Split Pea and Ham Soup

Split Pea and Ham Soup: Step by Step

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onion, carrot and celery over medium heat for 10 minutes until soft and starting to colour.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

2. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

   Mark done

3. Add the split peas, ham hock, bay leaves, thyme, pepper and the cold water. Add no salt yet — the hock will supply a great deal.

   Mark done

4. Bring to a boil, skim off any grey foam, then drop to the barest simmer and cook, part-covered, for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing catches on the base.

   Mark done Start 90 min timer

5. The soup is ready when the peas have collapsed entirely and the meat is falling from the bone.

   Mark done

6. Lift the hock out onto a board. Discard the skin, bone and fat, shred the meat, and return it to the pot.

   Mark done

7. Fish out the bay leaves. Stir in the vinegar — a soup this rich needs acid to stop it tasting flat.

   Mark done

8. Now taste and add salt. Thin with hot water if it has gone past thick to solid, and scatter with parsley.

   Mark done

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

A Few Pointers

• Stir the base every fifteen minutes. Split peas sink and scorch, and burnt pea ruins the whole pot.
• Salt at the end. A hock can carry enough salt for the entire recipe on its own.
• It thickens dramatically as it cools, so leave it looser than you want it.

If You're Missing Something

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried thyme at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Serve It With

Buttered soda bread · A sharp pickle · A glass of dry cider

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Skillet Cornbread, Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, 3 Ingredient Biscuits.

Storage

Refrigerated for 4 days and better on day two. Freezes for 3 months; thin with water on reheating.

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high; garnishes, greasing and other items with no amount are not counted; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Your own rating out of 5

5 stars★ 4 stars★ 3 stars★ 2 stars★ 1 star★

Your note

Save note

Private to you: notes and ratings are saved in this browser only, are never sent anywhere, and other readers cannot see them.