Delicious And Easy Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham – A Delightful Leftover Ham Soup

Love split pea soup with ham, and you are just looking for the right recipes to enjoy? This dish is so much easier than you think, and always a delight to make (and eat).

Great year-round but especially delicious in the winter, split pea soup is a winner for every occasion. 

It can be a main course, a side, an appetizer – whatever you like! When you cook this dish in a slow cooker, it only gets better, too.

The flavors enhance wonderfully, and it takes all the pain and effort out of cooking. Simply throw the ingredients in, and let it do its thing, there’s nothing better than that!

Delicious And Easy Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham – A Delightful Leftover Ham Soup

This soup recipe is fantastic for the ways where you have leftover ham, or even if you have a ham hock you would like to use. It warms your belly and is so easy to make, you will not be able to get enough of it. 

What Exactly Is Split Pea Soup With Ham?

Split pea soup with ham is exactly what it sounds like. Split peas are dried and peeled peas that have been split in half. These can be purchased in bags in many stores, and usually need to get soaked before being cooked.

However, because this dish cooks for around eight hours, there is no need for soaking. 

The flavors of split pea soup are refreshing and warm your belly at the same time. When all these ingredients get added together, you get the ultimate dish to enjoy in the cold winter. 

Ingredients Needed

You don’t need anything fancy for this! To start making this delightful dish, you are going to need a handful of basic ingredients:

• Vegetable broth
• Dry split peas
• Onion
• Leftover ham or ham hock
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Carrots 
• Celery

Beyond this, there is nothing you should need, unless you would like to add some seasoning of your own. Feel free to add fresh herbs and spices if you like – whatever suits your taste.

Is It Healthy?

As far as soups and similar dishes go, yes! This split pea soup with ham is full of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber. The combination of carrots, peas, celery, and onion all have lots of beneficial things in them, and the dish is relatively low in fat. 

If you wanted to make it even better, you could omit any bacon you may be tempted to add.

While you could also add a host of other unnecessary ingredients to make it less healthy, this particular recipe is fantastic as-is if you are on the hunt for something you don’t need to feel guilty about.  

What Are The Benefits Of Making Split Pea Soup With Ham?

Besides being mouthwatering and delicious, this split pea soup with ham is a fantastic way to use all that leftover ham that you have sitting in your fridge!

Ham can be difficult to get rid of and use up, but this is the ultimate way to do just that – especially during the winter. 

Here are a few reasons why we think you will love this:

• Leftover ham gets used – like we just said, this recipe uses that leftover ham, so you don’t have to rack your mind to find something creative to do with it! We love reducing waste.
• The process is very hands-off – other than putting everything in the slow cooker at the beginning of the day, you really do not have to do much else for this recipe. If you are adding ham hock, then you will need to remove the meat from the bone and dice it before adding it again, but that’s really it. 
• Lots of veggies and nutrition in it – in this recipe, you get split peas, celery, carrots, and onion, so it is packed full of great veggies and nutrients! You could even add more if you like, but this is perfect as-is.
• Anyone can make it with the right ingredients – this split pea soup with ham is so easy to make, even beginners can do it. You barely need to know where the kitchen is, and you are capable of getting this delightful dish out for dinner.

Is Split Pea Soup With Ham Easy To Make?

This split pea soup is incredibly easy to make, and it’s very hands-off. You essentially just need to throw everything into the slow cooker and leave it to do its thing for around eight hours – that’s it. 

Of course, you should check to make sure there is enough liquid in there, too, but that isn’t a lot of work. The most effort you need to do comes in when you have to prepare the ingredients, and even that isn’t difficult. 

Split pea soup with ham is so easy to make, it could easily be the first dish you create in the kitchen. This is especially the case if you have any leftover ham that you can dice and add to the mix.

How Long Does Making Your Own Split Pea Soup With Ham Take?

The whole process will take around eight hours if you do it over low heat. We would definitely not recommend turning the heat up, as this will impact the overall consistency and finish of the soup. 

To get the best results, make sure you have enough time for everything to cook for a full eight hours.

This will ensure the peas are wonderfully tender and ready to enjoy, and that the ham hock (if you used one) is properly cooked and ready to cut up.

Do You Need To Soak The Split Peas?

If you are cooking your soup over low heat (or in a pressure cooker), you do not need to soak them.

They will have plenty of time to soften and cook over the course of eight or so hours, so you don’t need to worry about them being unpleasant. 

You can use them right out of the bag. Just make sure that there is enough liquid in the slow cooker, and always check to see if you need to add more. That way, the split peas will definitely cook perfectly.

How To Thicken Split Pea Soup

Like most similar dishes, you can thicken your split pea soup with ham by adding some cornstarch or a similar thickening agent to it.

To do this, get a small bowl and add your cornstarch, then milk or water (or more broth). Stir everything together until it is not solid, and add it in. 

Stir the soup quickly as you add the cornstarch mixture, or else you will end up with little gelatinous blobs at the bottom. No one wants that. 

The soup will quickly thicken. If you want it thicker, just repeat the process until the consistency is right. Remember that it will thicken when it cools down, so don’t go too crazy!

How To Thin Split Pea Soup

If you made your split pea soup with ham too thick, don’t worry! This is an easy fix and only takes moments. 

The best thing to do here is simply to add some more broth to the mix! You could add any liquid you like, technically, but broth will give the dish that extra flavor we all love.

Add it in, and stir it together until the soup is the correct consistency for your preferences. It’s that easy! 

Basic Instructions For Making Split Pea Soup With Ham

Below are the basic instructions you need to make your delicious split pea soup with ham. Bear in mind that these steps could change slightly depending on whether you are using some different ingredients.

Even so, the recipe is still very simple, and a pleasure to make:

1. Prepare your slow cooker and add the broth and dried peas to it
2. Chop up your vegetables into medium-sized pieces, and add them to the broth and peas.
3. Carefully dice your onion, then add it to the rest of the ingredients, along with some salt
4. If you are using a ham hock, place it in the middle of the slow cooker, and sprinkle the pieces of diced ham around it
5. Leave everything to cook for about eight hours
6. After this time has passed, remove the ham hock and dice the meat, then add it back to the slow cooker. Mix the newly diced meat in the slow cooker and combine it with everything else
7. If your soup is very thick, you can add more broth to thin it out and get it to be the right consistency. Be mindful that the soup will thicken if you have leftovers! 

Can You Use A Pressure Cooker For This Dish?

You can absolutely use a pressure cooker if you would like to! Any kind of dish similar to a slow cooker will get the job done. You could even just make this split pea soup on the stovetop if you do not have a slow cooker or anything like it. 

While this is not always preferred, since it can be more risky (especially if you have an open flame), it is doable.

We would not recommend using this method if you intend to leave the house at any point. It would be safer to be in the area so that you can monitor the soup and flame – just to be safe.

Types Of Split Pea Soup With Ham

There are many variations of split pea soup that you could try, depending on your preferences. You could opt for a vegetarian option and omit the ham completely, or you could use a pork shank as a substitute. 

One popular option with dishes like this is to add diced hash brown instead of a regular potato, too. This will add extra flavor and give the dish even more depth – and who doesn’t love that?

Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

This old-fashioned slow cooker split pea soup is going to be the ultimate dish, and it’s so easy! We will go through the basic steps below so that you can remake it with your own portions:

1. Chop up your carrots, onion, and celery. If you want nice chunks of veggies, make sure to not cut them too small so that it stays firm. Too small, and it will disintegrate!
2. Throw everything into your slow cooker (split peas, vegetables, and broth), and season with salt and pepper. Feel free to add any other seasonings of choice if you would like to make the recipe your own!
3. Stir in the diced ham you already have (time to use those leftovers).
4. If you are using a ham hock, place it in the center of the slow cooker.
5. Put the lid on and allow it to cook on low for around eight hours.
6. When the hock is cooked, remove it, slice the meat up, and add it back to the slow cooker to mix in. Discard the bone however you need to.
7. Serve in bowls by using a ladle, and enjoy! 

Crockpot Split Pea Soup With Ham And Potatoes

If you wanted to add some extra body to the recipe, you could always add potatoes!

You would follow all the same instructions as mentioned above, but dice up some potato and add it in with everything else and leave it to cook. 

Eight hours will be plenty of time to get some succulent and tasty potato bits in the soup. 

Storing Split Pea Soup With Ham

If you do end up with leftovers of this tasty dish, you can easily store them for later! If you know that you are going to get to enjoy your leftovers within a few days, you can simply store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

There, it should last for up to a week – but it is always best to try and eat it before five days have passed. 

To store for longer, make sure you put your leftovers in a freeze-safe container once it has cooled down and freeze it. There, it should last up to three months before it starts to lose quality. 

Remember – food that is kept frozen is technically safe indefinitely, as no bacteria can multiply.

However, after enough time, the quality of the food will start to go down, and you might notice differences in flavors, textures, and appearance when you take it out!

Reheating Your Split Pea Soup

If you would like to reheat your leftovers (which we would recommend), you can either do so in a microwave, or on the stovetop.

To use a microwave, make sure the soup is in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat it using 45-second intervals. 

Be sure to stir it after every interval! As it warms up, the consistency will change, so be prepared for this, too. 

Using your stovetop, simply add the soup to a small saucepan and reheat it over low heat, stirring. Keep doing that until it is as hot as you want it to be (5–10 minutes is plenty). 

Top it off with some shredded cheese, and enjoy. It’s that simple. 

Final Thoughts

Split pea soup with ham is so easy to make, and beyond delicious (Also check out Making Your Own Homemade Black Eyed Pea Soup). The flavors are simple but rich and work together like a dream to create the ultimate dish for the cold winter months.

To make this dish, you only need a handful of ingredients, including your ham, carrots, split peas, celery, onions, and broth. 

If you have a ham hock, then you can also add that and get an even better dish. However, if you wanted, you could also go down the vegetarian route and add in potato or diced hash browns instead of meat.

This will still give the dish a rich and delightful flavor, so you aren’t missing out on much. 

With that being said, the whole point of this recipe is to use that leftover ham. So, what are you waiting for? This dish is not going to make itself, and we know you can’t wait to try it!