Delicious and hearty, this Quebec-Style Yellow Split Pea Soup cooks low and slow with vegetables and a ham hock, for a filling soup, perfect for lunch or dinner.
Fall’s cooler weather has definitely arrived here and so has my favourite Fall food – soup! Yes, it’s been a while, as soup is not on the menu during the warmer months. I’ve missed it, so for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be celebrating Fall soup, starting with this Quebec Style Split Pea Soup.
Whenever I see ham hocks at the store, I immediately think of this split pea soup. It’s one of my favourites and it’s perfect to have simmering on the stove on cool days. The long simmer infuses such great flavour in the soup. Speaking of flavour, I prefer to use some chicken stock in mine as I think it makes a richer soup. You can definitely make this soup with all water though, if you prefer (or you don’t have chicken stock on hand).
This split pea soup is definitely hearty enough for a dinner soup. Serve with a salad and a crusty bread and you’re all set.
Cook’s Notes for Quebec Style Yellow Split Pea Soup
Many grocery stores carry frozen ham hocks now, so be sure to look in the frozen meat section for ham hocks if you can’t find fresh!
Can’t find ham hocks? Stir a little ham in to the soup during the last half hour of cooking.
I like to give this soup a super quick blend with the immersion blender. Not enough to puree it. Just enough to blend a bit of the peas in to the broth, for a thicker soup. Alternately, you could remove a cup of the soup and blend it in a blender. Or you could just leave it be. Your call :) Just be sure to remove the bay leaf before you do any blending.
We tend to think of dried beans and peas as pantry items that last a long time, truth be told, they do continue to dry out even more as they sit. So if you want to be sure to have a great soup, start with a fresh bag of split peas.
Prepare your dried peas by picking through peas and discarding any odd looking ones, then rinsing well under running water in a colander.
I prefer to add salt and pepper at the end, as I’m adding some salt with the broth and the ham hock already. Saving it until the end prevents an overly salty soup.
Quebec-Style Yellow Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb unsmoked ham hock
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 3/4 cups dried yellow split peas rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried savory
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Trim off and discard skin from ham hocks.
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook, stirring regularly, until softened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in dried split peas, bay leaf savory and thyme. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
- Stir in 4 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups of water. Add ham hock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until peas are very soft and soup is thickened, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. *NOTE: You may need to add additional water if soup gets too thick.
- Discard bay leaf and remove ham hock to a plate. *Note: If you prefer a thicker soup, you can blend a bit of the soup with an immerersion blender or blender. Just do a quick blend (or blend just a cup of the soup, so that you don't end up pureeing the soup. You want it to be chunky still.)
- Let ham hock cool a bit, then remove any meat and add to soup. Discard the fat and bone.
- Stir to combine meat with soup. Taste and generously season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
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carolyn says
how long does it cook in slow cooker
Jennifer says
Hi Carolyn, I haven’t made this one in the slow cooker myself. I usually try to duplicate the stove-top simmering time and setting the slow cooker to whatever temperature produces simmering.
Cheryl Russell says
I’ve made this recipe a number of times , adding just a cubed slice of ham, and the taste is great. But often the dried peas do not soften enough even if I presoak. I have bought various brands and do not store them long. Internet suggests the peas may be already old in the store, and to try a pinch of baking soda. Do you have success with a specific brand?
Jennifer says
Hi Cheryl, I tend to pick up the President’s Choice Blue Menu peas and beans (Loblaws stores, in Canada). One thing I have heard is that sometimes peas and beans won’t soften well in the presence of a lot of salt. Not sure it’s possible to keep salt out if we’re using ham and salted chicken stock, but maybe low-sodium chicken stock and adding the ham a little later (and no added salt along the way). Then just salt to taste at the end. Just a thought.
Marion says
If you are in the country and have hard water, your peas and beans are more difficult to soften
Jennifer says
I had never heard that one, Marion, but I just googled it and yes, indeed, hard water can definitely be an issue when cooking beans and peas. I live the in the country, but our well water is very soft, so I’d never encountered that. According to what I’ve read adding 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of beans may help or you can use distilled water to cook your beans. Thanks for the information, Marion!
Marilyn N says
Made this yesterday, adding cut up ham steak close to the end as suggested. My parents and I ate it today for lunch – we really enjoyed it. Looking forward to making it again soon!
Jennifer says
So glad you enjoyed it, Marilyn! Thanks so much :)
Karen says
This soup is up there among my favourites. It is delicious, thanks for the recipe.
Jennifer says
So glad you are enjoying it, Karen :) Thanks so much!
Micheline says
I just made your soup, but did it in my slow cooker! Love it ! thank you for your recipe!
Jennifer says
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much :)
Judy Frisk says
Jennifer,
I have made many other pea soup recipes in a slow cooker that turned out well.
I really like your recipe and wondered if I could use a slow cooker?
Jennifer says
Hi Judy, I haven’t made it in a slow cooker myself, but it seems like it would easily be adaptable to a slow cooker. I generally follow the 3-4 hours on High or 7-8 hours on low for the slow cooker. If you try it, let me know how it works!
Sylvain says
do you need to Soak peas in cold water before using for recipe.
if you do, how long of a time?
Jennifer says
Hi Sylvain, as long as your dried peas are fresh (from the store :) and haven’t been drying out in a cupboard for a long time, you don’t need to soak them for this soup.
Mumford says
Can you double or even triple this recipe? Needed for a large group.
Jennifer says
Yes, it should multiply up without issues, as long as you have a big enough pot :)
Daniel says
If only smoked ham hock is available from the butcher, I am thinking to add less salt but does this affect the simmer time?
PS,
Second winter making this delicious soup. Even better than mom’s!
Jennifer says
Hi Daniel and so glad you are enjoying it! It will definitely impart a smoked flavour to the soup, but other than that, I don’t think anything will change in terms of simmer time. Yes, maybe hold back on salting until the end and see how much it needs after most of the cooking is done. Enjoy!
Rhonda says
After burning pea soup the first few times I tried to make it years ago, I thought split-pea soup and me don’t mix in the kitchen. Then I saw your recipe, and felt the urge to try again….
So good, I accidentally ate the first batch before canning! The second batch made it into the canner. Seriously the best I’ve had! Thank you!!!
Jennifer Maloney says
So glad to hear, Rhonda! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks :)
C. Turcotte says
Delicious! Love your site, thank you.
Jennifer says
Thanks so much :) So glad you enjoyed it!
John R says
I’ve never made home made pea soup before. (I love pea soup)… this is by far the best pea soup I have ever had! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It will be added to my regular list of soups I will make at home. :)
Jennifer says
So glad to hear, John! Thanks :)
Hayley says
Just finished making this and what an amazing recipe! Growing up in Montreal, I’m picky with pea soup but this was fantastic! I wasn’t able to find a ham hock so I used a piece of smoked ham with the skin cut off and the soup had such an amazing flavour. Even my 2.5 year old just polished off two bowls for dinner. Definitely will make this again! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe.
Jennifer says
So glad you enjoyed it, Hayley! Thanks :)
Bev says
When you mention a tsp of savoury, what herbs are used in savoury? Thanks in advance for your reply.
Jennifer says
Hi Bev, Savoury is a single herb (“Summer Savory”). You should be able to find it with the spices at the grocery, or if you don’t want to go that route, you could substitute thyme.
Pam says
Jennifer,
Love this recipe! My husband grew up in Montreal, where pea soup Friday was a thing, with taverns & restaurants serving homemade pea soup. He has enthusiastically stated this recipe is as good as, or better, than what he remembers from those days. To that end, I am at least quadrupling the recipe (requests from friends & family) and was wondering how well the soup freezes. Thanks much.
Jennifer says
So glad to hear, Pam! Thanks :)
Christie says
This recipe looks delicious! Do you think it can be made in a pressure cooker/instant pot?
Jennifer says
Hi Christie and yes, I do. I haven’t done it myself, but I have done my bean and bacon soup in the instant pot and it was really good. I haven’t got any timing advice for you, but if you are familiar with cooking dried beans and peas in the instant pot, it should be fairly easy to adapt.
Richelle says
I love this soup! Is this freezer friendly?
Jennifer says
Hi Richelle and thanks :) I haven’t frozen it myself, but feel like it would do just fine being frozen.