4.97 from 1374 votes

This Instant Pot Split Pea Soup, made with a leftover ham bone (or any other ham), is a game-changer. The pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half and imparts the flavor of the ham into every scrumptious bite. It’s so simple, but SO delicious. And it’s ridiculously easy to make!

This Instant Pot Split Pea Soup is made with a leftover ham bone (or any ham you have), for a super easy, freezable weeknight meal! The pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half. #InstantPot #splitpeasoup #PressureCooker

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What are split peas?

Dried split peas are part of a food group known as pulses, which include beans, chickpeas, peas, and lentils. I love cooking pulses in my pressure cooker because it takes such a short amount of time, meaning you can start it on a weeknight and have it ready in less than an hour for dinner. My last pressure cooker pulse creation was this Instant Pot Chili, made with dried kidney beans and ground beef.

I love cooking with split peas because they have many of the same health benefits as other pulses, but take a shorter time to cook and don’t require pre-soaking. And they are just so tasty!

And my favorite part about pulses: you get a lot of nutritional bang for your buck. They are one of the cheapest and healthiest foods out there- a whole 1lb. bag of split peas cost me only $0.89 when I made this recipe.

How to make split pea soup with a ham bone

If you’re planning on having ham this holiday season, do NOT throw out the bone! And don’t let the person hosting throw it out either. I fully plan on being “that person” who asks to take the turkey carcass home after Thanksgiving at my in-laws so I can make homemade turkey stock. I don’t care, I am who I am :-)

Adding a ham bone to split pea soup elevates it to a whole new level. There is a ton of flavor in the bone itself, as well as marrow and gelatin, which infuses into the soup as it cooks (which both thickens it and gives it many of the same health benefits as bone broth). And there’s also still likely a lot of meat left on the bone, which will easily come off after letting it simmer in the soup for so long.

Confession: I actually bought a whole ham JUST so I would have the bone to make this soup. Such is the life of a food blogger.

What to do if you don’t have a ham bone

You don’t have to be like me and buy a whole ham just for the bone! If you don’t have a ham bone – since it’s not very often in life that we come across them, is it? – you can definitely just use thick-cut diced ham, or a ham hock.

You can use a smoked turkey leg if you want a pork-free version.

And you can even make this soup vegetarian or vegan by omitting the ham and making a few other changes (see notes in recipe below).

What kind of pressure cooker to use

I made my Instant Pot split pea soup in (you guessed it!) an Instant Pot. It’s a very popular and high-quality pressure cooker, and I’ve been LOVING it.

You can even replace it for your slow cooker (it has a slow cooker setting as well). Pressure cookers not only cut the cooking time of things like pulses and tough cuts of meat wayyyyy down, but I find it also tends to cook things with better flavor than a slow cooker. It also has a sauté function, so you can cook up the mirepoix (that’s the fancy word for the celery, carrots, and onions) right in the pot.

Keep an eye out for black Friday sales- I got my six quart Instant Pot for only around $60 last year (what a deal!).

Don’t have a pressure cooker or instant pot? Just look at the recipe notes below for how to make this on your stovetop or in your slow cooker.

Other Easy Instant Pot Recipes

Instant Pot Chicken, Broccoli, and Quinoa with Cheese
Instant Pot Pot Roast
Instant Pot Turkey Breast with Lemon and Thyme
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Instant Pot Fish Stew

Here’s a link to all of my pressure cooker/instant pot recipes! For a plant-based version, try this vegetarian split pea soup with potatoes, lemon, and dill.

Did you know commenting and rating recipes is one of the best ways you can support your favorite food bloggers? If you made this recipe or have a question, please click the stars below to comment and Rate this Recipe. Share photos on social media and tag @bowlofdelicious! I reply personally to every comment and I’m excited to hear what you think.

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham

This Instant Pot Split Pea Soup is made with a leftover ham bone (or any ham you have), for a super easy, freezable weeknight meal! The pressure cooker cuts the cooking time in half.

4.97 from 1374 votes

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Time to pressurize and depressurize: 25

Total Time: 50

Servings: servings

Calories: 307kcal

Author: Elizabeth Lindemann

Equipment

Instant Pot 6 qt. minimum size, see recipe notes for more info.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion diced
2 ribs celery diced
2 carrots diced
1 ham bone a smoked ham hock or 6 oz. diced deli ham can also be used
1 lb. dry split peas sorted through and rinsed
6 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth or veggie stock, water, or a mixture
2 bay leaves
kosher salt and black pepper (see notes)
chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional

US Customary – Metric

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Instructions

Turn pressure cooker to the "sauté" setting. Melt butter (3 tablespoons) and sauté onion, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes, until softened.
Add the split peas, chicken stock (6 cups), ham bone (or hock or 6 oz. diced cooked ham), and the 2 bay leaves. Turn off the "sauté" function.
Cover pressure cooker, make sure valve is on "sealing," and set to manual, high pressure for 15 minutes.
Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10-15 minutes. Then, quick release the pressure valve.
If you used a ham bone or hock: remove the it from the soup and remove the ham meat that’s still attached to it. Add the ham meat back into the soup.
Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary (see notes). Serve immediately, or store in your refrigerator for up to 1 week or freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Notes

A note about salt: if you use salty chicken broth, you may not need to add any salt at all since ham is also usually very salty.
The peas may take longer to cook depending on their age – the older dried legumes are, the longer they take to cook. This can vary based on brand, how long they’ve sat on grocery store shelves, or how long they’ve been in your pantry.
If you want to use a frozen ham bone, you shouldn’t need to adjust the cooking time, since ham bones are technically already cooked, you’re just reheating it! Keep in mind though, the colder your ingredients are, the longer it will take to come to pressure.
For a vegetarian version, omit the ham, use more salt and pepper, and make sure to use vegetable stock or water instead of chicken. For a vegan version, use olive oil instead of butter.
If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute the ham bone for a smoked turkey leg.
To make this in your slow cooker, sauté the veggies in a skillet in the butter, then transfer them and add all other ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, or until split peas are cooked to desired tenderness.
To make this on your stovetop, sauté veggies as instructed in a large pot. After adding the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for approximately one hour (or until split peas are cooked to desired tenderness).
Ham usually comes cured/smoked, which means it’s cooked and ready to eat. However, sometimes stores sell “fresh ham,” which means it’s uncooked. Do NOT use fresh ham for this recipe- use already cooked, smoked, and/or cured ham.
This soup will likely thicken once it cools and is refrigerated, especially if you use a ham bone to make it because of the gelatin. Thin out with water and adjust seasonings as necessary.
I made this recipe in my 6 qt. Instant pot. It should work the same in an 8 qt., but you may need to cut the ingredients in half for a 3 qt. mini. You should also be able to double the batch in an 8 quart pressure cooker.
The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.

Nutrition

Nutrition Information Disclaimer

The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:

Very Well Fit Nutrition Information Calculator

My Fitness Pal Recipe Nutrition Calculator

Tried this recipe?Mention @BowlofDelicious or tag #BowlofDelicious!

Comments

Michelle

July 11, 2026 at 10:07 pm

Wow. This was beyond delicious. I added an extra carrot and an extra celery rib but everything else was the same. Even my pickiest family member raved about it. Highly recommend.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  July 15, 2026 at 9:51 am
  
  So glad you and your family liked it!
  
Ellen

June 14, 2026 at 5:39 pm

Absolutely perfect and delicious! I used 2 large left over ham pieces and also added a piece of diced green pepper that I had in the fridge ..

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  June 20, 2026 at 9:26 am
  
  So glad you liked it! I always love throwing any random veggies I have lying around in soups. Great way to use them up!
  
Jori

June 14, 2026 at 4:13 pm

This came out just perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing it!! I did not change anything.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  June 20, 2026 at 9:26 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Brodie

May 27, 2026 at 11:32 pm

Just a suggestion, have an option on these recipes for metric, for those in other countries. Other than that, keep cooking!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  May 30, 2026 at 8:20 am
  
  Thank you for this! I just updated this recipe with metric units – just click “metric” under the ingredients in the recipe card. I’ll keep updating older posts with this information, too!
  
JJ

April 20, 2026 at 3:34 pm

Thank you. EZPZ and a great base. 👍👍👍👍👍

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 27, 2026 at 7:34 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
sherry l mayes

April 16, 2026 at 12:26 pm

Can I make this with whole dried peas?

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 19, 2026 at 9:39 am
  
  Whole dried peas take significantly longer to cook than split, so if you use them I would recommend pre-soaking to cut down on time, and keeping in mind it may need a a bit more time than instructed to cook even with soaking.
  
Rob

April 15, 2026 at 10:58 am

I strongly suggest first cooking the bone-in-ham or hamhocks in the instapot with the water/ stock in the recipe for about 70 min prior to making the recipe if you want the breakdown the ham better and have a soup that has a much better ham flavor. 15 minutes is not enough time to soften the ham and release enough flavor and collagen. Sautéed the veggies in the Insta pot, remove them, add the ham , water and bay leaf cook 70 minutes. After 70 minutes the pressurized pot add veggies and peas and cook.Add the veggies and peas back in and then cook for recipe.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 19, 2026 at 9:45 am
  
  Thanks for the tip. I love this idea for getting more flavor out of the ham. I do worry about the texture of the meat being a bit dry with this method – whenever I have made this, the ham is shreddable and falls off the bone for the timing indicated. However, it’s important to note that pre-cooking is definitely required if the ham is raw, rather than pre-cooked. I always use a cooked ham bone or hock.
  
Christel Lamusga

April 08, 2026 at 6:05 pm

Made as written. Really delicious!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 13, 2026 at 7:30 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
  - Michelle
    
    May 07, 2026 at 4:43 am
    
    Delicious! I added a few potatoes which made it lovely and thick. So easy in the pressure cooker! Thanks for the reminder to use the sauté function first.
  - Elizabeth Lindemann
    
    May 09, 2026 at 8:15 am
    
    So glad you liked it!
Jan

April 07, 2026 at 9:44 pm

As a long-time stovetop split pea soup maker, I was happy to find your instructions for using my instant pot. Comes out perfect whether with ham or vegetarian version. I usually remove bone & meat and smooth it all out with a stick blender before adding diced ham back in. My only addition is dried thyme. Thank you!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 13, 2026 at 7:31 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Karl

March 30, 2026 at 12:55 pm

Great recipe! I made mine vegetarian, and added about a teaspoon of smoked paprika to get the same smoky taste that would have come from the ham bone.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  April 13, 2026 at 7:49 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Pamela Crone

March 28, 2026 at 4:47 pm

Absolutely love this recipe! Thank you for giving the directions for an Instant Pot!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 29, 2026 at 8:18 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Tami Corn

February 19, 2026 at 9:46 pm

The best pea soup I have ever had!! Very easy to make, and tastes delicious.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:10 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
valerie minor

February 17, 2026 at 8:27 pm

Such a good recipe. Hit the spot!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:11 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Cynthia

February 14, 2026 at 9:35 pm

I finally found a recipe for split pea soup and my Instant Pot. This turned out great and we love it. Thank you.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:15 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Nancy

February 12, 2026 at 11:06 pm

This is my go-to recipe for split pea soup – been making it for years. It’s delicious and couldn’t be easier, and cleanup is a breeze. Sometimes I add a couple dried chili peppers with the bay leaves. It’s always tasty. Thank you for a great recipe. ❤️

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:16 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Amy Ashburn Forest

February 10, 2026 at 4:12 pm

I needed a quick recipe today and hadn’t made split pea soup in years, like from before my crockpot days. My ham bone was in the freezer from Thanksgiving and I wanted to use my instant pot. This was the first recipe that came up in google and I’m so glad I tried it. Perfect texture, the ham came clean off the bone, and the flavor isn’t too salty. I went ahead and pinned the recipe for after Easter too! Thank you so much. Quick and easy with almost no hands on time!

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:23 am
  
  So glad you liked it!
  
Jesko

February 09, 2026 at 6:23 pm

Great recipe….very much in line with my conventional pea soup recipe. Have a pressure cooker now so this was a perfect reference. One addition, I have a family member who is allergic to pork protein (tragic :) ) so I use some smoked turkey legs instead. Its great, even if you don’t need to omit pork I recommend trying it.

- Elizabeth Lindemann
  
  March 16, 2026 at 8:24 am
  
  So glad you liked it! Turkey legs is a great option for anyone who doesn’t eat pork. Thanks for sharing!

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