Ham Bone Split Pea Soup

Have more leftover ham? Try my Crockpot Ham and Potato Soup, or head over to The Kitchen Magpie for ham salad and ham fried rice.

Nothing beats the flavour of split pea soup made with a ham bone simmering in it all day long. Split peas take so long to cook that they’re the perfect slow cooker legume, and they’re healthy, too. Using the bone is a great waste-not, want-not way to stretch your meals and save money.

What You’ll Need for Ingredients

The Ham Bone: The bone from a baked ham, like my Brown Sugar Glazed Baked Picnic Ham, is where all the flavour comes from. Leave a little meat on it.

Dried Green Split Peas: One 450 gram bag (about 2¼ cups). There’s no need to soak them, but do give them a good rinse.

Onion, Celery and Carrots: A cup each of chopped celery and carrots and a large onion make the classic soup base.

Chicken Stock: Eight cups. Ham bones can be salty, so I use chicken stock instead of a ham base and season at the end. Karlynn’s Tip: Homemade stock is even better. Try my Slow Cooker Chicken Stock.

Diced Ham and Bay Leaves: About a cup of diced leftover ham (more is fine!) and two bay leaves.

How to Prepare the Ham Bone

Preparing the leftover ham bone is easy and fast:

• Slice off the leftover meat in nice slices if you can, but leave some on the bone for flavour.
• The meat right next to the bone will be gristly and tough, and that’s okay! It slow cooks and gives the soup a great flavour.
• Dice up the remaining meat and add it to the soup.
• When the soup is done, pull off any tender meat that’s left on the bone and stir it back in.

How To Make Ham Bone Split Pea Soup in the Slow Cooker

This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients & complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

1. Rinse the split peas well in a colander, then add them to the slow cooker with the onion, celery, carrots, chicken stock, diced ham and bay leaves.
2. Nestle the ham bone into the middle, making sure it’s fully or mostly submerged.
3. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours, until the peas are soft and melt into the soup when stirred.
4. Remove the ham bone, cut off any remaining meat, and stir it back into the soup.
5. Stir well until the peas dissolve into the broth, remove the bay leaves, and serve.

Make It Fast or Make It Slow

In the Instant Pot: Sauté the onion, carrots and celery for a few minutes, then add the stock, ham bone, rinsed split peas, ham and bay leaves. Make sure everything stays below the max fill line. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. My Instant Pot Split Pea Soup has the full method.

On the Stovetop: Simmer everything in a large covered pot over low heat for about 1½ to 2 hours, stirring often so the peas don’t stick to the bottom.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerator: Store the cooled soup in airtight containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. It will set up quite thick, so add a little liquid when reheating.

Freezer: Split pea soup freezes beautifully. Freeze it in portions for up to 3 months, following USDA food safety guidelines, and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.

More Delicious Split Pea and Ham Soups

We make soup every time we have a leftover ham bone. Try one of these next:

• My Instant Pot Split Pea Soup is ready in about an hour.
• This Slow Cooker Split Pea Hamburger Soup uses ground beef instead of ham.
• My Instant Pot Ham and Potato Soup is creamy and comforting.

That’s all, folks! Don’t throw out that ham bone ever again.

If you make this recipe, leave a comment below and let me know how it went! Did you add bacon or keep it classic? I always love hearing about your kitchen adventures.

Happy Cooking!

Karlynn