7-Ingredient Crock Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham

Split pea soup doesn’t get the love it deserves. It’s budget-friendly, it’s filling, and everything goes in the slow cooker at once. Eight hours later, it’s thick enough to stand a spoon in.

Two things make this one different. It uses a pound of cubed cooked ham instead of a ham bone, so you don’t have to wait until the week after a holiday to make it. And it’s quick to prep: butter, split peas, celery, onion, broth, water, ham. No carrots, no bay leaf, no garlic. If you came looking for that version, this isn’t it. But I promise you will love this recipe.

 

Prep Time	Cook Time	Servings	Prep Level
10 minutes	8 hours	4-6	Beginner +

Why I Don’t Use A Hambone

Most split pea soup recipes are built around a ham bone, which means you’re either waiting until the week after a holiday or hunting one down at the grocery store. Cubed ham is easier, and you can make this any time of year. Whatever’s left from Sunday dinner works, and so does a package from the deli case.

Why There Are No Carrots

This recipe has no carrots and no bay leaf. Keeping the Crocktober recipes short was the whole point, so anything that wasn’t pulling its weight got left out. If you want carrots, you can definitely add them. I am not a big bay leaf fan, so I always leave those out. But you can add one if you like them.

How To Make Split Pea Soup

Rinse the split peas off. Add the split peas, diced celery, diced onion, chicken broth, water, butter, and cubed ham to a 6-quart slow cooker. Give it a stir so the peas aren’t packed against the bottom.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until the peas have broken down completely and the soup has thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon rather than run off it.

I don’t add salt to this. Between the ham and the chicken broth, there’s usually plenty already in the pot. Taste it at the end and add some if you want it.

A soup this thick wants something alongside it, and I make my sweet Jiffy cornbread recipe almost every time. I also like to top it with croutons for some crunch.

This Recipe Does Not Require Soaking The Peas

Split peas don’t need an overnight soak the way dried beans do. They break down on their own over eight hours in the slow cooker, and that falling apart is exactly what thickens the soup. So, there’s nothing to plan the night before.