Ham and Split Pea Soup Recipe

Ham and Split Pea Soup Recipe – Loaded with vegetables and leftover spiral cut ham, this Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe is ready for your table. The freshness brought out by the garden vegetables and a bag of split peas that soaked overnight is perfection.

This recipe is incredibly easy to make — you just need one big stock pot, some easy to access vegetables and a little bit of patience. Don’t forget to soak your split peas overnight to make them easiest to digest and cook the next day.

Eat More Vegetables – by Eating More Vegetable-based Soups

This Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe can certainly be made as a main course with a side of biscuits and a vegetable side dish. Or, you can leave the ham out completely and enjoy this as a vegetarian dish quite easily.

As you know, we are always talking about how important it it to eat more vegetables. Needs some help with this? Make our Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe and while enjoying a big bowl, check out these helpful ideas: 50 Tips for Eating Clean.

Frozen Vegetables – a Quick Shortcut

Fresh vegetables can be time-consuming to shop for, chop and cook. Plus, most people keep staple frozen vegetables like frozen peas and carrots. So, feel free to swap out the split peas and carrots for frozen thawed out vegetables instead!

Make this Split Pea Soup Recipe Vegan or Vegetarian:

There’s only two quick things you need to do in order to make this delicious and savory Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe vegan or vegetarian.

1. Obviously, leave out the ham! 😉
2. Use vegetable-based broth instead of chicken broth.
3. OPTIONAL: Consider adding leeks, fennel bulb or other vegetables to the second step in the recipe card below.

How to Make the Best Ham and Split Pea Soup Recipe

Here are the top 3 ways to make this recipe for Ham and Split Pea Soup one that you make often.

#1: If Using Dried Split Peas – Don’t Forget to Soak Them!

Dried peas and beans can be a little bit of a hassle, because you need to plan ahead. We rinse our split peas several times, pick them over in the strainer. Then, we soak them in water overnight sitting on the counter with a bit of sea salt.

When ready to make this Ham and Split Pea Soup the next day, I just rinse them, drain them and add them into the recipe.

#2: Saute Dried Seasonings with the Vegetables

So many recipes make the mistake of adding their seasonings AFTER adding all of the liquid to boil. Sure, it sounds reasonable… but maybe you’ve been doing this for years.

However, if you are using dried seasonings like this recipe calls for, I want to encourage you to make a switcheroo in your recipes. Start adding your seasonings to the vegetable saute BEFORE the liquid. Saute them a bit with the oil and vegetables to help release their flavor.

You can even go one step further with this Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe by chopping the dried seasonings or pinching them in your hand before adding to the stockpot. Anything to release all the delicious flavor.

#3: Use the Best Ham you can Find!

We don’t eat much ham around here, but when we do it’s pastured ham from a reputable farm. We’ve done our research and love these three farms for their approach to raising healthy animals. They don’t use antibiotics, steroids, hormones or GMO foods. These pigs are completely free to roam the unconfined farmland. So, if you want the most delicious ham, then you want the most well kept pigs.

• White Oak Pastures: Click here to shop at White Oak Pastures for spiral hams and bacon. Plus many more farm meats are available.
• Dutch Meadow Farms: Located in Paradise, PA, Dutch Meadow Farms can provide you with a smoked boneless ham for this Brown Sugar Ham Glaze.
• Arcadia Farms: The Templeton Family in Connecticut raises their animals on Arcadia Farms. Stop by for a pastured raised pork.

More Recipes with Ham…

If you bought a pastured ham and you love this Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe, then you should definitely check out these ones:

• Try our Brown Sugar Ham Glaze — using maple syrup as the natural sweetener.
• This Ham and Potato Soup Recipe made a big splash this past winter and will guaranteed be a big hit for years to come!
• We love these Breakfast Fajitas with Ham — but would opt for a clean healthy homemade tortilla instead.
• You can always add some ham to your Roasted Brussels Sprouts too!

Easily Pair this Soup with:

I love adding delicious, wholesome and clean sides to our favorite soups. Here’s some of my suggestions:

• Gluten Free Biscuits
• Fall Salad with Pecans and Avocado
• Cornbread Muffins
• Wild Blueberry and Fresh Fruit Salad

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