Old-Fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup {Slow Cooker}

It may not be the prettiest of soups, but Old-fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup is always dependably hearty, comforting, and easy on the budget. Oh, and it’s delicious, too!

Old-fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup
[Look for my Sweet Skillet Cornbread and Pan-fried Maple Corn recipe later this month]

As you may have noticed, at least half the recipe content here on GHW is devoted to what I like to call “reasonably healthy and/or slightly lighter comfort food.” Within that category, if there is one thing I am known for making well, it is Soup.

When my kids were growing up, I made soup almost every week (Souper-Tuesday, anyone?!), and got quite adept at creating new and unique combinations. Soup – always an easy, economical way to repurposed leftovers – was also often the way I introduced new cuisines and foods to my kids.

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When you create a soup using the “handful of this, pinch of that” seat-of-your-pants method, you sometimes make a dud now and then, but the real problem arises when you make something wonderful, because it can be almost impossible to replicate it.

THEM: “Hey Mom, remember that new soup you made last month? The one with the eggplant and the weird licorice onions? Can you make that again?”

ME: “Um… Sure???”

So I’ve been working harder at documenting my soup recipes, starting with the traditional soups I’ve adapted from my mother’s kitchen.

Hearty, comforting, and always delicious, Old-fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup has been one of my favorites since I was a child, when my mom used to make it for us in the week following every “ham holiday” (i.e., Easter, Christmas, etc.). I’ve made this particular soup four or five times a year for the last few decades, so I have this recipe nailed down pat!

I won’t call this recipe Completely fool-proof, because there is always that one cook… However, barring anyone who might try to substitute Skittles for split peas, this recipe is as close to fool-proof as you’re ever going to find.

How to Make Old-Fashioned Split Pea Soup in a Slow Cooker

[Scroll down for ingredients and printable recipe]

1. Rinse peas and combine with remaining ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Give everything a quick stir, and then set slow cooker to HIGH and cook 4-6 hours. (I usually stir it about halfway through.)

3. After cooking for 4-6 hours, the meat on the ham-bone should be falling apart. Reduce the slow cooker to LOW. Using tongs or an extra-large serving spoon, carefully remove ham bone to a plate to cool.

4. When the ham bone is cool enough to handle, remove any ham and return the meat to the soup. Discard the ham bone.

5. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

That is literally all there is to it! If you follow the directions and use the ingredients as directed, this recipe is virtually fool-proof.

IMPORTANT INGREDIENT NOTE: The type of ham bone you use will determine the underlying flavor profile of your soup. If you use a honey or glazed ham bone, your soup will be slightly sweeter. If you use a smoked ham bone (or ham hock), your soup will taste more smokey. Personally, I prefer my split pea soup on the sweet side, but it really is just a matter of personal preference.

5 from 6 votes

Old-fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup

Old-fashioned Ham Bone Split Pea Soup is always dependably hearty, comforting, and easy on the budget. Oh, and it's delicious, too!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time4 hrs

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: split pea soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 220kcal

Author: Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Slow Cooker

Ingredients

1 pound green split peas about 2 1/4 cups
1 meaty ham bone
1 1/2 cups chopped onion about one large onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup diced celery 2-3 stalks
1 cup diced carrots 2 large or 3 medium carrots
1 dash hot sauce optional
2 quarts water

Instructions

Rinse peas, and combine with remaining ingredients in slow cooker.
Give everything a quick stir, and then set slow cooker to HIGH and cook 4-6 hours. (I usually stir it about halfway through.)
After cooking for 4-6 hours, the meat on the ham-bone should be falling apart. Reduce the slow cooker to LOW. Using tongs or an extra-large serving spoon, carefully remove ham bone to a plate to cool.
When the ham bone is cool enough to handle, remove any ham and return the meat to the soup. Discard the ham bone.
Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Notes

As with many (if not most) soups, this split pea soup is always better the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Nutrition

Calories: 220kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

SERVING SUGGESTION: Serve with my Sweet Skillet Corn Bread {with Pan-fried Maple Corn}. [Recipe coming soon!]

NOTE: I imagine that this would work in an Instant Pot as well, but my Instant Pot and I are still making friends (mostly because it won’t let me throw things in halfway through cooking).

P.S. I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup. Check it out for more great recipes!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of The Good Hearted Woman. ❤ Be sure to PIN and Print this recipe!

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Happy National Homemade Soup Day!

January 29 By Renée ♥ 17 Comments

February 4th is National Homemade Soup Day – let’s all lift a spoon in celebration!

Many years ago, a dear friend told me this story and since then, whenever I make soup (particularly from leftovers) I think of her. Let’s call her Kate. (Note: It is possible that I have embellished this inside my head over the years, but I tried to stay as close to Kate’s original telling as possible.)

It seems that when Kate was newly married, her sweet husband came home one night from a long day at work. Sitting down at the table, he asked her what was for dinner. She replied, “We’re having soup.” As Kate tells it, the look that fell across his face when she uttered the word “soup” was somewhere between disgust and the acceptance of impending doom, but he said nothing, and just waited for his dinner like a man anticipating the flip of an electric chair switch.

When she set his bowl of soup down in front of him he barely looked at it, instead spooning in the first bite like an automaton. Kate looked on expectantly, unable to decode the strained expression that barely masked his revulsion.

And then something marvelous happened. As the soup hit his tongue, his taut expression softened immediately, widening into one of genuine surprise and pure satisfaction. After finishing his bowl and asking her for seconds, he explained why.

“When I was a kid, we were very poor, and we kept a little bucket in the refrigerator. After every meal, anything that didn’t get eaten got thrown into that bucket. Then, about once a week, Mom would dump the whole thing into a pot and add water, and that was soup. And that was what I was expecting.“

(Did anyone else just reflexively make a face? Because when I first heard this story, I sure did! Ewww! Refrigerator Bucket Soup is certainly not ever going to be on my menu!)

For the record, Kate and her sweetheart are still married, and I’m certain that she still makes him soup on a regular basis.

Here are a few of my favorite Soup recipes from posts past – none of which involve a bucket. Why not choose one and make some homemade soup tonight?

Stove to Table in 10 minutes:

Wonton Egg Drop Soup

Serve it up in 30 minutes:

Loaded Baked {Sweet} Potato Soup

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Colonial Cream of Peanut Soup

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup {Vegetarian-friendly}

Love takes time:

French Onion Soup

Pop’s Vegetable Soup

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Thank you so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of The Good Hearted Woman. ❤ Be sure to Pin this post!

Share with us in the comments below! What’s your favorite homemade soup?

Colonial Cream of Peanut Soup {with 21 Topping Ideas}

November 21 By Renée ♥ 12 Comments

Cream of Peanut Soup, a mainstay at Colonial Williamsburg’s King’s Arms Tavern, is oddly scrumptious. We’ve updated the historical recipe with 21st Century tastes in mind, while retaining the rich, satisfying essence of original.

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The first time I ever tasted peanut soup was at the Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. I was seventeen, traveling with my high school history class on our much-anticipated “East Coast American History Tour.” We had been studying, planning, and saving our pennies for three long years to travel from Oregon to the East Coast, and Williamsburg was one of our most anticipated stops.

Colonial Williamsburg, as you may know, is a full-scale working village that recreates the town of Williamsburg during the time period leading up to the American Revolution. The King’s Arms Tavern first opened there in 1772.

That me on the left with my lifelong friend Julie B, waiting in the Portland airport to take off on our East Coast adventure. From an era long before selfies, it is one of only two pictures I have of myself from the entire trip. The image on the right is a shot of Colonial Williamsburg.

As my classmates and I settled in for dinner, I vaguely remember an older lady in Colonial costuming reviewing our prix fixe menu with us, adding colorful little stories and historical context about each dish as she went. Reading ahead, I noted that one of our courses was to be “peanut soup.” I’d never heard of such a thing and was intrigued. Peanut soup? It sounded oddly scrumptious.

Peanuts, the Colonial lady continued, were thought to have been brought to America by Portuguese slave traders. Along with black-eyed peas and yams, peanuts were carried on slave ships to feed enslaved Africans during their passage to the New World. Peanut soup itself is most certainly an adaptation of the peanut soups brought from Africa.

Soon after our hostess completed her introduction of the menu, our peanut soup arrived, accompanied by a sweet potato roll. The soup was creamy and smooth as silk, and the sweet potato rolls were warm and crusty. The two created a perfect pairing, and were very satisfying all by themselves. I was full before the end of the soup course, and though I don’t remember the rest of the meal, I do remember buying a cookbook for my mom before we left the King’s Arms Tavern.

That trip was eons ago, and the cookbook is now mine. So it was to the Williamsburg Cookbook that I first referred when I set out to recreate the memory of that long-ago peanut soup. However, after making a test batch per the directions, I was a little disappointed in the outcome: it was simply too bland for my 21st century tastes, so I decided to make some adjustments.

The first thing I did was cut the recipe in half, for two reasons: first, the original recipe makes almost four quarts of peanut soup! Unless you have a very large family or are running a Colonial tavern, you do not need four quarts of peanut soup. Which leads me to the second reason I decreased the recipe: this is a Very Rich Cream Soup. You simply won’t need as much peanut soup as you might need, say a lighter, brothier soup like chicken noodle or beef barley.

Peanut soup is very much like a thin satay sauce, but less sweet. To the original list of ingredients, I added lemon juice for brightness, hot pepper for kick, brown sugar (because it is the secret to almost everything), and kosher salt because – Holy-Low-Sodium-Diet, Batman! – did this recipe ever need it!

5 from 1 vote