Yellow Split Pea Soup is a hearty soup filled with protein, veggies, and carbs, perfect for sustaining you during cold weather. Enjoy this classic, family, comfort food, soup recipe which is a meal in and of itself!

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Hi Everyone, it is soup season!

It’s time for warm, cozy soups topped with a square of cornbread on top like this Yellow Split Pea Soup.

In this recipe, the ham is optional. Ham goes great with split pea soup but if you want to have it vegan or vegetarian or just less heavy – you have that option.

You have the option to make it spicy or not. If you want to make it spicy, just add some chili powder and some of your favorite hot sauce. I personally love Frank’s Red Hot or Tabasco (especially the Chipotle variety).

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Ingredients for Yellow Split Pea Soup

16 ounces yellow split peas (1 bag) (1 lb/454 grams)
2 quarts water
2 medium yellow onions thinly sliced
1 teaspoon chili powder (or Chipotle seasoning)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt optional, amount to taste, depending on how salty the ham is
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/4-1/2 teaspoon- OR pepper medley
1-2 dried whole bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed (you can substitute frozen corn)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 medium potatoes, about 9 oz., diced
hot sauce (like Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot sauce), amount to taste, for serving
Optional Ingredients (to make it more of a traditional Split Pea Soup)
1 1/2 pounds ham diced, optional
3 medium carrots about 13 oz- ends chopped, peeled, and chopped, optional, note if you put carrots in, use less potatoes to have the same total amount

Kitchen Tools

Dutch oven or large soup pot
wet measure
measuring spoons and cups
cutting board
chef’s knife
ladel
peeler

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If you make this soup recipe, and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments at the end of the post.

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Recipe Attribution

This recipe is inspired by Split Pea Soup Recipe here on the blog.

This Yellow Split Pea recipe is different in that it has corn, the ham and carrots are optional and you can make it spicy, if you want.

Check out our Recipe & DIY indexes, visit our Home page to view our latest posts & categories, visit our Blog page to see our posts in consecutive order and, our Shop to see our favorite kitchen tools!

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Yellow Split Pea Soup

Name: Yellow Split Pea Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds ham diced, optional; 3 medium carrots about 13 oz. ends chopped, peeled, and chopped, optional, note if you put carrots in, use less potatoes to have the same total amount; 16 ounces yellow split peas (1 bag) (1 pounds/454 grams); 2 quarts water, plus more if you need to thin it out; 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced; 1 teaspoon chili powder (or Chipotle seasoning), optional; 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt optional, amount to taste, depending on how salty the ham is, if you use the ham; 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/4-1/2 teaspoon- OR pepper medley; 1-2 dried whole bay leaves; 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves, optional; 1 can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed (you can substitute frozen corn); 3 stalks celery, chopped; 1-2 medium potatoes, about 9 oz., diced; hot sauce (like Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot sauce), amount to taste, for serving

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Yellow Split Pea Soup is a hearty soup filled with protein, veggies and carbs, perfect for sustaining you during cold weather. Enjoy this classic, family, comfort food, soup recipe which is a meal in an of itself!

Ingredients

16 ounces yellow split peas (1 bag) (1 pounds/454 grams)
2 quarts water, plus more if you need to thin it out
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon chili powder (or Chipotle seasoning), optional
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt optional, amount to taste, depending on how salty the ham is, if you use the ham
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/4-1/2 teaspoon- OR pepper medley
1-2 dried whole bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves, optional
1 can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed (you can substitute frozen corn)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 medium potatoes, about 9 oz., diced
hot sauce (like Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot sauce), amount to taste, for serving

Optional Ingredients (to make it more of a traditional Split Pea Soup)

1 1/2 pounds ham diced, optional
3 medium carrots about 13 oz. ends chopped, peeled, and chopped, optional, note if you put carrots in, use less potatoes to have the same total amount

Instructions

In a large soup pot (or Dutch Oven) on the stove top, over medium-high heat, heat 2 quarts of water, peas, sliced, onions, pepper, corn, potatoes, optional ham, bay leaves, optional chili powder, and optional marjoram. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring intermittently.
After simmering for 1 1/2 hours, remove the bay leaves (and discard) and add the carrots, potatoes, and celery. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil again and reduce to a simmer. Cook for a half hour. Towards the end, optionally you can add 2-4 cups of water or chicken or vegetable broth to thin out the broth depending on how thick or thin you like it. If you choose to use water, you may need to add more salt, however, the ham, probably has enough salt to season the soup.
When the vegetables are tender, add more salt and pepper to taste; serve and enjoy!

Notes

You can soak the peas overnight, if you want to speed up the cooking time of the recipe (the peas will just break down faster), however, I found this not to be necessary for making the recipe.

If the skins of the carrots are in good shape, you can skip peeling them. Just make sure they are washed well and the ends are cut off. However, just know that carrot skins are bitter in taste, so if you want to make sure that the soup doesn't possibly have a bitter taste, then definitely peel the carrots.

If you make it with ham: If you have a ham bone that came with the ham, you can absolutely add it to the soup from the very beginning, when you add the ham, as it's cooking, or up until before serving.

If you have leftovers, after refrigeration the soup does thicken, you will need to add more water or broth to thin it out as you heat it up.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 345Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 1405mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 9gSugar: 9gProtein: 34g

Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best.

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Sara Maniez

Owner at Life's Little Sweets

Sara is an architectural designer turned work-at-home Mom. She lives in New Jersey by way of New England and New York, with her husband and 3 kids under 8. She loves design, being creative, and spending time with family and friends. She loves checking out local businesses and eats and being apart of the local farm to table community.

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Yellow Split Pea Soup

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