A substantial soup that is wonderful for the winter. Any ingredient may work in a soup like this.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried split peas
- 8 cups water
- 1 meaty ham bone
- 1 cup chopped onion
- ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Place the peas and water into a large soup pot over medium heat; bring to a boil, boil for 2 minutes, and set aside off the heat to cool for 1 hour.
- Place the ham bone into the pot with the peas, and stir in onion, marjoram, thyme, garlic powder, and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove the ham bone, and cut as much ham as possible from the bone; chop the ham, and return to the soup. Stir in celery. Discard ham bone. Bring soup back to a simmer, and cook for 45 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt.
- Cook’s Note
- Substitutions: You can use chicken broth instead of water; instead of ham, use bacon, pork; add garlic; saute the onions first; add cubed potatoes, carrots, or other vegetables.
Reviews
This recipe is great. I always add potatoes and carrots. Note to Mr. “KONWAL” who gave the bad review: you CANNOT use just a pork, it has to be cured ham or the flavor will definitely stink, you are correct, that was your mistake. Also of note, if you cold soak the peas they are soft in 20 minutes cooking. If you don’t cold soak, you can cook for hours and they take forever to get soft. If you cold soak, this soup can be ready in 20 minutes, and tastes delicious. By cooking too long, it loses the fresh flavor of the celery, carrots, onions, and spices. Only add the marjoram or oregano and other spices during last 20 minutes. Also sometimes I add cayenne for a little heat.
I made this and my husband loved it.. I did as well! I can only use salt and pepper because of dietary restrictions and even still this soup has so much flavor. I did not have a hambone so I just used some hickory smoked ham that I cut up into pieces and it turned out great… I also did not have celery so I used about two carrots instead… it was really delicious
Perfection in a bowl! I found an hour and 15 minutes to make it a bit too thick, so just make sure to watch it, but I can just add water to the leftovers anyway. I added one diced potato when there was about 20 minutes left, but didn’t make any other significant changes. Delicious.
Good base recipe. I added some bacon and a little extra garlic for more flavor. It would be a good idea to add just how much meat to add instead of a “meaty” hambone I ended up with about 1 1/2 lbs. of ham. More than enough.
This came out very well to my taste. I added a small chicken bouillon cube with the peas. I wasn’t sure my hambone had enough meat so I fried a few strips of bacon to crumble in, and sautéed the onions in the bacon fat. Added cubed carrots, and after removing the hambone I added a pound of cubed Polska kielbasa because I wanted more meat. Marjoram and thyme aren’t my wife’s favorite herbs so I added 1/4 tsp oregano and parsley along with the kielbasa. Served to my family with hot buttered toast, they really enjoyed it, my teens all went for a second bowl.
This recipe always turns out great! The guys love it! (Especially with extra chunks of meat!) I like using fresh Thyme and fresh minced garlic. This time I didn’t include carrots, but still turned out good.
Great soup. I added in thinly sliced celery with the onions because my husband doesn’t really like them. I was able to hide them that way. I added in 1.5 cups of carrots, additional 1 cup ham, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, salt, and pepper. (this is just preference). I think I need more salt and pepper next time.
Great soup. I added in thinly sliced celery with the onions because my husband doesn’t really like them. I was able to hide them that way. I added in 1.5 cups of carrots, additional 1 cup ham, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, salt, and pepper. (this is just preference). I think I need more salt and pepper next time.
Made this last night for me and my hubby as an appetizer before the main and we loved it. I followed the recipe to a T, except for the celery as I didn’t have any at the cottage and I didn’t have garlic powder so I used garlic salt instead and omitted the salt portion. I wouldn’t change a thing this was so good nothing else is needed. It was rich in flavour and body. Thanks for a great recipe!
This soup was delicious!
Definitely a winner! I didn’t have celery but it still tasted perfect!
Added carrots in place of celery cuz that’s what I had. Yum yum yum! Just right.
Great hearty split pea soup. Only change made was I did an 8 hour cold water soak and rinse. The spices add a nice touch of savory.
Really good soup, David! I boiled the ham bone in water for several hours, then went from there. Only other changes were to add some chopped carrots and about a half pound of diced ham. Two hours was more than enough time for the peas to cook down.
I really wanted to try my hand at making a Split Pea Soup and with so many yummy looking recipes I chose this one because it seemed the simplest and worked into my time frame. With so many reviews, I am so glad the first one raved about it with not too many modifications so I read it and ran with it. Oh my gosh, this is soup is AMAZING!!!!! I couldn’t keep telling my husband how wonderful it was and he too enjoyed it emencly. Really over the top taste. I added two cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of vegetable broth and 2 cups of water (for 6 servings). I used all the spices for the the adjusted servings,. Unfortunately my ham bone didn’t have a lot of meat left on the bone, but it was enough for the servings. However I added some cooked bacon to give it some more meat. The veggies I added in the last 45 min cooking was chopped carrots, celery, a small russet potato and a small sweet potato (next time I will only use sweet potatoes as they are better for your health). Make sure to check the texture of the potatoes as the last 45 min cooks the veggies quickly especially if they are cut bite size (which I did because I don’t like big chunks of veggies or potatoes). We complimented this soup with sourdough breach spread with butter and a glass of wine. Perfect meal to have after decorating the Christmas tree.
My grandmother made split pea soup when I was a kid, but I refused to even try it because of the color. . . I grew up. When I make split pea soup, I usually wing it, but I had a ham bone this time and wanted some hints. I soaked my peas overnight and also added carrots and potatoes. Good, basic recipe. Keeper!
This recipe is amazing. Like others I substituted broth (chicken or vegetable) for the water and added carrots. I use a mix of green and yellow peas. Also I’m a slacker and just cube a pre cooked ham steak and throw it in. I have also varied with spices and it always comes out delicious!!! Honestly I have never had a better split pea soup.
I have tried lots of pea soups and this is the best! I used yellow split peas (not green) and did not add salt – I think there is enough salt in ham.
This was really good. We added carrots and potatoes as suggested in the notes and some crumbled bacon when serving.
Made it last night. D E L I C I O U S !! Followed the first step but adding: some diced carrots for color, some diced potatoes and some cubed ham besides the meatty bone. Then, trowed in my slow cooker on slow for about 8 hours. Excellent!! Thanks David 🙂
I made this with a leftover mesquite smoked ham bone with a lot of meat. It turned out fantastic. I did add carrots, fresh garlic and half of the liquid was homemade stock. It was really very good. My only issue was that some of the gristly bits came off the bone into the soup. That is kind of icky. One of the recipes I looked, at prior to choosing this one, suggested making a stock with the ham prior to cooking. That is my game plan next time. I think that should be easier to pick out the unwanted bits. Great recipe, thanks David!