Split Pea Soup Recipe with Smoked Ham Hock
This split pea soup recipe simmers dried green peas with smoked ham hocks, carrots, and celery into a thick, velvety pot. One pot, no blender.
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This split pea soup recipe is the old-fashioned kind: dried green peas, smoked ham hocks, and enough time on the stove for the peas to fall apart on their own. No blender, no cream, and nothing that makes it taste like a different soup.
The peas do all the thickening. Split peas have no skin holding them together, so once they’ve simmered long enough they collapse into the broth and turn it velvety. That takes about 90 minutes at a low simmer and there’s no way to rush it. Boiling harder just scorches the bottom of the pot.
The vegetables go in halfway through on purpose. Carrots and celery added at the start turn to mush over an hour and a half, and then the whole pot tastes flat and one-note. Adding them at the 45-minute mark means they’re tender but still recognizable when you ladle it out.
Why You’ll Love This Split Pea Soup Recipe
- The peas do the thickening. No blender and no cream. Split peas break down on their own into a thick, velvety soup.
- A few dollars feeds eight people. A pound of dried split peas and two smoked ham hocks are about as cheap as a real dinner gets.
- One pot, start to finish. Everything happens in the same Dutch oven, right down to shredding the ham back in at the end.
- It freezes better than most soups. No dairy and no pasta means it comes out of the freezer tasting like it did going in.
Split Pea Soup Ingredients
Smoked ham hocks are one of the cheapest good things in the meat case, usually a couple of dollars each, and they do two jobs at once. The bones and skin give the broth body and smoke, and there’s enough meat on the pair to shred back into the pot. Get two. Most of a hock’s weight is bone, skin, and fat, and one alone gives you about a spoonful of meat per bowl. If your store doesn’t carry hocks, 2 cups of diced cooked ham stands in for the 1 1/2 pounds, though the broth won’t be as rich.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb dried green split peas (about 2 cups), rinsed and picked over
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 smoked ham hocks (about 1 1/2 lb total)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
Recipe Variations
- Use 2 cups of diced cooked ham in place of the 1 1/2 pounds of hocks. Stir it in during the last 20 minutes so it doesn’t dry out, and add 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika to make up for the smoke the hocks would have brought.
- Leave the meat out for a vegetarian pot. Use vegetable broth, add 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce for savory depth, and finish with a splash of apple cider vinegar to wake it up.
- Cook 6 slices of chopped bacon in the pot first and soften the onion in the fat instead of butter. Cut the butter to 1 tablespoon, or skip it entirely if the pan looks slick.
How to Make Split Pea Soup
- Soften the onion: Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, just until you can smell it.
- Add the peas and liquid: Add the rinsed split peas, chicken broth, water, ham hocks, bay leaves, thyme, and black pepper. Bring it to a boil, which takes about 5 minutes.
- Simmer covered: Reduce the heat to low so the surface barely moves, cover, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes and scrape across the bottom of the pot, since the peas settle and scorch there.
- Add the vegetables: Stir in the carrots and celery. Cover and simmer 45 minutes more, until the peas have broken down and the soup coats the back of a spoon.
- Shred the ham: Lift the ham hocks out onto a cutting board. Pull the meat off the bones with two forks, chop it, and stir it back into the pot. Discard the bones, skin, fat, and bay leaves. Ninety minutes at a simmer takes the pork far past the 145°F USDA minimum, and the meat will slip off the bones when it’s ready.
- Thicken and season: Simmer uncovered 10 minutes to thicken, stirring often. Add the salt, taste it, and add more pepper if it needs it.
Recipe FAQs
Do I Need to Soak the Peas for This Split Pea Soup Recipe?
No. Split peas are hulled and split, so they cook through in about 90 minutes with no soaking. Just rinse them and pick out any small stones or shriveled peas before they go in.
Why Is My Split Pea Soup Still Watery?
It needs more time. Peas only thicken after they break apart, so keep simmering uncovered in 10-minute stretches until it coats a spoon. If it’s been well past 2 hours with no change, the peas were old, and old peas sometimes never soften.
Can I Make This in a Slow Cooker?
Yes. Soften the onion and garlic on the stove first, then add everything except the carrots and celery to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Add the vegetables for the last 2 hours.
My Soup Got Too Thick. How Do I Fix It?
Stir in hot broth or water a half cup at a time until it’s where you want it. Split pea soup sets up a lot as it cools, so leftovers almost always need this.
Should I Use Green or Yellow Split Peas?
Green is the standard and tastes slightly sweeter and grassier. Yellow peas are milder and a little earthier. They cook in the same time and are used the same way, so buy whichever your store has.
Cooking Tips
- Scrape across the bottom of the pot every time you stir. Split peas sink and stick, and a scorched layer down there flavors the whole batch in a way you cannot fix afterward.
- Keep the lid on for the first 90 minutes. The peas have to stay submerged to break down, and an uncovered pot loses enough water that they end up sitting high and dry.
- Salt at the end, not the beginning. Ham hocks vary wildly in saltiness and so does broth, so salting early is how you end up with a pot nobody can eat.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It sets up almost solid when it’s cold, which is normal and not a sign anything went wrong.
To freeze: This one freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Cool it completely first, leave an inch of headspace in the container, and thaw overnight in the fridge.
To reheat: Warm it over medium-low heat with broth or water stirred in a splash at a time until it loosens, and bring it to 165°F. Stir often, because it sticks.
How to Serve Split Pea Soup
Split Pea Soup wants something with crunch beside it, so buttered rye toast, a crusty sourdough heel, or a handful of oven croutons all earn their spot in the bowl. A sharp green salad with vinaigrette balances how rich and smoky the soup is. Leftovers pack well in a thermos for school lunches.
Loved This Recipe?
Split Pea Soup takes a little over two hours, almost all of it unattended, and turns a few dollars of dried peas into dinner for eight.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Split Pea Soup Recipe with Smoked Ham Hock
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb dried green split peas about 2 cups, rinsed and picked over
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 2 smoked ham hocks about 1 1/2 lb total
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 carrots diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
Instructions
- Soften the onion: Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, just until you can smell it.
- Add the peas and liquid: Add the rinsed split peas, chicken broth, water, ham hocks, bay leaves, thyme, and black pepper. Bring it to a boil, which takes about 5 minutes.
- Simmer covered: Reduce the heat to low so the surface barely moves, cover, and simmer 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes and scrape across the bottom of the pot, since the peas settle and scorch there.
- Add the vegetables: Stir in the carrots and celery. Cover and simmer 45 minutes more, until the peas have broken down and the soup coats the back of a spoon.
- Shred the ham: Lift the ham hocks out onto a cutting board. Pull the meat off the bones with two forks, chop it, and stir it back into the pot. Discard the bones, skin, fat, and bay leaves. Ninety minutes at a simmer takes the pork far past the 145°F USDA minimum, and the meat will slip off the bones when it’s ready.
- Thicken and season: Simmer uncovered 10 minutes to thicken, stirring often. Add the salt, taste it, and add more pepper if it needs it.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
