Slow-Cooker Split Pea Soup
Peas porridge hot.
Peas porridge cold.
Peas porridge in the pot.
Nine days old.
That may be the way the nursery rhyme goes, but it would never last that long at my house. We love split pea soup. Granted, it’s not the most attractive meal in the world, but it sure tastes good. If you’ve never made it before, you might not realize that it’s made from dried split peas that look like this.
You soak them in water overnight, and then the next morning, you’re ready to add more vegetables to the slow-cooker. . .
. . . along with some spices. I use quite a few spices in mine, and I also add some liquid smoke. Have you ever used liquid smoke? I always add some to the ground beef when we are cooking hamburgers on the grill, and boy does it give them a wonderful flavor. It comes in a small bottle like the one shown in this picture. And by the way, I’m not endorsing this particular brand. I’m just endorsing liquid smoke! You should be able to find it near the barbecue sauce in your grocery store.
The very last thing that I add to the slow-cooker before I turn it on is a meaty ham bone. You can buy ham hocks at the store, but my experience with them has been that they don’t have much meat on them. So, I usually use the bone from a ham that I have purchased at Costco or my grocery store. I like to buy the really good ones that are spiral cut and are wrapped in either red or gold foil. I buy them fairly often as I can get several meals out of the sliced ham, and then I use the meaty ham bone in this soup.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with Grandmother’s Buttermilk Cornbread. Mmmm!
Recipe by: Origin Unknown/Adapted by Winner Dinners
Serves 6 to 8
1 pound of split peas, soaked overnight
1 large meaty ham bone
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 14-ounce cans of chicken broth
2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 bay leaves
1 5-ounce package of premium large-cut croutons
Soak the peas overnight by placing them in the slow-cooker and covering with water. The next morning drain and rinse the peas. Put all of the ingredients in the slow-cooker except the croutons. Cook on low for about 8-10 hours. Remove the bone and ham, as well as the bay leaves. If you want the soup to be thicker, the peas can be easily mashed with a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Shred the ham into small pieces and return to the soup. Top individual servings with a few croutons.
Love me some split peas and love all things in the slow-cooker right now. Do you think I could sub lentils for the split peas though? I have a huge bag of lentils that I should be using, and they just look so much alike!
Melissa, I have a really good lentil soup recipe that I plan to post at some point. I’m not sure if lentils would work with this recipe or not. I don’t think they require as much cooking time, so if you do try it, you might want to consider that. Thanks for your comment.