Split peas cook down with pieces of potato and aromatic vegetables to create a thick and hearty, stick-to-your-ribs soup that’s excellent served with saltine crackers or slices of bread. Green split peas are rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, several vitamins and minerals, and beneficial dietary fiber, all while being extremely low in fat and sodium. This makes them a great choice if you’re trying to eat more healthy and nutritious meals. Reprinted with permission from The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Vegan Slow-cooking* by Beverly Bennett (Alpha Books, 2012).
Makes: 10 to 11 cups
- 1 pound dried split peas, sorted and rinsed
- 3 cups (4 or 5 medium) red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 1⁄2 cups (1 large) yellow onion, diced
- 1 1⁄2 cups (2 large) carrots, diced
- 1 1⁄2 cups (2 or 3 large stalks) celery, including leaves, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 9 cups water
- 1⁄3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a medium or large slow cooker, combine split peas, red-skinned potatoes, yellow onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, basil, oregano, thyme, and chili powder. Pour in water.
Cover and cook on high for 5 or 6 hours, on low for 7 or 8 hours, or until split peas are tender and broken down. Stir soup after 3 hours cooking time to prevent split peas from sticking to the bottom of the slow cooker.
Stir in parsley, nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice, sea salt, lemon pepper, and black pepper, and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove and discard bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired, and serve hot.
Variation: For Curried Split Pea and Parsnip Soup, replace the red-skinned potatoes with 3 cups (3 or 4 large) parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes, and replace the basil, oregano, and chili powder with 1 tablespoon curry powder.
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- Here are more vegan slow-cooker recipes.
- Here are more recipes for Lentils and Peas.
6 Comments
Jeanine Mitchell
January 23, 2014 at 2:49 amI must have done something wrong because my soup was very watery. I followed recipe as written. Hopefully, it will thicken overnight.
Nava
January 23, 2014 at 7:44 amJeanine, sorry about this. It’s a contributed recipe. Split peas do thicken considerably, but if the soup recipe is defective, let me know, and I will remove it.
Monica
March 4, 2016 at 4:46 pm9 cups of water does seem like a lot, especially in a slow cooker. I’d start with 7. You could always make more. I plan to make this, so that’s what I’ll do.
Bev
March 4, 2016 at 5:45 pmI’ve made mine for 30 years and every child who has ever eaten it came back for seconds. My concoction uses “Better Than Bouillon” vegetable flavor and navy or small white beans. If I use a lb of split peas then I will add 8 oz navy beans. I pureé carrots, celery, and 1/2 a sweet onion and they both thicken the soup and hide the veggies. If my soup is too thin then I sprinkle instant potatoes until the consistency is right.
Robert Reason
March 26, 2016 at 8:27 pmI cooked split-pea in a crock pot. It tasted great but stuck to sides of crock pot. Can I moisten the sides with a light coat of oil?
Nava
April 3, 2016 at 8:51 pmRobert, sorry for the delayed response. It might depend on the crock pot — that info might be found in the original care instructions or the manufacturer’s web site. I’m not confident enough to give a definitive answer on this one!