Favorite. Soup. Ever.
Split Pea and Ham soup is filling, delicious and very easy to make. With only a handful of ingredients you too can make this homemade deliciousness! We ate dinner outside on our new patio, and it was just perfect. Along with the soup, I made pretzel rolls with dinner. This soup is one that brings me back to my grandma. I remember she made this and it was one of our favorites as kids. Till this day, every taste brings memories back to my grandmas cooking.

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October 30, 2021
Updated March 16, 2022
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Cost breakdown for this recipe

Split peas are not that difficult to find if you are looking in a big-box grocery store. Any big grocery store sells them in bags that are dried and also ready to use. Any time I am at ALDI, and they are for sale, I stock up on as many as our food budget will allow. A bag at a grocery store near me was $1.49 for 1-pounds of split peas. This amount is enough for one Crock-Pot filled with Split Pea and Ham soup!

1-pound bag split peas $1.49
4 carrots $0.58
1 onion $0.20
4 garlic cloves $0.20
Chicken base $0.25
Ham – no cost as it was left over from a different meal
Ham bone – no cost as this was in the freezer from a different meal

The total cost to make a 6-Quart Crock-Pot of Split Pea and Ham soup was $2.72.
That is it! Isn’t that the most inexpensive meal ever! Now, if you need to buy a ham for this meal, then obviously that would change the price of this recipe.

This recipe is one reason why saving leftover ham bones and ham chunks is the way to go, as putting them into soup is the greatest way to save money and allows you to keep the food budget in check.

Why is it orange?

Typically, a Split Pea and Ham soup is green because of the split peas. Today, however, this soup was orange instead of the traditional green. The main reason this recipe turned orange, to the best of my knowledge, is because I chose to shred the carrots in my Cuisinart Food Processor instead of chopping them on a cutting board.
If you want that traditional “Green Split Pea” soup look, make sure to dice the carrots and not shred them.

Split Pea and Ham Soup Recipe

Ingredients for Split Pea and Ham Soup

1-pound bag split peas
4 carrots
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp Chicken soup base
water
1-pound Ham
Ham bone, optional

Directions for Split Pea and Ham Soup

1. Use a sink colander and rinse a bag of dried split peas well, then place the rinsed split peas in the Crock-Pot. Little miss Elliana was my super adorable helper today! She made sure the split peas were washed really well.

2. On a cutting board, peel the carrots, cut the ends off, and then shred them.
In the past, I have diced the carrots to 1/4-inch chunks, and it works well. This time, however, I used the Cuisinart Food Processor and shredded the carrots.
This worked so well! As it turns out, I am allergic to raw carrots, and they turn my hands orange, using this method to shred them is just my new favorite thing. In less than two minutes all of the carrots are cut, peeled and shredded.

3. On a cutting board, slice an onion in half, remove the skin and then use a Food Processor to mince. Recently bought yellow onions because there were no sweet onions available. These were honestly the strongest onions ever! I felt like I had a meltdown while cutting them in half, as they made my eyes water like a dam that broke from the minute the skins came off. So, they went straight into the food processor, so I did not have to use a box of tissues cleaning my face.

4. Place shredded carrots and onions into the Crock-Pot with the rinsed split peas.

6. Mince garlic in a Cuisinart Food Processor and then add it to the Crock-Pot. This time I used my Food Processor to mince the garlic and it was brilliant and resulted in no more garlic-smelling fingers!

5. On a cutting board, dice the 1-pounds of ham to 1/2-inch pieces and place them in the Crock-Pot. Any time we have a large ham for dinner with leftovers, save the bone and an amount for ham soup! It seriously is the most perfect way to make split pea soup.

7. Place 2 teaspoons chicken base in the Crock-Pot and then fill with water.

This Chicken Soup Base from L.B. Jamison’s has been my favorite find! It is great for soup, gravy, cheese sauce and more. One jar lasts forever and it has been way less expensive than buying chicken stock or bullion cubes.

8. Cover the Crock-Pot and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. The split peas will become moist and start to dissolve into the soup.

Finally serve with bread and enjoy! I made pretzel rolls to go with soup today and they are so dense and moist and delicious!

Check out my blog recipe for pretzel rolls by clicking the link below! Tyler and I really enjoyed spending time outside eating our Split Pea and Ham soup on the new patio. With the fire going and listening to birds’ chirping, honestly is there anything more peaceful!?

Homemade Pretzel Rolls and how to make them perfect!

Recipe for Split Pea and Ham Soup

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