed it, Ken!
I have everything except yellow onion. would it be terribly wrong if I used purple onion 😶
I don’t think it would be a problem.
My husband and I have just recently adopted a vegan eating plan. I made this soup for the week and it was so easy and absolutely delicious! Love the simple ingredient list. Yum!
So glad you and the hubs liked the soup, Jenny!
Amazing flavours! Thank you
Thank you for commenting, Katrina!
Thank you for sharing this!! I added mushrooms, a little bit of leftover celery I had, and a teaspoon of hickory Liquid Smoke!
Trying this recipe today. Aug 7 2017 I switched over to vegetarian. Best decision I made for myself. Thank you for recipe. Its exactly what I was looking for! Simple and delicious
I am making split pea soup for a pot luck. Then i will freeze and defrost later. Can i reheat in a slow cooker and leave on warm for a few hours .
Hi Joyce, I’ve never reheated the soup in a slow cooker but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Hi, I would like to make this for my dad. However, he is not allowed to have onions, garlic, salt and pepper. if i omit these will the soup still turn out okay?
Thank you very much.
Jamie
Hi Jamie, unfortunately no, I don’t think the soup would be flavorful at all if you omit those 4 main ingredients.
Salt free Mrs Dash would give it some flavor plus other herbs. Can onion powder and garlic powder be used in place of the actual vegetables?
I just made this for my son and myself. I added 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme and I didn’t have enough veggie broth, so I had to use a few cups of water. It’s delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
I can’t find a printable recipe for this perfect pea soup .. amazing and I want to print it out:) help !
Hi Charlene, there are “Save Recipe” or “Print” buttons at the top of the recipe section.
I just made your split pea soup recipe for dinner and followed it to the tee. It turned out most delicious and I can’t wait to have some for lunch tomorrow. Thank you for sharing! Barbara
Yay, thanks for commenting, Barbara!
I made this today.. it was so tasty.. thank you for sharing..
Glad you enjoyed it, Vally!
Made this tonight. Added some celery…didn’t have oregano so I used Italian seasoning – didn’t have a bay leaf. Used better than bouillon vegetable base and water. Didn’t realize how salty the bouillon was – I’m new to it. Very salty. Next time I will use half as much or buy the low sodium version. Ended up adding some water. So be careful if you go that route. But it is really good and simple. And it made a lot. This will last us several days. Thanks for the recipe! Also – the person who posted about omitting garlic salt pepper and onions – I think it could be done. Just use salt free salt and maybe try roasting and pureeing cauliflower and use Italian seasoning like I did. And use water instead of veggie broth. Just an idea.
I just made this. EXCELLENT!!! I doubled the recipe because I share with my elderly mom and father inlaw. My husband loves it too!
Lynn
Awww, that’s awesome Lynn! Thank you for commenting.
Your recipe is so awesome!!Enjoyed every bite.
Thank you, Erik!
Awesome soup great nutrition especially for senior citizens and children
Awesome soup great nutrition especially for senior citizens and children. I added acupuncture of pureed kale made it look like green pea soup
Awesome soup great nutrition especially for senior citizens and children. I added a cup of pureed kale made it look like green pea soup
How many cups of peas do you use in an oval good size crock pot?
Thanks for this recipe. I love it!
This was by far the BEST split pea soup I’ve ever made!!! So, I gave the recipe to a co-worker after she raved about the leftovers I brought to work and although she cooked it much longer than prescribed — and longer than I did — the consistency of the peas stayed a little “crunchy.” They only difference is that I bought my peas in a 1 lb bag and she bought hers in bulk from a bin. Do peas get old? Why do you think that happened how to avoid in the future?
Hmmm, peas probably do get old but perhaps your coworker just needs to try upping the simmer on his or her pot to cut down on the cooking time. I know everyone interprets “simmer” slightly differently. So glad you liked the soup, Dyno!
Thanks for the response! I’ll let her know and hopefully she’ll try again.
I used yellow pead instead of green and looked very pretty and tasted great.
A glorious vegan recipe!
thank you very much!
Awesome, and yay for yellow peas!
hello,
Which vegetable broth brand do you use? I think a lot has to do with that as well.
Hi Ana, I completely agree. Not sure where you live, but here in California my go to is the Sprouts grocery store brand. I buy their organic low sodium one. I’ve also used Pacific and Imagine brands with success.
I’m not a fan of the Imagine brand. It has a very distinct onion flavor to me. Almost fermented for lack of a better term.
Can this recipe be made without potatoes? if so, how would I adjust any ingredients? Thanks
Just started a Vegan lifestyle and this split pea soup was among the best I have ever had. Followed to the T.
Thanks so much for posting this!
Thanks so much for commenting, Jenn! Good luck on your vegan journey!
Hi – I don’t have a blender. Will this still come out okay?
Hi Yu, yes, it should just be a bit chunkier, texture wise. You could always use a potato masher to mash up some of the peas as well.
Wow, this really hit the spot on a cold day in central Virginia. I’m so glad I found your site, and I look forward to trying more of your recipes. Thanks!
Glad the soup warmed you up, Lisa!
I made this yesterday and I did sauté the onion 15 minutes as you said it makes a difference. I did add a little celery salt and garlic powder. Fantastic, I will make this recipe from now on! Thank You
I made,this with water instead of broth and still came out delicious!
Awesome, thanks Liza!
I accidentally bought split green peas instead of lentils for a different recipe. I found your recipe for split pea soup and it saved the day! My whole family loved it! : )
Happy kitchen accidents are the best kind! So glad your family loved the soup, Kristi.
I cooked this in the pressure cooker the same way I do for lentil soup. 20 minutes makes the consistency creamy— no need for blending or mashing — if you are comfortable with using a pressure cooker. Delicious recipe, thanks!!
Oops, make that 30-35 minutes 😉
Good to know, thank you!
I made this today and it was delicious thx for good recipe.
I have made your split pea soup several times and absolutely love it! The flavors are insane! This time I would like to freeze some for easy dinners. Do you think it will freeze well? Thanks!
Hi Sharon, you’re so sweet! Sorry for my tardy reply, I’m just seeing your comment now for some reason. I’ve frozen batches of my pea soup many times. It freezes great!
I did not know dried split peas need to be soaked overnight. They are still very firm. Do I need to start over? Will the soup still taste good if I keep it simmering ?
Sharon,
Seriously so delicious ! I added some smoked salmon as I am a pescatarian, but I’m sure it would have been just as delicious with out it! Thank you so much for sharing!
Warmly, Devin
This soup is amazing! Instead of all carrots I used equal parts carrots and sweet potatoes because I didn’t have enough carrots on hand. To blend the soup I used an immersion blender instead of moving half to a regular blender.
Made this for dinner, it was delicious! I used sweet potatoes and added a bit of celery, as well. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you for an amazing yet quick and easy recipe!
This sounds delicious! However, I’d like to make this in the Instant Pot. Any suggestions?
Also, thanks for sharing your recipes 😁
Hi Cassandra, sorry! I don’t have any experience using an Instant Pot.
Could I use water instead of vegetable broth?
My peas were a bit hard but omgthe soup flavor was amazing!!!! So easy to make.
I just made this soup and am thrilled. Literally became vegan today after watching “What the Health” on Netflix! I used half the salt and shuts a tad salty still for me. But then I don’t salt anything……so, will just use less next time! Thankyou!😀
You mention mushy peas…any chance you have a recipe to share? We had them on a recent trip to Scotland and I would love to make them at home!
Haha, my Scottish granny makes the only mushy peas I’ve ever had! I don’t know her recipe off the top of my head, but a quick Google search seems to show that most of the recipes are very similar. Basically just whole, dried peas soaked with baking soda and cooked long and slow.
Dried marrow fat peas as much as you want ,me I usually use a about 300/350 grames.put peas in a biggish pot .dissolve a good teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in 1pint or to just cover peas boiling water must be boiling,pour over peas leave to soak over night or at least 16 hours,then drain and rinse well.add soaked peas to the saucepan add 1 or again just cover the peas pints of boiling water.boil for 5min before adding salt and sugar to taste to your palette boil gently for another 10/15 min the more you boil the mushier they become.pour over fish and chips .enjoy and think of England LOL.
Thank you for posting this! I love split pea soup but cut out meat (especially pork) so I wasn’t sure how to pull it off without losing the flavor. This soup was thick and rich and full of flavor. Didn’t miss the ham bone at all! Now I need to get busy and try some of your other recipes. I’m a fan!! 🙂
Thank you so much, Andrea! So happy to hear you liked the soup, it’s one of my fave recipes too.
Five Stars!!! So yummy and easy to make!
Hi thanks for this recipe! I made this once before that when I lived elsewhere and it turned out perfect but the last two times I’ve made it Im having issues like Dyno’s friend in the comment above that the peas are still crunchy even cooking for hours longer. So Im wondering if my current stove simmer is not great for soups. I followed your recipe exact and after an hour when the peas are still crunchy I thought ok maybe put the lid on and the extra steam will help soften them faster but then that somehow seems to cause the bottom to burn. I keep the simmer when uncovered with some bubbles but not too many or it bubbles out of the pot and when I put the lid on I turn it down to the lowest setting. The current batch is still simmering now 4.5 hours later a lot has broken down and the soup got very thick but some peas are still hard and crunchy and doesn’t seem done yet.
Do you have any any tips?
Soaking the peas before or cooking lowest heat with lid for longer or a bit higher without lid? Or adding more water or broth at some point?
Also just wondering why you prefer without the lid does it cook quicker that way?
I hope to get it like your photo that looks like the perfect soup thickness!
Thanks!
Hi Lily, I honestly don’t know what the issue could be especially since the soup turned out for you once before. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the peas you bought were old. I’ve had that happen with lentils before, they just never got soft. Leaving the lid off helps some of the liquid to evaporate quicker, concentrating the flavors of the soup broth.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that your next attempt turns out just the way you want it!
I made this for the fifth time today and it was amazing as usual. I have never been a great cook so I hold on to recipes like this that are easy but seem impressive to other people. Such an easy and delicious recipe and my husband LOVES it. I freeze half the batch for a week or two later so we’re not having the same thing for dinner for a week. Thank you!
Oh my GOODNESS!!!! This is the BEST split pea soup EVER!!!!! My husband was…ok…no ham…ok…I’ll try it. Went back for BIG seconds!!! Said this is the best split pea soup ever!! TOUCHDOWN!!!!!
We don’t need ham for flavor when we’ve got garlic and onion! So glad you, and your husband, love the soup Bonnie.
Oh Man I made this recipe today and we just love love loved it. We are going to freeze some will be making again 😊🙏
This is a great recipe, I used asian sweet potato because I didn’t have regular potato. Still came out delicious.
We just started vegan life style and this is a delicious addition to our diet. Thank you.
Love your use of sweet potato, Kaysh!
Hi! I absolutely love this recipe & have made it multiple times😀 Each time I make it, no matter how I cut the potatoes, they’re always done before the peas are 🤔 Should I add them later maybe? Thanks!
Hmmm, maybe you just like your potatoes extra firm? I’d just add them later.
The soup is very delicious this is one of the few recipes I will definitely make again 🙂 the ingredients are also super cheap and very nutritious too!
Isn’t it great when things taste good and are good for you! Thanks so much for commenting, Maria!
The soup is delicious, but I double checked the carbohydrate count because I am type 1 diabetic. I looked up everything in your ingredient list, then divided by 9. I got 43 carbs per serving and 245 calories, which is almost twice as much as you have listed. What did I do wrong?
I loved this simplicity of the ingredients… it was delicious. I only made one adjustment and used Asian yams ( Japanese sweet potatoes) instead of the white potato and the flavor was insanely good.
My first split pea soup and my family LOVED it!
Ooohhh, I love the idea of using sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes! I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks so much for commenting, Shahidah!
This is the second time I’ve made this delicious soup. The first time went great. This time my split peas will not soften all the way. I’ve been simmering the soup for over 2 hours and they are still quite crunchy. I used a brand new bag of organic split peas, so I can’t imagine they are old. Do you have any idea why this happened? From my research, looks like no matter how much longer I cook them they won’t soften.
Hi Jen, I think you must have just bought a bad batch of peas. My sister recently had the same issue with a bag of white beans she bought, same issue, they just never got soft.
Great recipe! I have made it 3 times now. I added some turmeric and hot sauce for depth. Love how you suggest to puree a section of the soup but leave the rest chunky. Everyone in the household loved it!
Adding turmeric sounds yummy! Thanks for commenting, Stephanie!
Can you provide the nutrition info on this recip? The calorie count at least? Thanks!
Hello! I am making this today for the 100th time (maybe more). Absolutely perfectly delicious.
Yay, so glad it’s become a favorite! Thanks for commenting, Kristin.
This soup is fantastic. Hard to believe that you can make pea soup taste this good. I also made Kristie’s de-toxifying cabbage soup. Again, excellent, although I love the pea soup more. This site is a real find.
You made my day, Mary! So glad you made and liked both soups.
I love this recipe! I’ve made it before and I plan to make it again soon. So easy and I usually have most of these ingredients on hand. Thank you!
How could you make this in the slow cooker? Thanks!
Hi Katie, I’ve never made it in the slow cooker but it would probably turn out pretty good if you just add everything at once and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Let me know how it turns out!