Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

We really LOVED this slow cooker split pea soup around here. It couldn’t be easier to prepare, and the payoff was wonderful. Not only is the soup tasty, just like Mother used to make, but having it cook for nearly half a day filled our home with incredible scents, transporting me back to my childhood.

I used a simple distilled white vinegar but you could use nearly any vinegar that suits your fancy. I found the finished product, although delicious and classic, to be in need of salt. Being FAR too lazy to walk 10 paces for the shaker, I merely tipped a bit of soy sauce into my bowl. My wife, feeling adventurous, added some Sriracha and was quite pleased with the result.

We enjoyed 2 FAT bowls on the first evening and had enough left over not only for lunch the next afternoon but we were able to freeze at least 3 or four bowls for a nice warm-me-up in the near future. I nearly forgot to mention that I found the late addition of frozen peas to be a stroke of genius, adding some flavor and a nice amount of texture. Make this soup, you’ll LOVE it!

Who doesn’t like soup? This slow cooker split pea soup was perfect for a cold winter afternoon alongside some crusty bread.

You can easily plan ahead and make this to reheat whenever needed. I chopped the vegetables and threw in all the ingredients the night before, turned the slow cooker to low, and woke up to the wonderful aroma of soup brewing downstairs. Altogether, it only took 40 minutes—or less—for me to assemble everything and then I let it cook for 10 hours while I slept and dreamt of soup. You probably could leave it in for an hour or two less if you’re short on time.

Just make sure your slow cooker can hold at least 5 liters as the recipe makes quite a bit of soup. You could easily halve the recipe if desired. It made more than enough for my family of 5—we had almost half the batch left over.

I used rice wine vinegar but I think any type of vinegar would work fine as long as you don’t mind it discoloring the soup a tiny bit if using a dark colored vinegar. Be generous with the pepper. I found that I had to add more than imagined. I also added about 1 tsp of sea salt, which helped the flavor immensely.

I kept the ham skin, contrary to what the recipe suggested. I chopped it up and put it back in the soup along with the meat. If you don’t like the texture, do as the recipe says and leave it out.

This Crockpot split pea soup recipe pleased everyone who tasted it. It was indeed cooked after being in the slow cooker, on low, for 10 hours. At that point, the meat fell off the smoked ham hock when I pulled it out of the pot.

Sherry vinegar was my vinegar of choice. I didn’t get a chance to measure how much soup came out of the slow cooker. Ladles of the soup were quickly dug into and bowls were eaten even though we were going to be eating dinner in a relatively short period of time.

A friend requested some Parmesan cheese for the soup. I was very skeptical, but I must admit, it really improved the soup, and that was how the rest of us chose to eat it too. This made a lot of soup. I would say that it could feed 10 to 12 people.

Serve some warm, crusty bread, or perhaps some Ukrainian garlic bread on the side to dip into the soup. I recommend making this soup a day or two before you want to eat it. It thickens up beautifully, and the flavors improve greatly.

I don’t have a slow cooker—you know, living in a NYC apartment and all—but there are some tried and true ways to cook slow and low for those of us that are small appliance challenged. The method involves slow cooking it in a Dutch oven at a relatively low temperature to simulate slow cooking. The cooking time is much shorter than a slow cooker and you can’t leave it while you’re away at work but I love the results nonetheless.

Otherwise, I followed the directions exactly for the split pea soup recipe in terms of layering in the peas and vegetables and ham hock. I also used the same volume of water. Once everything was in the pot, I got the ingredient to a low boil on the stove and then transferred the covered Dutch oven to a 325°F (163°C) oven for 2 1/4 hours. I pulled the pot out once, at the 1-hour mark, to check the water volume and rate of simmer. I gave the soup a quick stir and returned it to the oven for the remaining 1 1/4 hours undisturbed.

I knew the soup was ready because the split peas had broken down quite a bit, making the soup creamy and rich while at the same time resembling something in between a soup and a stew. I pulled the pot from the oven and transferred the ham to a plate to cool so I could shred it. I finished up the recipe on the stovetop over low heat with a splash of red wine vinegar and the rest of the ingredients.

Personally, I think you can double the vinegar to add a bit more balance to the sweet peas. The soup thickened as it stood in wait for the cooling ham so I added another 1/2 cup of water to thin the soup down a bit.

Other than the fact that the recipe was a little slower than expected, this slow cooker split pea soup was a winner. I followed the instructions and added my ingredients to the slow cooker, set on low, before I went to bed and awakened to lovely smells, but barely cooked split peas and vegetables 10 hours later.

This could have been because it was the COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR at -10°F and my 19th century house was cold or it could have been that my slow cooker is an el-cheapo CrockPot that I bought for $15 at Ocean State Job Lot. Easily fixed. I cranked the pot to high and the soup was ready 3 hours later.

I loved the additions of the vinegar (I used Bragg’s apple cider vinegar), thyme and frozen peas. The resulting soup is bright and fresh flavored and the recipe made plenty for several meals. I will freeze some for another cold day!