Split Pea and Ham Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make split pea soup taste better? ›

Add a bit of lemon zest to make those peas really sing. You can try the fresh pea approach with your favorite split pea soup recipe, but this super traditional, easy version is an Epicurious favorite.

How to Thicken Split Pea Soup. The potato should make your split pea soup perfectly thick and creamy. However, if the soup is still too thin for your liking, you can thicken it up with full-fat cream (though it may alter the flavor a bit) or a cornstarch slurry.

One common reason is using too much water or broth while cooking. Additionally, if the split peas are not cooked long enough, they may not release enough starch to thicken the soup. Another possibility is not adding enough vegetables or other thickening ingredients during the cooking process.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

The common denominator will probably be meat (ham bones are common), more salt, and pepper to taste. If you want to take a shortcut, you could use bouillon cubes or paste to provide both meaty flavor and salt, though pork is a lot harder to find than chicken or beef. Salt and pepper you can just stir in.

Make sure you slow cook Pea and Ham Soup in the slow cooker for at least 8 hours, but 10 hours is even better (on low). The ham meat should literally fall off the bone and be shredded with a touch. Easily shreddable ham is an indicator that it's been cooked long enough to release a ton of flavour into the broth!

Cooking. Bring about 1.5 cups of water or broth to a boil for every cup of lentils or split peas. Add the lentils, allow water to return to boiling, reduce heat, partially cover pan, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the variety.

Digestive spices such as hing, ginger, and cumin help to make split pea soup less gas-producing. Rinsing and soaking your split peas also helps them to create less gas.

If your split peas don't get soft, it's more likely they are old or were stored in a container that wasn't airtight. Even though they keep for quite a while, dried beans don't keep forever.

Split peas and lentils tend to get overcooked. Once I figured out that they don't need to reach the State of Horrifyingly Mushy, my legume cookery horizons expanded dramatically. Actually, I find it pretty amazing that more people don't cook with dried peas and lentils.

Can you overcook pea soup? ›

Update: If you overcook, the soup will get even thicker than usual! and turn a little bit of an olive drab color--it will still taste good though!"

If the peas are very old and dried out, they won't soften.

Onion, lots of garlic, bay leaves, oregano and thyme make this soup taste amazing. We recommend using fresh thyme for the best taste.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

If you started the soup with broth, stock or water, I would wait until the end to add the cream. You can warm the cream, or “temper” it, which is what I do. Take about half a cup of the hot broth and slowly add your cream to that, stirring constantly.

Ham: make it extra hearty by adding some diced ham to your soup. Extra herbs: if you have a stocked spice cabinet, try adding some oregano and thyme to your soup, or extra black pepper. Potato: add a diced potato and simmer until the potatoes are soft to make this soup extra filling.

Cook and crumble up some bacon or sausage for a punch of additional meaty flavor. Try sauteing ham for split pea soup. Even some pan-fried shrimp would be great on canned potato or corn chowder. If you steer clear of meat, you can turn to vegetarian protein options like eggs and tofu.

I added the juice of 1/2 a lime at the end (after blending) to brighten up the flavors. Next time, I will probably do half water and half vegetable broth to add a little more flavor.

Perk up a Bland Soup With Simple Pantry Staples

Add a splash of vinegar (any kind!), or a squeeze of citrus. Chances are, you could use a little more salt. Go ahead—it's ok. Salt perks up flat flavors and helps balance out bitter-tasting ingredients.