What happens when an unusually cool Autumn breeze blows by and I get a sudden craving for split pea soup, but am waaay too tired to do any actual cooking? I grab a bag of split peas, toss them into my pressure cooker with a few vegetables, broth, and spices, and let the machine do it’s time warp magic. About 45 minutes later I opened the lid to a thick, rich, and flavorful split pea soup. This Pressure Cooker Split Pea Soup was seriously one of the easiest thing I’ve ever cooked (and cheapest!).
To Ham or Not to Ham?
This split pea soup is vegetarian (vegan, even) because I wasn’t in the ham mood, but you could certainly add a ham hock or some cubed ham to the pot before you turn it on. To keep the soup rich and give it body without ham, I added a couple dollops of coconut oil. To mimic the smoky flavor of ham, I added a hefty dose of smoked paprika. Liquid smoke would also do well. The finished soup was filling, but light, and full of that cozy fall flavor that I love. :)
What Kind of Pressure Cooker are You Using?
I used my 6 qt. 7-in-1 Instant Pot (affiliate link), but any pressure cooker will work.
To make this in a slow cooker:
Toss everything into your slow cooker instead of a pressure cooker and cook on high for four hours, or low for eight.
To make this on the stove top:
Sauté the onions and garlic in the coconut oil until soft. Add the carrots and celery and sauté just until they begin to soften. Add the remaining ingredients, bring the soup up to a simmer and let simmer until the peas have broken down and thickened the soup. Add a little water as needed during cooking to offset any evaporation.
And if those two options don’t work for you, here are two more split pea soups I’ve made: Split Pea, Bacon & Potato Soup Chunky Split Pea Soup, Vegan Split Pea Soup.
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Servings 6 9 cups totalIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.25)
- 3 carrots ($0.32)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.50)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 lb split peas ($1.09)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil* ($0.47)
- 1 bay leaf ($0.15)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp thyme ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.81)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, slice the carrots and celery, and mince the garlic. Place the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the pressure cooker along with all the remaining ingredients.
- Secure the lid on the pressure cooker, close the steam valve, and set the cooker to high pressure for 15 minutes (Instant Pot: Manual function, set time to 15 minutes). After 15 minutes of high pressure, allow the cooker to release pressure naturally. (Total cook time with coming up to pressure, cooking, and natural pressure release is approximately 45 minutes.)
- Once the cooker returns to normal pressure, open the steam valve, open the lid, and stir the soup. Taste and adjust the salt or other seasonings as needed. Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping.
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Notes
Nutrition
Love Instant Pot recipes? Check out my Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice or Pressure Cooker Red Beans!
How to Make Instant Pot Split Pea Soup – Step by Step Photos
Start by dicing one onion, slicing three carrots and three ribs of celery, and mincing two cloves of garlic. Place the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the pressure cooker. The garlic in the photo is just “crushed” rather than minced, but it would have been better to have minced it.
Also add 1 lb. split peas, 2 Tbsp coconut oil (or the cooking oil of your choice), 1 bay leaf, 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp thyme, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Finally, add six cups of vegetable broth and give everything a quick stir to combine (I use Better Than Bouillon to make my broth).
Close the lid on the pressure cooker, close the steam valve, and set the cooker to 15 minutes of high pressure. For the Instant Pot, I just hit the “manual” button and reduced the time from 30 to 15 minutes. Total time in the cooker ends up being about 45 minutes when you include the time it takes to come up to pressure and the time it takes to release pressure (natural release). It is not suggested to use quick release when cooking legumes because they can become foamy and clog the steam valve.
After the cooker returns to normal pressure naturally, open the steam valve then open the lid. Stir the soup until it is thick and creamy. It will look watery on top at first, but will become thick as you stir. Taste the soup and adjust the salt or other seasonings to your liking.
And seriously, that’s ALL! Soup is served! The soup does thicken quite a bit more once cooled and it stays fairly thick after reheating the leftovers. They’re almost like mashed potato texture the next day, but that’s okay with me! Still totally delicious and filling. P.S. try topping your bowl of pea soup with some homemade croutons!
Absolutely delicious! I have always make pea soup in the crockpot but man is the instant pot fast. We like our soup blended so a quick whirl of the immersion blender and it was perfect.
In a rare moment of forethought, I shopped for this soup and the vegetarian 15 bean soup (https://www.budgetbytes.com/vegetarian-15-bean-soup , but I made it in the Instant Pot) at the same time. I chopped all the veggies at the same time, saved what I needed for later, and made an easy recipe even easier! I also baked this bread, which went very nicely with both recipes: https://www.budgetbytes.com/no-knead-bread . Maybe I’ll try actually planning out my life more often! :) :) :)
All three recipes are delicious, by the way!
Super easy and, best of all, super yummy!!!! This is absolutely a make sin, and again, recipe!!!
I hated split pea soup as a kid but I love this one! So flavourful!
This is my most treasured recipe from the website. Thank you for posting it. Split pea soup sounds boring, but it’s so delicious! I add about a tablespoon of Jamaican curry to mine, and it’s out of this world.
Oh wow, that sounds unusual but totally amazing!
This was so easy and delicious! Omitted the oil and used yellow split peas. Loved it!! Thanks for sharing.
This soup is the best split pea soup I’ve had. It’s so easy to make and very satifying. Thanks for a great vegan recipe.
I completely love this vegan split pea soup just the way it is. I’ve made it in the slow cooker and once in the pressure cooker, and both are great options to have a hearty soup at the end of a long work day. Thank you for opening up my eyes to using smoked paprika this way. Opened up my eyes to the possibilities.
Just made this split pea soup – amazing!! Second use of my new instant pot, first was brown rice 😉. Only had Kirkland Ham steak handy, so used half of one steak (which was tummy) but would be extra hearty with the whole steak! 👍 Thank you & Happy New Year! 🎉
This soup was excellent!!! Loved every spoonful. Follower the recipe with 2 modifications — about 5 small sausage links cut up into small pieces and used chicken broth.
Do I have a big Ham bone from Thanksgiving and left over ham pieces. Hos do I get this into the soup?. Also would turkey bone broth work instead of vegetable broth?
You can just add the bone and ham pieces into the pressure cooker in the beginning with the rest of the ingredients and it will give the soup an amazing flavor! Yes, you can use turkey bone broth instead of vegetable broth. :) That’s going to be an amazing soup!
We used our Instant pot for the first time to make this soup and it turned out GREAT. We used an immersion blender at the send for a smooth texture. SIde note: This site has spoiled me for recipe blogs. The step-by-step with photos must be so much work, but it’s like following along to a real-time recipe and it makes it MUCH easier to follow the instructions.
I would love to make this but don’t have an instant pot or pressure cooker. Is there any way to adjust it for a crock pot?? Thanks!
There probably is, although I’d need to test it out to find out exactly what changes need to be made.
I’m making this today. I’ve decided to add 1/8 tsp of liquid smoke because I don’t have the smoked paprika. Also adding chicken artichoke mozzarella sausage ( I wanted ham but alas am stuck with this option) and Better Than Bullion – awesome suggestion. Instant potting it for 15 and we’ll see! So glad I ran across your recipe:) I’ll check back with details of how it turned out. Thanks again!
According to Lorna Sass the pressure cooking queen it is very important to add some kind of
oil or fat to the pressure cooker when you cook beans to reduce the foaming.