Split Pea Soup

Split peas are the dried pea, not a lentil with a dye job

Green or yellow split peas are dried peas that have had the skin removed and the seed split. USDA MyPlate counts dried peas with beans and lentils in the pulse group. They cook down to a thick puree without a presoak. Rinse them and pull out anything that is not a pea. A pound of peas plus a long simmer is the body of this soup. Broth or water is the volume. If you use water, you must salt the pot yourself at the end, or it will taste flat. If you use broth, taste before the salt spoon, because a ham hock is already salty.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, include beans, peas, and lentils among protein foods and among vegetables. A bowl of this soup can count toward whichever target you still need. It is still a salty soup if the ham and the broth were salty. Sodium is a nutrient those guidelines say to limit. A clinician or a registered dietitian is the right person if you are on a sodium-restricted plan. This recipe is not that plan.

Ham hock, diced ham, or neither

A ham hock or a smoked ham bone is in the list as optional richness. Many hocks are smoked and already cooked. You are simmering them to pull flavor and any meat into the soup, then discarding the bone, the skin if it is tough, and the bay leaves. USDA FSIS says to reheat fully cooked ham from a USDA-inspected plant to 140°F and other cooked hams to 165°F. A hock that simmers for an hour in soup will get hotter than that. The practical risks are bones and gristle in the bowl, and salt, not an undercooked center. Fish every bone out. Shred only the meat you can see.

If you use diced ham from a package, it is usually fully cooked. Add it near the end so it heats through rather than boiling for an hour into mush. If you skip ham entirely, the soup is still a split-pea soup. Add the smoked paprika only if you want a smoke note, and say you changed the pot. The printed cost assumed the list. It is a planning figure, not your receipt. See the content disclaimer.

The soffritto, then a long, lazy simmer

Onion, carrot, and celery cooked in a little oil until soft, then garlic and thyme for a minute, then peas, ham if you are using the bone, liquid, and bay. The simmer is long because the peas have to fall apart. Stir so the bottom does not scorch. A scorched pea pot tastes like burned toast and you cannot skim that out. Add water if the surface cracks and the peas are still chalky. They are thirsty. When they are done, the soup looks creamy without cream.

It thickens as it cools. That is starch. Thin with water when you reheat. Thickness is not spoilage. A sour smell, a swollen container, or a pot that stayed on the stove overnight is spoilage. Discard those.

Refrigerate a thick soup in shallow boxes

USDA FSIS wants leftovers in the refrigerator within two hours, one hour above 90°F, in shallow containers because deep pots stay warm in the center. Cooked soups are a three-to-four-day refrigerator food on their chart, and about two to three months in the freezer for quality. At a steady 0°F the soup stays safe longer than it stays pleasant. Date it. Thaw in the refrigerator. Reheat to a rolling boil, which is the FSIS instruction for soups and gravies, and stir so the middle actually boils.

Bay, thyme, and a ham bone you cannot identify

Two bay leaves, out before serving. A bay leaf is not something to chew. Thyme can be dried. Smell it. If the jar is odorless, the soup will not grow flavor from a longer boil. A ham bone from a ham you baked last week is a good use of the bone if the ham was refrigerated the whole time and the bone still smells clean. A bone that lived in a warm kitchen is not a frugal ingredient. Throw it out.

Carrots should be firm. A bendy carrot you peel back to solid flesh is fine. A slimy carrot is not. Celery likewise. This soup is a good place for sturdy vegetables and a bad place for a rescue mission of rotten ones.

Bread and the rest of the week

Serve with bread you have. Do not buy a special loaf unless you priced it into the meal. The soup is filling because of the peas. A second bowl is a reasonable lunch if it was refrigerated properly and reheated hot. Pack it in a thermos only after it is boiling hot, and know that a thermos is not a refrigerator. Eat it at lunch, not at 4 p.m. after it has coasted down into a warm drink.

Yellow split peas and green split peas cook the same way and taste slightly different. Mix them if that is what you have. Do not mix in a bag of whole dried peas and expect the same clock. Whole peas want more time and often a soak. Read the bag.

Foam, the blender, and a pot that scorches in a ring

Split peas throw off foam in the first boil. Skim it if you dislike the look. Leaving it does not ruin the soup. Stirring matters more than skimming, because the starch sinks and grabs the bottom. A heavy pot and a low simmer beat a thin pot on high. If you smell browning under a soup that is still pale, take it off the heat, pour the soup into a clean pot, and leave the burned layer behind. Scraping that layer back in makes the whole batch taste like a toasted pan.

A stick blender turns a chunky pot into a smooth one. That is optional. The peas fall apart on their own if you give them time. An immersion blender in a hot pot can spit. Keep the head under the surface. A regular blender needs the soup cooler than boiling, and the lid needs a vent, or the steam blows the lid off. This page is not a hospital diet. If you need a texture a speech therapist or a clinician has specified, follow that instruction instead of chasing a photo of a silky bowl.

Salt the ham late, or not at all, until you have tasted the shredded meat in the broth. A smoked hock can season a pound of peas by itself. A second teaspoon of salt on top of that is how the soup becomes a drink you cannot finish. Pepper and a little vinegar or lemon at the table brighten a flat pot without more salt. Add the acid after cooking. A long boil of vinegar just smells sharp.

The bay leaves are easy to lose in a thick soup. Count them in and count them out. Two went in. Two come out. A leaf left in a lunch container is a choking piece, not a garnish.

If the peas are still chalky after the time on the card, they need more water and more simmer, not more salt. Old peas take longer than a fresh bag. There is no brand ranking on this page. Cook the bag you have until a spoonful mashes with no hard center.

Further reading: USDA MyPlate, "Beans, Peas, and Lentils"; USDA FSIS ham reheating line on the safe-temperature chart; USDA FSIS, "Leftovers and Food Safety."