A comforting Instant Pot recipe for split pea soup that’s a dump-and-go type of meal. Vegetarians can enjoy it meatless, and meat lovers can add ham bone or bacon.
Pressure cookers like the Instant Pot are great for breaking down tough cuts of meat and vegetables. Want something crispy? Stay away from the pressure cooker. But if you’re craving anything soft and tender like stews and soups (see Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup and Instant Pot Cabbage Soup With Beef), the pressure cooker is your friend.
This split pea soup is thick and creamy, with a texture similar to potato soup, but without potatoes. The green peas, onions, and celery are easily broken down by pressure cooking, adding to the viscosity of the soup, and there are occasional bites of carrots. There’s also a very slight heat to the soup due to the smoked paprika.
You can enjoy this as a vegetarian meal, or add leftover ham or ham bone if you’re coming off a holiday feast. Another option is to add some diced bacon. Either way, it’s a very simple recipe where you can dump all of the ingredients into the pressure cooker, turn it on, and come back later to a delicious meal.
Split Pea Soup Ingredients
To make split pea soup, you’ll need water, dry split green peas, vegetables like onions, carrots, and celery, some minced garlic, a few bay leaves, and seasonings like paprika, salt, and pepper. The soup is vegetarian and vegan as shown.
Interested in saving time? You can make this a no-chop recipe by buying mirepoix, which is a pre-diced package of onions, carrots, and celery. I buy a 14 ounce tub of mirepoix from Trader Joe’s, which is the equivalent of half an onion, 3 carrots, and 3 celery stalks.
I use water as the liquid base, not broth or stock. In my cooking experiments, I tried using broth instead, but didn’t find any noticeable difference in the end result. Since it’s easier to use water, that’s what I recommend and use. You’re welcome to substitute with vegetable broth or chicken broth, of course.
I’ve also experimented with various liquid levels ranging from 6 to 8 cups. With 6 cups, the resulting soup was too thick, almost like a split pea puree. With 8 cups, it was too thin and watery. I found that 7 cups of liquid is ideal. You can adjust this amount if you prefer your soups to be on the thicker or thinner side. Note that split pea soup thickens substantially as it cools.
You can serve split pea soup with pita chips or bread. If you’re following a low carb diet like me, you can serve with almond flour crackers or enjoy the soup by itself.
If you have too many leftovers, you can freeze the soup, but note that the texture won’t be the same after defrosting — it’ll be less smooth. For this reason, I usually refrigerate leftovers and avoid freezing.
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
A comforting Instant Pot recipe for split pea soup that's a dump-and-go type of meal. Can be enjoyed meatless, or with ham bone or bacon.
Ingredients
- 1 pound split green peas rinsed
- 7 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups diced onions (about 1/2 onion)
- 1 cup diced carrots (about 3 carrots)
- 1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- (optional) leftover ham, ham bone, or bacon
Instructions
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Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker pot and briefly stir them together.
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Secure and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes, followed by a 15 minute natural release. Manually release remaining pressure.
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Uncover. Remove the bay leaves (and ham bones, if used) and stir the soup. It will be very hot, so let it cool a bit before serving.
Nutrition Notes
This recipe yields 11 g net carbs per serving (1.75 cups).
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 140 | |
| Total Fat 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat 2g | 12% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 10mg | 3% |
| Sodium 460mg | 19% |
| Potassium 60mg | 2% |
| Total Carb 20.5g | 7% |
| Dietary Fiber 9.5g | 38% |
| Sugars 2.5g | |
| Protein 7g |
Delicious..no more slow cooker
Yep! I kinda abandoned my slow cooker after getting my Instant Pot.
I made this in my IP and it was AMAZING!! My Husband and I brought it to my parents for a nice warm dinner and my Dad absolutely LOVED IT!! Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be making again and again!
You’re welcome, Sue! This is one of my husband’s favorite soups… can’t wait to make this more often as the weather cools down.
If I were to use bacon, when should that be added? At the end?
If it’s already cooked, you can stir it in at the end. If it’s raw, you can add it at the same time as the other ingredients.
Do you put the bacon in raw or cooked?
If you add any kind of meat, I would add it after it’s been cooked, like leftover ham.
Is this recipe for the larger instant pot? I have the 3 quart.
That’s correct, this recipe is developed for a 6 quart Instant Pot. I haven’t tested it with a 3 quart version. Not sure it would fit in a smaller instant pot, you may need to halve the ingredients.
Can I make these recipes like chicken stew & split pea soup in a slow cooker or stovetop and not a pressure cooker please??
The ingredients would probably work, but the instructions would be different for a slow cooker or stovetop cooking method.
Mirepoix is a LIFESAVER. Thanks for sharing!!