This Split Pea Soup with Bacon is a big bowl of comforting goodness on the table in around 40 minutes when making in the Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot . Made with simple ingredients, its savoury, full flavoured, and a spoonful perfectly coats the spoon.
The split peas are the body of the soup and also thicken the soup to create a luscious silky dish that is packed with fibre and vegetables. The smoky bacon pieces cooked in the soup take it to another level boosting the flavour and texture to make this a full meal, or appetizer.
Recipe Highlights
- Easy to make in the Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker or Stovetop (Instructions provided for all three methods)
- Healthier than store bought soups, tastier and more flavourful
- Make it all in one pot, with less mess and hardly any clean up
- This soup freezes well and reheats to be just as good as when it was first cooked
- Perfect for Lunches, Dinners, and as an Appetizer
- It’s a big ole bowl of comfort food that is perfect with homemade garlic bread
My favourite way to cook bacon and split pea soup is in the pressure cooker because its fast. You basically get that long slow cooked taste and flavour in just a fraction of the time and its so easy to make it this way during the week when time is limited. All my pressure cooker recipes are easy and tasty, perfect for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Bacon: I love using smoky bacon, but regular bacon is great too. Substitute with chopped ham if you can’t get bacon.
- Split peas: I used green split peas, however you could also use yellow split peas
- Stock/Broth: If you don’t have vegetable stock/broth, you can use the same amount of water, however I don;t think its as flavourful using water. Alternatively you could also use chicken stock which also creates a great flavour base.
How To Make
Below are the instructions to make this soup in the pressure cooker as that is my preference for making it, however I have also included instructions on how to make it in the Slow Cooker and on the stove top in the recipe card below.
- Set the Pressure Cooker to “Sear on High” and set timer for 10 minutes
- Cook/saute bacon in inner pot of pressure cooker for 5 minutes until it just starts to develop some colour
- Add onion, carrot, celery and butter to pot and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes
- Add peas, stock, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and bay leaves and stir through.
- Select the menu by pressing the PRESSURE COOK button
- Select the “SOUP” setting and adjust the cooking time to 30 minutes. Press start to commence the cooking process. (make sure pressure valve is set to “Seal”)
- Once timer has gone off, release pressure valve so steam can escape. Remove the lid, being careful of any steam. Stir soup to check consistency. If its too thick, add a little water to thin out.
Recipe Tips
- Storing: Portion the soup out into serving sizes and store in the fridge for 3 days
- Freezing: Store the soup in portion sized servings in the freezer for upto 6 weeks. Make sure to label the container and date the container.
- Reheating: The reheat the soup, either put the container in the fridge overnight to thaw or reheat for a minute or two to loosen the soup from the sides. I find it best to reheat the soup on the stove with some water added to further loosen. How much water will depend on how much you want to thin it out, but usually for a generous single serving, I add around ½ a cup
Flavour Boosters and Variations
- Crushed Garlic: adding a teaspoon of crushed garlic from a jar for fresh garlic will add extra flavour and earthiness to the soup
- Garlic Powder: If you don’t have fresh garlic powder works well to achieve a similar result using around a teaspoon.
- Smoked Paprika: If you like smoky flavours, and you’re also using smoky bacon pieces in the soup, adding ½ a teaspoon of smoked paprika will bring out the smokiness in the soup giving it a rich and indulgent twist.
- Sriracha Sauce: For a little kick, add upto a teaspoon of sriracha at the end before serving. Stir it through to dissolve it into the soup. This can also be done to just half the soup if you have some who like a kick and some who don’t.
- Fresh Herbs: This is a great way to add freshness and lightness to any dish, and some of my favourite ones for bacon and pea soup are fresh chives, fresh diced parsley.
- Diced Spring Onions/Scallions/Green Onions: These are the long thin green onions that you find in the supermarket and are often called different names depending on where you are. In Australia they are “Shallots”. Thinly slicing up a tablespoon and scattering on the soup before serving adds texture and freshness to the soup.
Common Questions
I don’t soak green split peas before making soup as I don’t find I need to. They soften up perfectly in the pressure cooker without pre-soaking.
No. The split peas will naturally thicken the soup.
The starch from potatoes will further thicken the soup, therefore if adding diced potatoes, you’ll need to increase the amount of liquid to ensure it is the right consistency. If adding ½ a cup of diced potato, I would add 1 additional cup of stock/broth.
Definitely. I make a big batch of this soup and always freeze leftovers for midweek meals and easy lunches. Just be sure to add some water when reheating the soup to thin it out to the desired consistency.
More Winter Warmer Recipes
This green split pea soup with smoky bacon is such an easy recipe and once you've made it once you won't bother with buying the canned version from the supermarket anymore.
Making it at home is simple, healthier, and there's just something about wrapping your hands around a big bowl of warm comforting soup that you've made yourself. Something that you just can't get from a can!
Split Pea Soup With Bacon
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Bacon, diced - (See note 1)
- 1 cup Green split peas - (See note 2)
- 3 ½ cups Vegetable stock/broth - (see note 3)
- 1 medium Brown onion, finely diced
- 1 large Carrot, peeled and diced
- ¾ cup Celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
Pressure Cooker
- Set the Pressure Cooker to “Sear on High” and set timer for 10 minutes
- Cook/saute bacon in inner pot of pressure cooker for 5 minutes until it just starts to develop some colour
- Add onion, carrot, celery and butter to pot and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes
- Add peas, stock, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and bay leaves and stir through.
- Select the menu by pressing the PRESSURE COOK button
- Select the “SOUP” setting and adjust the cooking time to 30 minutes.
- Press start to commence the cooking process. (make sure pressure valve is set to “Seal”)
- Once timer has gone off, release pressure valve so steam can escape. Remove the lid, being careful of any steam. Stir soup to check consistency. If its too thick, add a little water to thin out.
Slow Cooker
- Cook/saute bacon in inner pot of slow cooker for 5 minutes until it just starts to develop some colour
- Add onion, carrot, celery and butter to pot and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes
- Add peas, stock, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and bay leaves and stir through.
- Slow cook on low for 4 hours
Stove Top
- Cook/saute bacon in large pot for 5 minutes until it just starts to develop some colour
- Add onion, carrot, celery and butter to pot and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes
- Add peas, stock, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and bay leaves and stir through.
- Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low for 1 hour to 1.5 hours, checking every 15 minutes or so to ensure soup is not sticking or drying out.
Notes
- Bacon: I love using smoky bacon, but regular bacon is great too. Substitute with chopped ham if you can’t get bacon.
- Split peas: I used green split peas, however you could also use yellow split peas
- Stock/Broth: If you don’t have vegetable stock/broth, you can use the same amount of water, however I don;t think its as flavourful using water. Alternatively you could also use chicken stock which also creates a great flavour base.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners.
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