Slow cooker split pea soup
Dried split peas melt all day into a thick, smoky, velvety soup studded with ham, and you never have to soak a thing.
- 490 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $1.77 a serving
- 340 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 lb split peas, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz diced cooked ham
- 6 cups chicken broth
From your pantry
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 340 calories, 27 g protein, 54 g carbs and 3 g fat, and costs about $1.77 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the split peas in a strainer and pick out any tiny stones. the onion, carrots and celery and the garlic.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Put the split peas, vegetables, garlic, ham, broth, thyme, bay leaves and pepper in the slow cooker and stir.
Dolly’s tip: Split peas never need soaking. They melt into the soup on their own.Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the peas have fallen apart.
Timer: 480 min
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Pull out the bay leaves and stir hard for a minute to break up the peas into a thick, creamy soup.
Dolly’s tip: If it’s thicker than you like, stir in a splash of water or broth until it loosens.Taste, then add the salt only if it needs it.
Dolly’s tip: Ham is salty, so always taste first.Ladle into bowls. It a lot in the fridge, so loosen leftovers with of water when you reheat them.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
