Split Pea Soup

It is winter and I require all things cozy around my house. One of my favorite cozy comfort food is homemade soup. Split Pea soup is one of my favorites and definitely meats the comfy, cozy benchmark. Here is my simple recipe for this delightful homemade soup.

Prep the Split Peas

An important step to split pea soup is to prepare your split peas. There are several ways to prep dried peas and beans. My "go to" method for peas is to place my 2 pounds of dried peas in a large stock pot with 5 quarts of water. Turn the pot on high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the burner off. If you are cooking on a gas stove, you can leave the pot right on the burner, cover, and allow to sit for 2-3 hours. If you have an electric stove, move your pot to another burner, cover, and let sit. Electric burners hold heat and peas will burn to the bottom of the pot if you do not move it.

Next Step

I make split pea soup every time I cook a full bone-in ham. In my opinion, simmering the peas with an actual ham bone makes the tastiest soup. You can also use ham hocks, which can be found in your grocery store meat department. For a vegetarian option, smoked salt is an option to obtain some of the ham flavor without using meat. After soaking split peas, add in ham bone and bay leaves, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2-3 hours.

3 Hours Later

As you come to the end of the 3 hours, it is time to chop up some onion, potatoes, and carrots. Add into the pot and continue to simmer for 1-2 hours. Keep an eye on your pot and stir occasionally for the best results.

Final Steps

At the end of 2 hours, remove the ham bone and all the ham from the pot. Cut the ham into bite size pieces and add back into the pot. At this point your split pea soup is ready to go. Serve on its own, with crusty bread, or your favorite sandwich.

Crockpot Option

If you do not have time to monitor your simmering soup pot all day, using a crockpot is a secondary option. After prepping your split peas, put all the ingredients into a crockpot for the day. You will need a larger crock pot for this method. Click here to see a 8 quart programmable option. The soup is done when the split peas are nice and soft, 8 hours on HIGH or 10-12 hours on LOW. Timing can be a little tricky in the crockpot, so I plan to make it the day before we want to eat it. This way if it needs to cook for a extra hour or two, it does not interfere with the timing of dinner. Soup lovers it is time to add homemade Split Pea Soup into your arsenal of comfy, cozy soup recipes. The recipe is pretty simple, it just involves a little bit of time. Serve some up today. Happy Cooking!

Split Pea Soup Recipe:

A slow simmered soup that is perfect comfort food for any time of the year. Pairs well with crusty rolls or your favorite sandwich.

Ingredients:

• 5 qt water

• 2 lbs green split peas, dried

• ham bone

• bay leaves

• 2 medium potatoes, cut up

• 3 carrots, cut up

• ½ onion, diced

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place large soup pot on stove. Add 5 water and green split peas to the pot.

2. Turn burner on medium high and bring to a boil.

3. Turn off burner. Cover pot. Let sit for 2-3 hours.

4. Add ham bone and 2-3 large bay leaves to the pot. Turn heat on medium high, once at a boil, turn on low and simmer for 2-3 hours. Stirring occasionally.

5. Add potato, onion, and carrots to the pot. Simmer for 1-2 more hours stirring occasionally.

6. Remove ham and bone from pot. Cut up ham pieces and add back into pot.

7. Remove bay leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve, refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze.