Hearty Split Pea and Bacon Soup - simple ingredients, packed with flavour and a family favourite!!!
Split Pea Soup
This is hands down one of my favourite soups to make, it's simple, it tastes great and it is a comforting full meal in a bowl.
As soon as the weather starts to cool down, you can guarantee I will have some of this tubbed up in the fridge or freezer. The kids love it, so we always have cleared bowls whenever this is made.
Pantry Pulses
Split peas are such a budget-friendly item to have in your pantry too. You can get a big bag for so cheap, so I always have some in a jar in my pantry. Tasty delicious meals really do not need to be expensive.
I recommend stocking up your cupboards with plenty of dried beans and lentils. Canned of course is fine too, but you will get more much for your money if you buy them dry and bagged.
I have handy lidded jars like these Brabantia Glass Stackable Jars which I use for storing all my pulses and grains etc, easier for seeing what you have in your cupboard, rather than lots of messy bags.
You can also get handy little chalkboard labels to stick on them, especially handy for items that look similar, or for writing down cooking instructions from the packaging if it is something you haven't used before.
With lentils, they don't need to be soaked overnight, like certain dried beans, so they are perfectly quick when you want to make a soup, chilli or similar.
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More Recipes using Pulses
I have various recipes on here using lentils that are perfect for those budget-friendly meals:
- Spicy Lentils and Spinach
- Easy Red Lentil Dhal
- Spicy Carrot and Lentil Soup
- Coconut Green Lentil Curry
- Lentil Shepherds Pie
- Lentil Bolognese
- Lentil Cheddar Bake
- Roasted Butternut Squash and Lentil Curry
- Spicy Tomato and Lentil Soup
Even as someone who is not vegetarian, I really enjoy having the occasional meat-free meals, and lentils and beans are the perfect ingredients for that. A highly nutritious ingredient which is rich in fibre and protein.
Bacon or Ham in Split Pea Soup
For this Split Pea and Bacon Soup, you can either use bacon or a thick-sliced ham. Either works perfectly fine for adding that lovely flavour to this soup.
Vegetables in this Split Pea and Bacon Soup are a simple base of onion, carrot, celery and garlic. I totally recommend making up some of these Handy Make-Ahead Freezer Soup Bags, they are perfect for grabbing for a base for so many different soup recipes and will save you some time on chopping up vegetables.
Freezing Soup
This soup is one of my go-to recipes for making up in a large batch and freezing. It's one of the kids favourites too, so it's always handy to have a tub of this on hand.
I just freeze some in single-serving glass freezer-friendly tubs, or freezer a serving for 4 in a larger tub and then just take out the night before to defrost and heat either in the microwave or in a saucepan until heated through.
More Soup Recipes
Want some more soup recipes? Check out these:
- Spicy Roasted Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup
- Pea and Zucchini Soup
- Cream of Tomato Soup
- Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup
- Chicken and Vegetable Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken, Bean and Rice Soup
- Chunky Leek and Potato Soup
- Minestrone Soup
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients and smart points etc
This recipe was originally posted on 2nd February 2010 and updated on 20th March 2020
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Recipe Card
Split Pea and Bacon Soup
Hearty Split Pea and Bacon Soup - simple ingredients, packed with flavour and a family favourite!!!
Ingredients
- 250g (9oz) of lean thick bacon (or thick ham), chopped
- 150g (5.5oz) of celery, chopped
- 100g (3.5oz) of onion, chopped
- 200g (7oz) of carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 300g (1.5 cups) of yellow split peas
- 5 cups (1.2 litres) of chicken or vegetable stock
- cooking oil spray
- salt and black pepper
- parsley - optional
Instructions
- Spray a large pot with some spray oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the bacon, and fry until browned, remove and set aside
- Spray the pot with cooking oil spray again and add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and fry till softened.
- Add the split peas and stock and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for approx 1 hour.
- Add the bacon back in for the last 20 minutes of cooking time.
- Soup is ready when peas have softened and soup is thickened.
- Taste and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Stir through some chopped fresh parsley (optional)
- Serve and Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 264Total Fat 3.1gSaturated Fat 0.8gTrans Fat 0gCholesterol 27mgSodium 887mgCarbohydrates 38.5gFiber 14.8gSugar 8gProtein 21g
Cat says
I made this soup over the weekend and it's absolutely delicious, I'll be making some more tomorrow night once I've soaked the split peas
Annette says
Made for family dinner went down a treat with every so tasty
Enza lungo says
Hi could I put this in a soup maker pls
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
I don't own one myself, so can't recommend timings etc, but I don't see why you couldn't make it one.
Laura says
Hi Shevy
Do the split peas need to be soaked over night before using them ? Packet recommends it but if I can get away with not doing then awesome !! 🙂
Thanks
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
I don't soak them overnight. You can though if you prefer.
Debbie Carey says
Would ham stock work well with this?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
yes definitley, ham stock would be a great addition.
Anne says
Hi siobhan sorry if this as already been asked, do the split peas need soaking or can you put them in pan as are thxs x
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
No they don’t need to be soaked. You can soak overnight if you prefer. But I don’t for this recipe.
Josh elwood says
Hey do u have to cook the split peas in a separate pot before adding to the soup
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
nope I don't ever soak for this.
Katie says
Could I use red lentils instead of yellow split peas? Have loads x
Katie Akrigg says
Could I use red lentils instead of yellow split peas? Have loads x
Amanda Robinson says
This soup tastes amazing. 5* from me.
Linda says
Made this soup today and it was really delicious. Thank you so much for such a simple but tasty recipe.
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Linda, I am so pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you for commenting.