Old-fashioned split pea soup is a snap to make, and it’s economical too. Packed with vegetables and protein, this hearty split pea soup takes no time at all to whip up. You can easily adapt it to your taste by adding things like potatoes or dumplings, and you can add a savory ham bone if you’re looking to boost the flavor. Add freshly baked bread, rolls or a nice salad, and you’ve got a complete meal. The best part of this recipe is that a 1-cup serving only contains 267mg of sodium.
Yield: 10 (about 2½ quarts)
Ingredients:
- • 1 16-oz pkg dried green split peas
- • 1 meaty ham bone (optional)
- • 1 large onion, chopped
- • 1 tsp salt
- • ½ tsp pepper
- • ½ tsp dried thyme
- • 1 bay leaf
- • 1 cup carrots, chopped
- • 1 cup celery, chopped
Directions:
- • Sort peas and rinse with cold water.
- • In a large pot, place peas and add water to cover by 2 inches.
- • Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- • Cover and let stand for 1-4 hours or until peas are softened.
- • Drain and rinse peas, discarding liquid.
- • Return peas to pot and add 2½ quarts of water.
- • Add ham bone, onion, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf.
- • Bring to a boil.
- • Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.
- • Remove the ham bone.
- • When cool enough to handle, remove meat from the bone.
- • Dice the meat and return it to the soup.
- • Add celery and carrot and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour, or until soup reaches desire thickness and vegetables are tender.
- • Discard bay leaf.
