Vegetarian Split Pea Soup: A Slow Cooker Recipe

Discover this creamy, comforting slow cooker, vegetarian split pea soup recipe! With just 15 minutes of prep, savor a world of delightful flavors and let the slow cooker handle the rest.

Do you love recipes that practically make themselves? How about dishes that taste like gourmet meals without the hours in the kitchen?

If you’re nodding along, you’re in for a treat!

Picture this: you return home after a long day, and the aroma of a hearty, slow-cooked soup fills the air. Pure comfort, right?

This slow cooker pea soup is your ticket to warm, satisfying evenings—just like that snug embrace of a cozy sweater.

And guess what?

With just fifteen minutes of prep work, you can transform simple ingredients into a healthy and hearty weeknight masterpiece.

One of the benefits of using split peas in a slow cooker recipe is that they can be added directly to the pot without any pre-soaking, making the preparation process even easier.

While split peas can be cooked within 1-2 hours on the stovetop, a longer simmer in a crockpot will ensure the complete breakdown of the split peas.

Thanks to the slow cooker, this split pea soup achieves a wonderfully creamy texture without adding milk. Plus, it gets even creamier and thicker when enjoyed the next day.

Ready to let your slow cooker do the magic? Let’s dive into delicious simplicity!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Let’s prep our recipe
• How to make
• Tips
• FAQ
• Serving suggestions
• Hearty soup recipes
• Recipe inspiration
• Legume recipes
• Recipe

Ingredients

• Green split peas: The humble heroes that turn into creamy goodness with a touch of magic from the slow cooker.
• Low-sodium vegetable broth: The liquid that joins all the flavors together. When I don’t have homemade available, my favorite commercial brand is Better than Bouillon. 
• Vegetables: Carrots, onions, and celery, also known as the “holy trinity,” add more flavor.
• Bay leaves: These impart a subtle flavor to the soup.
• Parsley: Finely chopped, a sprinkle of green adds freshness and vitality. You can use fresh or frozen parsley. 
• Olive oil: Liquid gold that helps create a velvety texture.
• Savory: A dash of this herb, a secret ingredient that adds a magical touch to the soup.
• Kosher salt and black pepper: Sprinkle in the right amounts according to your taste buds.

Let’s prep our recipe

You will need about fifteen minutes to prep this slow-cooker soup recipe. 

Start by chopping the vegetables—dice three medium onions, cube two carrots, and chop the stalks of two celery, including the leaves. We also need to chop about ¼ cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley finely. 

Rinse and sort the split peas; you’ll need about 1 pound (approximately 2 ½ cups).

How to make

• In your slow cooker, combine the chopped vegetables and sorted split peas.
• Add 8-10 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth.
• Drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil.
• Toss in 3 bay leaves and sprinkle ¼ cup of finely chopped parsley.
• Mix everything gently to ensure even distribution.
• Cover and set the slow cooker to high for approximately 5-6 hours or on low for 8-9 hours. NOTE: There may be slight variations in total cooking time based on the type of slow cooker you have.
• At the end of cooking, sprinkle 1 tsp of savory and let it blend perfectly with the other flavors.
• Remove the bay leaves.
• To achieve a smoother consistency, you can use a hand-held blender or simply use a whisk to break up the peas.
• Taste and adjust seasonings for salt and pepper. 

Tips

• Include celery leaves when making this soup; this is a great flavor enhancer.
• Opt for low-sodium vegetable broth to control the salt content in your soup. You can always adjust the seasoning to your taste at the end.
• Feel free to experiment with seasonings like cumin, thyme, or smoked paprika to tailor the soup’s flavor to your liking. Adjusting the seasonings allows you to create a personalized taste experience.
• Start with 8 cups of vegetable stock; toward the end of cooking, you may need to adjust the thickness of the soup.
• There may be slight variations in total cooking time based on the type of slow cooker you have.

FAQ

Serving suggestions

Crusty Bread: Serve with warm crusty bread or Italian focaccia, perfect for dipping and savoring every drop of soup.
Garnishes: Top each bowl with fresh parsley, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt for added flavor and texture.
Side Salad: Pair with a crisp Italian salad or a carrot slaw for a well-rounded meal.
Croutons: Add crunchy croutons for a delightful contrast.
Lemon juice or zest: Fresh lemon juice or zest can brighten the flavors.

Hearty soup recipes

Are you looking for more?

• Easy White Bean Soup: Cozy up with a bowl of my velvety white bean soup recipe. Creamy cannellini beans simmer in a fragrant herb and garlic broth.
• Kidney Bean and Spinach Soup: Experience a burst of flavor in every spoonful of this bean and spinach soup.
• Vegetable Barley Soup Recipe: Savor the wholesome goodness of my vegetable barley soup. Imagine tender barley grains mingling with a colorful vegetable medley, delivering a robust and nutritious experience that’s pure joy in a bowl.

Recipe inspiration

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I stumbled upon “The Laura Secord Canadian Cookbook” (affiliate link) a few decades ago in a second-hand bookstore. On page 158, I discovered the original pea soup recipe, sparking my interest in traditional Canadian dishes. Remember this recipe for maple syrup poached eggs I shared? That was inspired by this cookbook, too.

Canadian food icon Elizabeth Baird recently convinced me it’s the ultimate pea soup recipe. She hailed it as the best at the 2017 Food Bloggers of Canada conference. I’ve tweaked the recipe for this comforting bowl of goodness, reducing the liquid and skipping the ham bone.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. 

★★★★★ If you have made this Split Pea Soup, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!

Legume recipes

Recipe

I originally published this post on November 30, 2017  and republished it on November 10, 2023, with updated content, photos and a video. Thanks for sharing!