The Best Split Pea Soup Recipe

I love pea soup, to me nothing represents comfort food like a warm bowl of split-pea soup. It's rich, filling and healthy because the dried peas are high in fibre, a good source of plant protein, and low in fat. It's easy to make; in a soup pot, slow cooker or in the oven and it's easy on your budget too.

There are hundreds of recipes for pea soup, although they are all contain pretty much the same ingredients. You can make it with dried split yellow peas or dried split green peas, add ham, bacon, sausage for flavor or make it without meat for vegetarians and vegans.

Serve your split pea soup with biscuits, crackers, bread, garlic toast, pitas, or buns. Garnish with croutons, sour cream, fresh cream, a sprinkling of herbs, spices, or real bacon bits.

Chances are the recipe that you think is the best will be similar to what you eat as a child. If you aren't lucky enought to have your Mom's or Grandmother's recipe I hope one of these will suit your taste buds.

This slow cooker recipe for split pea soup is a good basic recipe. If you don't have a slow cooker you can simmer all the ingredients together in a large pot on the stove top for 3 -4 hours. Vegetarian and meat lovers versions.

• 1 lb. split peas
• 1 onion, chopped
  4 carrots, chopped
  1 potato, diced
  2 stalks celery, chopped
  1 Watkins bay leaf
  2 cloves garlic, minced
  1/4 tsp. Watkins thyme
  1 tsp Watkins sea salt
  Watkins pepper to taste
  8 cups water
• 1 tbsp Watkins chicken soup and gravy base (optional)

Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cook for 8 hours or more on low, or 4 hours on high.

You can also add a meaty ham bone, smoked hock or a few slices of diced natural, nitrite free bacon for flavor. When done remove meat from the bone/hock, dice and return to the soup.

Nothing could be easier, serve this hearty soup with some whole grain buns for a complete meal.

Ingredients

1 package (16 oz/454 g) dried split peas

8 cups/2 liters water

1-1/2 cups/375 mL sliced carrots

1-1/2 cups/375 mL sliced celery

2 tbsp/30 mL Watkins Onion Flakes

2 tsp/10 mL Watkins Thyme

2 tsp/10 mL Watkins Chicken Soup & Gravy

1 tsp/5 mL Watkins Celery Seed

1/4 tsp/1.2 ml, or to taste Watkins Black Pepper

1 Watkins Bay Leaf

1 pound/454 g fully-cooked smoked kielbasa sausage, sliced 1/4-inch/0.5-cm thick then cut in half

Cooking Directions: Rinse peas under cold water. Combine all ingredients in a large oven-proof kettle or Dutch oven, except sausage. Cover and bake at 350°F/180ºC for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add sausage and bake 30 minutes more or until peas are tender and sausage is heated through; remove bay leaf before serving.

Note from Kitchen: If the soup get too thick or you prefer a thinner soup more water may be added.

Nutrition Facts: Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories 370, Protein 23 g, Carbohydrates 41g, Sodium 460 mg, Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 10 g, Cholesterol 40 mg and Dietary Fiber 10 g.

Watkins spices and seasonings are available in the Watkins US store, or the Watkins Canadian store.

This is an old recipe found in the The Virginian Housewife cook book.

Take one quart of split peas; put them in three quarts of very soft water with three onions chopped up, pepper and salt; boil them two hours; mash them well and pass them through a sieve; return the liquid into the pot, thicken it with a large piece of butter and flour, put in some slices of nice salt pork, and a large tea-spoonful of celery seed pounded; boil it till the pork is done, and serve it up; have some toasted bread cut into dice and fried in butter, which must be put in the tureen before you pour in the soup.