I had a busy day today and have been working on cleaning out my freezer. One of the things that I wanted to use up was a meaty ham bone that was in my freezer from this spring. Our family usually has a large ham for both Easter and Christmas and I always save the bone for soup or beans. So today with the high temperatures only reaching 35 F degrees I thought Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with that ham bone sounded wonderful.
Split pea and ham soup corn bread and sweet ice tea on a very cold winter night
One of the great things about split peas is that they do not need soaked. I also love that in the slow cooker they cook down in a matter of 5 hours. So dinner was ready as I finished packing up another of the hundreds of boxes we have in the house now. We are packing to move once again but this time I think this is the last move for many years. So this soup was perfect as we work on getting things ready for the 19 mile move. 5 hours in the slow cooker and about ten minutes prep time and we had a great dinner.
For this soup you do need about a one pound ham bone or two ham hocks. They add a wonderful smoky flavor and the meat is a nice contrast to the creamy peas.
Slow cooker split pea with ham soup
1 pound split peas
3 carrots
1/2 large yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons celery flakes
1 bay leaf
1 meaty ham bone or 2 ham hocks
5 cups chicken stock or 5 cups water with bouillon cubes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Wash and sort peas putting them in the base of a 5 quart slow cooker,
Split peas in slow cooker
Then add carrots, onions, garlic, spices and top with ham bone.
split peas topped with vegetables and ham bone
Cover with broth and cook on high 5 hours or low for 7 to 8. Remove bone, meat should just fall off, then cut remaining meat off bone when cool and add back to soup pot. Usually the soup is pretty salty so salt at the end of cooking. The soup will thicken as it cools so this is one soup that needs to cool just slightly for my family.
I usually make a sweet corn bread or muffin to go with the salty soup. The left overs freeze well and keep the deep smokey flavor. Hope you think of this the next time you have a holiday ham and don’t know what to do with the bone.
Yes, I did say we are moving and that will be a post for this weekend… closing is tomorrow. I will be packing up the computer very soon so my posts will be a little slow for a little while as we get settled again in another home. I will write about all of it soon. Thanks to all the new followers. I am really glad you have joined me and my family on our adventures. We will be moving closer to the mountains and will see more snow in the winter but it will be nice to have several hundred acres of open space behind the house that my family can hunt, forage and hike on!
West Virginia Mountain Mama 
This looks very good. I especially like the cornbread, nice touch. I am mot normally a fan of split pea soup but when my wife makes it from the ham bone, it is pretty good.
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Grin … I save my ham bones, hocks and jawls to flavor a pot of beans or to use in a soup or stew pot
Happy holidays
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Hi Jolynn, your recipe looks very good- I can’t wait to try it. I love soups… you have me drooling over here. My prayers will be with you during your move. The Lord be your supply during this time. May He be your rest and your peace. Hugs your way!
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Looks amazing! Yum!
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Looks sooo good! I posted it on my Pinterest board entitled “Soup’s On!” http://www.pinterest.com/pin/543035667544267436/
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Thanks so much, I use Pinrest but have never really thought of sharing my cooking and crafts.. .you may have started something? May have to think more about it after the move.
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I’m always torn between making bean soup or pea soup with ham bones. Hubby loves them both and the way soup fills the house with comfort — nothing better.
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Looks yummy! Hope all goes well during your move. We recently moved to West Virginia, I love it here, but like you I’d rather be just a little bit more east for the same reasons.
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Tiffany I hope that you enjoy it in West Virginia as much as I have over the last 21 years. It would hard for me to go back to the city life now that I find some much to love in the county.
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One of my faves!
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Me too!
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Your split pea soup recipe looks delicious. Wishing you a trouble-free speedy move!
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Oh, yes! I love the flavor of ham. I am thinking of making ham stock with my next ham bone and freezing it in ice cube trays. I think it would be an easy way to season my winter greens that I hope to harvest. The soup looks spectacular!
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