If you have some leftover ham that you need to use up, this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham is the perfect way to do that.
For more soups, check out all of our soup recipes.
Ham is such a classic recipe to make for holidays. But then, the next day, you’re left with leftover ham. And sure, you could just eat it as is. But, if you’re like me, you want something different for dinner. One of the best ways to use leftover holiday ham is this delicious Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham.
Since the leftover baked ham is already seasoned and cooked, it’ll add so much flavor to your split pea and ham soup without you having to add too much seasoning. And that makes your life so much easier too.
This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham is one of Pete’s favorite soups. He asks me to make it all the time. It’s a really flavorful broth, filled with fresh vegetables and mashed peas that add flavor and aren’t mushy, and bits of savory ham that are very similar to bacon. Between that and the fact that the peas cook down so much that the texture is very similar to potato soup, you might be able to convert non-split pea soup eaters to love this.
And, since it’s all cooked in the slow cooker (except for some crunchy ham bits you make for a garnish), you’ll love it too.
This hearty soup recipe uses leftover ham. If you’re looking for a way to cook ham in order to have some leftover, well, we cook the whole thing in a slow cooker too. Find out how in our Slow Cooker Brown Sugar And Cola Glazed Ham recipe.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham Recipe
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Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham Ingredients:
- 16 oz. dried green split peas
- 1 small onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 carrots
- 16 oz. leftover ham
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon bacon fat
How To Make Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham:
Rinse the dried peas in a colander in the sink.
This is going to sound ridiculous if you don’t use dried peas often, but when you’re rinsing them, look for rocks. Yes, actual rocks. Tiny pebbles get picked up when peas are harvested and since they’re basically the same size, some make their way into bagged peas (and beans too). You can read all about it here.
So always rinse your dried peas and look for rocks.
Put the rinsed peas into a slow cooker.
Chop the onion, celery, and carrots. Add them all to the slow cooker.
Take out about two cups of leftover ham. Save a little bit of extra ham to the side for later.
Finely chop the ham and add the diced ham to the slow cooker.
Season with pepper, salt, a bay leaf, and dried parsley.
Add in the chicken broth and water. Let the soup cook on low for eight hours.
Mash the soup with a potato masher or immersion blender until it’s combined.
Taste the soup here. You shouldn’t need to add any extra salt because of the salt from the ham and the seasoning added, but you can add a little extra now and stir it in if you need to.
When the soup is just about done, take the ham that you reserved from earlier and slice it very thin.
Head up the bacon fat (or olive oil, if you don’t have bacon fat) in a pan over medium heat on the stove.
Add the shredded ham pieces and cook until it’s really crispy.
Spoon the soup into bowls. Garnish with the crispy ham bits. You can also garnish with homemade croutons or serve it with a crusty French bread cut into slices.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham: Frequently Asked Questions
No, you don’t need to soak them. But, like we mentioned above, you do need to rinse them and look for rocks and small pebbles.
This soup is going to be thick. After the peas break down, they’ll release a starch that thickens the soup. The addition of the vegetables helps. If your soup doesn’t thicken, you either didn’t cook it long enough or you didn’t add enough vegetables.
Another reason for thin soup is your peas are past their expiration date, so they stay hard instead hydrating and don’t release enough starch.
I love making soup in our Dutch oven when I don’t have time to prep all the ingredients for the slow cooker.
Of course, this recipe is for a slow cooker soup, not stove top. You should be able to add all the ingredients into a large pot and cook it on the stove for about two hours over medium-high heat. I haven’t tried it this way, so I’m not exactly sure on the cooking time, but I do other soups this way. I would suggest you sauté the onion, celery, and carrots for a little to soften them before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Wait until the soup has cooled to room temperature. Then, put it in an airtight container in the fridge. The soup will last about a week that way.
If you’re not going to finish the leftovers in a week, you can freeze the soup for up to three months. Just let it defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating and serving.
You can reheat leftover split pea soup in the microwave when you’re ready for a bowl. Just be sure to add a little water to the soup before you heat it up. It thickens as it sits in the fridge, so you’ll want the water to thin it out just a little bit.
Using the leftover ham bone in soup is a great way to make sure you’re using every bit of the ham. The ham bone adds a nice salty flavor to the soup without you actually adding salt.
Personally, we don’t use the ham bone in this soup recipe because we save it for our Slow Cooker Ham Bone Soup instead.
More Slow Cooker Soup Recipes:
We love using our slow cooker to make soup for dinner. You just set it up, ignore it, and dinner is ready in a few hours. If you like that idea too, you’ll love our list of The Best Slow Cooker Soup Recipes.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham
If you have some leftover ham that you need to use up, this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham is the perfect way to do that.
Ingredients
- 16 oz. dried green split peas
- 1 small onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 carrots
- 16 oz. leftover ham
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of water
- 1 teaspoon bacon fat
Instructions
- Rinse the dried peas in a colander in the sink.
- Put the rinsed peas into a slow cooker.
- Chop the onion, celery, and carrots. Add them all to the slow cooker.
- Take out about two cups of leftover ham. Save a little bit of extra ham to the side for later.
- Finely chop the ham and add the diced ham to the slow cooker.
- Season with pepper, salt, a bay leaf, and dried parsley.
- Add in the chicken broth and water. Let the soup cook on low for eight hours.
- Mash the soup with a potato masher or immersion blender until it’s combined. Taste the soup here. You shouldn’t need to add any extra salt because of the salt from the ham and the seasoning added, but you can add a little extra now and stir it in if you need to.
- When the soup is just about done, take the ham that you reserved from earlier and slice it very thin.
- Head up the bacon fat (or olive oil, if you don’t have bacon fat) in a pan over medium heat on the stove.
- Add the shredded ham pieces and cook until it’s really crispy.
- Spoon the soup into bowls. Garnish with the crispy ham bits.
Notes
Make sure you check your peas for rocks and pebbles.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 226Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 52mgSodium 1561mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 7gSugar 5gProtein 25g
Have you tried our Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Ham? Let us know how it went in the comments.