Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup is an easy and delicious recipe. It’s packed with flavor, and it’s perfect for warming up on a chilly day!
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Quick – what’s a knocker-upper? I’m going to venture a guess that whatever you just said isn’t even close to what a knocker-upper is. First off, a knocker-upper doesn’t have anything to do with babies. Nope. A knocker-upper is a job that has become obsolete thanks to technology.
You see, a knocker-upper is (was) a profession in Britain and Ireland in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The sole duty of a knocker-upper was to go around and wake everyone up. Alarm clocks were terribly expensive at the time, and even if you had an alarm clock, it was often unreliable. If you didn’t want to be late to work, then you paid a knocker-upper to, well, knock you up.
Knocker-uppers used a variety of methods for waking folks up. Some used batons to knock on the doors. Others used long bamboo poles to tap on the windows of upper floors. And yet others used pea shooters. That’s right. They’d shoot dried peas at the windows of the folks they were trying to wake up. That makes you think long and hard about leaving the window open while you sleep, huh?
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
Slow Cooker Split Pea SoupAs much fun as it would be to shoot peas at windows, I prefer to use my split peas in this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup. This is an easy recipe that yields a hearty, flavorful soup – and it only takes just a couple minutes to prep! Most soups that call for dried peas or beans require that you soak the peas or beans overnight in water. Not this one! Thanks to the slow cooker, you can skip that step. Sure, it takes 6-8 hours on low for this soup to cook…but it’s entirely hands off! That leaves you with more time to shovel snow outside…or perhaps perfect your pea shooting abilities.
This Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup is also a great way to use leftover ham. Whenever we have ham, we almost always end up with extra in the freezer. There are only so many ham sandwiches you can eat before you need a break! Well, this soup is a great way to repurpose that leftover ham. Just toss some extra cubed ham into this soup for a boost of flavor. And if you happen to still have a leftover ham bone? Put it in, too! Let the soup cook with the ham bone, and then just remove and discard the bone when the soup is all done. It’s an easy way to add tons of flavor!
Aside from chopping a couple of potatoes, carrots, celery and an onion, this recipe couldn’t be easier to make. In fact, I made this recipe with Robbie’s help. (He’s 5-years old, and he has shown a ton of interest in helping Dad in the kitchen!) I did all of the chopping, and then he added everything to the pot. We even got to talk about bay leaves. I told him we put a couple of bay leaves in the soup for flavor. He immediately responded, “But we take them back out when it’s done, right?” I tell ya – that kid gets it!
If you’re looking for a delicious (and easy) soup for these chilly days, then I highly recommend this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup. It’s flavorful, easy and low in calories, too. Enjoy!
Did you make this Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version!
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz. dried green split peas rinsed
- 2 cups chopped ham see note
- 2 medium yellow potatoes cut into 1” cubes
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- {for serving} crusty bread
Instructions
- Using a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker, add all ingredients except for chicken broth. Slowly pour broth on top of other ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours, or until peas are completely soft.
- Remove and discard bay leaves.
- If necessary, shred any larger pieces of ham.
- Ladle soup into bowls and serve with crusty bread.
Notes
Looking for more tasty soup recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Too funny! I wonder what profession the knocker uppers went into when alarm clocks came around… I’d prefer to use the peas for this soup too! It’s thick and hearty and I love, love, love that it’s made in the slow cooker. Nothing better than coming home and dinner is all ready!
You make a good point, Kathy. I think it’s time to embark on a full-on study of knocker-uppers…and what happened to them. Perhaps they became alarm clock engineers? 🙂 Either way, I think the peas are better in this soup – it’s a good one for these cold winter days!
This is a good recipe for my leftover Christmas ham! thanks for sharing this at the perfect time
Yes! This would be perfect for leftover ham. The ham adds a ton of flavor, and this is a good, healthy meal for these post-holiday days. Thanks, Raymund!
OHHHHH my gosh you had me laughing out loud with the knocker-upper history and commentary David! Never heard of that profession before. That’s absolutely HILARIOUS! So glad they are obsolete these days haha I’d probably have mixed feelings about paying someone to potentially hurt me every morning. This split pea soup is the ultimate winter comfort food! What a great dish, especially after all the holiday food!! Definitely making this yum!
And now you know what a knocker-upper is – you know, in case you’re on Jeopardy some day! 🙂 Can you imagine someone shooting peas at your window to wake you up!? Hah!
This soup is really quite tasty for these cold winter days. I love that the slow cooker does all of the work for you here! Thanks, Shannon!
Your soup is beautiful! I just made the same soup for my husband yesterday, but it was less soupy, and didn’t contain potatoes. Or lemon juice or rosemary. He said it was wonderful! I did use leftover ham from Christmas Day. Thank goodness ham freezes well! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you, too, Mimi! I’m with ya on ham freezing well – thank goodness! We actually have an entire ham in the freezer right now. It was on a super sale right around Christmas, and I couldn’t resist. I know it’ll go well in another soup – or maybe just another batch of this split pea soup. Cheers, my friend!
Oh I can’t believe this. Last week, I essentially made your Mulligan stew the day before you published that recipe, then I made split pea (nearly identical to yours) just before you published this one. We must be on the same winter soup track mentally!
Hah! We really must be feeling the same winter soup vibes right now, Kim. We’re making a ton of soup here (some of them are ones I’ve already posted years ago). We love having an easy and healthy lunch ready each day – especially since we’re all still at home right now. Either way, enjoy your soup season, too! 🙂
The next one I made after the split pea was Moldovan Zeama (chicken noodle soup with tons of fresh parsley, dill and lemon. Lovage is traditional but I can’t get that.) It’s called the Maldovan hangover cure! If that one isn’t in your repertoire already, give it a try! It’s all the fresh herbs and lemon that make it so special — in addition starting with a whole chicken to make the homemade broth.
Oooo…I haven’t heard of Moldovan Zeama, but now I’m intrigued! It sounds quite tasty – and it’s nickname as the hangover cure is fun. Thanks for the heads up there, Kim – I’m always on the hunt for new ideas!!
I shall now refrain From riffing on what I think Knocker-uppers are. Instead I will say I love the way this soup looks: Just the way I like.
That’s unfortunate as I figured you’d have a good guess as to what knocker-uppers are. Either way, this soup is a good one! Healthy and easy to make…and it uses up random ham leftovers if you’ve got any hanging out in the fridge.
I haven’t made split pea soup in my slow cooker yet David. As it’s one of my favourites I can’t wait to give this recipe a try! Thanks and Happy New Year to you guys!
Ah – pull out that slow cooker and get a batch of split pea soup going then! It’s an easy and tasty one. Happy New Year to you, too, my friend!
I recently made split pea soup for my husband from a leftover honey baked ham. It really is a great seasonal soup.
That’s a great way to use leftover honey baked ham! We’re in full-on soup mode here right now, and this one was quite well received at lunches last week. 🙂