Instant Pot Split Pea Soup (with ham OR vegetarian)

This Instant Pot split pea soup is much easier and hands-off than cooking it on the stove! This recipe can be made with ham or left vegetarian.

The Instant Pot method means you don’t need to soak the peas or stand over the stove for an hour plus. This is the quick and easy way to make split pea soup. It’s a healthy and hearty soup that’s good and filling. I keep the ingredients and seasoning pretty simple, and the flavor mostly comes from the pressure cooking.

Obviously I cook a lot for this blog, and I never post a recipe that I don’t think people will like, but sometimes a recipe just really really stands out for me. I was surprised with how much I liked this soup recipe since I can’t even remember the last time I had split pea soup (where has it been all my life), and soups don’t usually excite me this much. 😛

Many homemade split pea soup recipes use ham, which gives it a nice and smoky flavor. I wanted to create a slight smokiness with or without using ham, and smoked paprika is the perfect way to do it.

How to make split pea soup in the Instant Pot

1. Prep your onion, celery, and carrots, and add them to the Instant Pot along with the oil & butter and sauté for 5 minutes;
2. Add in the remaining ingredients (garlic, broth, ham – if using, peas, spices), and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes;
3. Do a quick pressure release after 15 minutes and serve it up!

Easy, right?

(Full ingredients and instructions are in the recipe card below)

You may also like my One Pot Ham and Pea Pasta.

What are split peas?

Split peas are simply dried peas that are cut in half for easy cooking. You can either use green split peas or yellow split peas for this recipe.

What kind of ham to use?

Add chopped ham (buy a packaged ham and cut it up yourself… you can find mini 1-2 pound ones quite easily at most grocery stores), or it’s a great way to use up leftover baked ham from Christmas/Easter/etc. You could even add a ham bone or smoked pork hock.

Recipe notes & tips:

• Add more broth to leftovers as needed (the soup will thicken the longer you leave it).
• Use low-sodium broth if you’re concerned about salt (ham can be quite salty).
• This soup can be frozen.

More soup recipes to try:

• Instant Pot Ham and Potato Soup Recipe
• Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup
• Easy Black Bean Soup
• Instant Pot Hamburger Soup
• Easy Ham and Corn Chowder

Will you make this electric pressure cooker split pea soup?

Questions? Made this recipe? Leave me a comment below!

4.90 from 29 votes

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

By Natasha Bull

This Instant Pot split pea soup is much easier and hands-off than cooking it on the stove! This recipe can be made with ham or left vegetarian.

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Inactive time: 30 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 6

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter
• ▢ 1/2 medium onion chopped
• ▢ 2 medium carrots chopped
• ▢ 2 sticks celery chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• ▢ 1 pound green split peas
• ▢ 1 pound smoked ham chopped (optional)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ Salt & pepper to taste

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Instructions 

• Add the oil, butter, onion, carrots, and celery to your Instant Pot. Press the sauté button and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the garlic, followed by the broth, split peas, ham (if using), smoked paprika, and cumin.
• Give it a good stir, then close the lid, make sure the valve is on "sealing", and then set the timer to cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. It'll take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure.
• Once the countdown has finished, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes. You can then do a quick release if you wish, or just let it naturally release for the rest of the time.
• Season with salt & pepper if needed.

Notes

• You can add the chopped ham that I suggest in the recipe (great for leftover ham), or you could add a whole ham bone or pork hock (go up to max 2 pounds or so).
• Use low-sodium broth if salt is a concern for you since ham can be quite salty.
• You may need to add more broth to leftovers as the soup will thicken the longer you leave it.
• Inactive time indicates the time it takes the Instant Pot to get up to pressure and release pressure.

Nutrition

Calories: 399kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 41mg, Sodium: 1911mg, Potassium: 1065mg, Fiber: 20g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 4292IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 65mg, Iron: 5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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