Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup is warm, comforting, healthy, and hearty, loaded with ham, potatoes, and carrots. And best of all, it’s easy to make since your crockpot does all of the work!

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with text overlay.


 

If you enjoy healthy soups, you'll also love Easy Minestrone Soup, Sausage Kale White Bean Soup, and Simple Gazpacho!

We've been pretending around here...pretending that it actually feels like fall. But we're not pretending that a busy fall schedule has descended upon us -- noooo, that's reality, folks -- so I've been relying on my crockpot, now more than ever.

And what's easier to whip up in the slow cooker than a warm, comforting, perfect-for-fall (or perfect when you're pining for fall) soup? I particularly love throwing dried beans -- or in this case, dried split peas -- in the crock pot. Say hello to a supper that's hearty (and healthy!) but not heavy...Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup!

Ingredients

The ingredients for this split pea soup recipe are simple and straightforward.

Aerial view of ingredients to make Crockpot Split Pea Soup recipe.
  • Dried green split peas. Yellow split peas will work if you can't find green. Either way, there's no need to soak 'em.
  • Ham. Diced. This recipe happens to be a GREAT way to use up leftover holiday ham! Better yet, if you still have a ham bone, simmering it right in the soup during cooking will add depth of flavor.
  • Potatoes. Peeled and diced.
  • Carrots. I shred my carrots, rather than dicing them, to further assist their melt-into-the-soup action.
  • Garlic. Minced. I always add extra!
  • Chicken broth or stock. Or feel free to sub vegetable broth. For most slow cooker recipes calling for broth, I use my old standby: Organic Better Than Bouillon chicken (or turkey, or beef, or vegetable) base. It's pretty salty, so I initially use less than called for and then adjust to taste. And seldom do I feel the need to add more salt at the end when using Better Than Bouillon.
  • Bay leaf + fresh minced parsley. For flavor
  • Salt + freshly ground black pepper. To taste. How much salt you need to add at the end will depend on the saltiness of both your ham and your chicken broth.
Split Pea Soup recipe with chunks of ham and potatoes.

Tweaking the Recipe

Slow cooker soups like this Crockpot Split Pea Soup are infinitely customizable, so add whatever makes it appealing to your family.

It makes me happy to be able to add other vegetables to this recipe, since they end up cooking down enough to be somewhat incognito. My kids eat their veggies without a fuss and I don't have to worry about extraneous vegetable side dishes to go with dinner that night. Win, win! So increase or change up the veggies as you wish. You could toss in some celery or onions…whatever floats your boat.

Additionally, you could opt to further boost the flavor of your Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup by stirring in a teaspoon of smoked paprika or a few generous dashes of hot sauce (such as Tabasco).

If you have smoked sausage (such as kielbasa), you can dice it up and add to your soup in lieu of the ham. You may opt to brown the sausage in a skillet before adding it to the soup, if you wish.

Diced smoked turkey is another possible substitute for the ham.

And finally, I personally love to stir a splash (about ½ teaspoon) of apple cider vinegar into my own bowl of split pea soup before enjoying it!

Aerial view of Split Pea Soup recipe in bowls.

How to Make Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

This is seriously the easiest split pea soup recipe. The only real work involves a bit of chopping. Then simply toss your ingredients into the crockpot and let them cook away all day!

  1. Rinse and drain a pound of dried split peas, then place in the bottom of a slow cooker along with diced ham, potatoes, carrots, and garlic.
  2. Pour in chicken broth.
Ingredients in slow cooker.
Adding broth to crockpot.
  1. Add a bay leaf and fresh minced parsley.
  2. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours...or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
Crockpot Split Pea Soup ingredients ready to cook in slow cooker.
Lid on crockpot.
  1. Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
Ladle of Split Pea Soup recipe lifted from crockpot.

Adjusting the Consistency

It's easy to adjust the consistency of this Crockpot Split Pea Soup to your liking.

For a thinner soup, stir in a bit of additional broth.

For a thicker soup, use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup.

Alternatively, you can remove 1 to 2 cups of the soup to a blender, puree it, and then stir it back into the slow cooker. ***Just keep in mind that hot liquids can expand when blended, so be be sure to crack the lid of the blender and cover the opening with a folded kitchen towel to prevent possible splatters and burns.***

Bowl of Crockpot Split Pea Soup with bread on side.

Storing Split Pea Soup

Leftover soup can be tightly covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.

This split pea soup recipe can also be frozen for up to three months. Transfer to freezer-safe containers or freezer-thickness plastic bags. If using bags, squeeze out any extra air, spread soup into a thin layer, and freeze flat. You can later stack frozen bags or stand them up in the freezer like books on a shelf.

Split Pea Soup recipe in a bowl.

I hope that this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup is yet another recipe that you'll be able to add to your arsenal of easy, tasty, healthy meals that will please your family while fitting into your busy schedule!

More Easy Slow Cooker Soups

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup in bowls with dried peas and carrots on side.

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Crockpot Split Pea Soup is warm, comforting, and hearty, loaded with ham, potatoes, and carrots. And best of all, it’s easy to make since your slow cooker does all of the work!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 hours
Total Time: 10 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 420kcal
Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (16 ounces) dried green split peas, rinsed & drained
  • 2 cups diced ham
  • 2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 7 cups chicken broth or stock, or vegetable broth or stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ cup fresh parsley, minced (plus extra for garnish)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  • Place dried split peas, ham, potatoes, carrots, and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour in chicken broth. Stir in bay leaf and parsley. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours) until peas are tender and broken down.
  • Taste, add salt and pepper as needed, and garnish with additional fresh parsley, if desired. Leftovers should be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Video

Notes

  • You can dice your carrots if you prefer more noticeable bites of carrot, but I like shredding mine because they practically melt into the soup and my kids don't spend time trying to avoid them.
  • The amount of liquid in this recipe should be more than sufficient, but any time you cook a dried bean recipe in the crock pot for the first time, you'll want to check your water/broth level every once in awhile to make sure too much hasn't been soaked up by your beans/peas. If it has, just add more water/broth and stir. Some crock pots run hotter than others.
  • The salt is added at the end of the recipe after tasting, since the soup may already be salty enough without it between the ham and the chicken broth.
  • Once your soup is done, you may adjust the consistency to your liking by stirring in additional broth for a thinner soup. Or use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup to thicken it.

Nutrition

Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 626mg | Potassium: 1448mg | Fiber: 22g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 7664IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 5mg
Made this recipe? I'd love to see on IG!Mention @FiveHeartHome or tag #FiveHeartHome!

Adapted from Whole Foods Market.
Post originally published on September 13, 2013, and updated on October 11, 2022.

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Recipe Rating




45 Comments

  1. This recipe looks great! I look forward to trying it. I am wondering if I can throw the Ham bone in at the beginning as well. Would that work? Thank you 🙂

    1. 5 stars
      Wonderful soup. I added some minced ginger as I don't eat garlic and cayenne pepper. I thinned it a bit at the end and finally added some dry sherry. can't wait to make it again.

  2. 5 stars
    This slow-cooker split pea soup was so tasty! I love finding good soups I can throw in my crockpot this time of year. Adding this to our rotation!

  3. 5 stars
    One of my go-to comfort foods! This recipe was very easy to follow and turned out so good! I'll definitely make this on repeat.

  4. This soup took longer than 10 hours for the peas to completely cook but the flavor was ok. I wish it would have had more of a "pea" flavor. We did add salt and pepper when finished cooking! What can we do next time to get that split pea flavor?

    1. Hi Susan! Adding the right amount of salt at the end can definitely bring out the flavors in the soup. As for wanting more of a split pea flavor, I'm not positive...perhaps trying another brand of split peas?

  5. 5 stars
    I recently made the split pea soup. It was my first ever attempt at split pea soup and it turned out amazing. I added a teaspoon of thyme as well as rosemary. I omitted the potatoes simply because we were kind of sick of potatoes! The whole family enjoyed the soup and I had zero leftovers! Thanks for the great recipe.

    1. I'm so glad your family enjoyed this, Xtina! I bet the herbs made it even better. 🙂 Thanks for stopping back by to let me know that it was a hit...hope you have a great weekend!

  6. This recipe looks great and so easy! I love split pea soup, but I'm not a big fan of ham. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute? Do you think chicken sausage would be ok??

    1. Hi there! I often swap out ham for sausage and vice versa in my crock pot soups. If you like chicken sausage, then I think you will enjoy it in this soup. The flavor will be different than ham, of course, but still tasty. Hope that helps...enjoy! 🙂