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Split Pea Soup

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  • Prep 20 min
  • Total 3 hr 50 min
  • Servings 8
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Let us set the scene. It's a cool night, you just changed into your comfiest outfit, and your favorite movie is about to start. Now, what if we told you that this perfect night could be even better? Enter our Split Pea Soup. This classic, flavorful soup is what cozy tastes like. And, when we say this is our best Split Pea Soup recipe, we mean it's one for the books! That's why we include it in ours. For a no-fuss meal that warms you from the inside out, our split pea soup with ham is it. Sorry, not sorry, but it doesn't get better than a bowl (or two) of this!
By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Updated Sep 21, 2021
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Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups dried split peas, (1 pound), sorted and rinsed
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
  • 2 medium celery stalks, finely chopped (1 cup)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 ham bone or 2 pounds shanks
  • 3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch slices (1 1/2 cups)

Steps

  • 1
    Heat peas and water to boiling in 4-quart Dutch oven. Boil uncovered 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.
  • 2
    Stir in onion, celery and pepper. Add ham bone. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour 30 minutes or until peas are tender.
  • 3
    Remove ham bone; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat from ham; cut ham into 1/2-inch pieces.
  • 4
    Stir ham and carrots into soup. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until carrots are tender and soup is desired consistency.

Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

  • tip 1
    Serve a grainy cornbread (don’t forget the honey butter or drizzle of maple syrup) and a spinach salad with fresh grapefruit segments with the Split Pea Soup. The tart freshness of the citrus contrasts nicely with the rich, thick soup.
  • tip 2
    Preparing split peas for cooking is easy! Just pick over the dried split peas and discard any grit or discolored peas. Place the split peas in a bowl, and cover them with water. After a minute or two, remove any skins or split peas that float to the top. Finally, rinse the split peas in a colander.
  • tip 3
    A ham hock or bone pairs perfectly with split peas but so will a smoked turkey leg. Its smokiness seasons the soup as well as ham. Remove meat from bone, chop into smaller pieces and stir into soup with the carrots; continue as directed in recipe.

Nutrition

170 Calories, 2 g Total Fat, 17 g Protein, 33 g Total Carbohydrate

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
170
Calories from Fat
20
Total Fat
2 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
30 mg
Potassium
690 mg
Total Carbohydrate
33 g
Dietary Fiber
13 g
Protein
17 g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
86%
86%
Vitamin C
4%
4%
Calcium
2%
2%
Iron
12%
12%
Exchanges:
1 Starch; 3 Vegetable; 1 Very Lean Meat;
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

  • Split pea soup has been a favorite winter warm-up for thousands of years. As long ago as 500 B.C., Greek farmers cultivated this legume, while Athenian street vendors sold hot pea soup to passersby. When King Louis XIV of France was hungry for pea soup, his court at Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye served up its famous version, Potage Saint-Germain. These days, split pea soup continues to be featured in cuisines across the globe. In the Netherlands, for example, it’s known as “erwtensoep” and adorably nicknamed “snert.” The soup is often enjoyed by skaters who purchase it from outdoor food stalls set up alongside frozen canals. When you’re ready to try split pea and ham soup on your own, start with this guide How to Make the World’s Best Split Pea Soup, which features step-by-step photos of the process. Once you’ve mastered this split pea soup recipe, check out Betty’s best soup recipes.
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