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This Instant Pot split pea soup is the ultimate meal—it’s filling, plant based, and easy to make in a pressure cooker. A tasty, healthy dinner recipe that everyone loves!
Split pea soup might sound humble, but in our opinion it’s pretty much the perfect meal. It has a cozy, nostalgic feel (maybe because Alex’s mom often makes this tasty soup for soup nights). It’s also delicious: full of hearty, lightly smoky flavor.
Also, split peas are packed with protein and make a filling plant based recipe that’s perfect for lunch or dinner. Best of all, this soup is very easy to make! If you use a pressure cooker to make split pea soup, it takes only 15 minutes of active time—then it’s totally hands off!
Tips for making Instant Pot split pea soup
This classic soup is often made with ham or bacon, but for Instant Pot split pea soup we’ve swapped that out for a little liquid smoke. The great thing about split peas is that they’re packed with plant based protein, making this recipe filling even without the meat! Here are a few tips for making it:
- Feel free to grab extra bags of split peas. Grab a few extra pounds so you can make this soup often. Did you know split peas are shelf stable for 2 to 3 years? It’s perfect for stocking your pantry for nutritious meals in a hurry.
- Use the Sauté function for the aromatics. Onion, carrot, and celery are traditionally called aromatics because they add a fantastic underlying aroma to soups.
- Dump, set it and forget it. Add the remaining ingredients and pressure cook on High for 15 minutes. (Remember, it does take 10 to 15 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure before it starts cooking.)
What to serve with split pea soup
There are lots of things to serve with this Instant Pot split pea soup! Here are some of our favorite ideas:
- Add biscuits like homemade biscuits or vegan biscuits.
- Go for skillet cornbread, cornbread muffins or our fan favorite vegan cornbread.
- Accessorize with a salad like chopped salad, apple salad, kale salad, or one of our top salad recipes.
- Try one of our top sides to serve with soup.
More about split peas
You might be wondering: what are split peas? Are they the same as lentils, or different? Well, split peas and lentils are both legumes. But split peas are a different type of legume from lentils. They’re a field pea, a pea grown for drying, It’s a special type of dried pea that is split in half, making it break down easily into a thick, soup like consistency when cooked.
Split peas are available at most grocery stores. You can also often find them in the bulk bins, or buy split peas online. As we mentioned above, the shelf life of split peas is 2 to 3 years! So it’s a great healthy ingredient to stock up on.
Flavor key: liquid smoke
Traditional split pea soup often has ham or bacon. For our version of Instant Pot split pea soup, we wanted to make it a vegan (plant based) recipe. So to mimic the smoky flavor of ham and bacon, we’ve used liquid smoke instead! It’s a small jar and you can usually find it near the condiments in the grocery store.
Is liquid smoke synthetic? No, it’s actually a natural product made from condensing the smoke from burning wood. How cool is that? It’s fairly strong, so use it sparingly. The amount here adds a little undertone to the Instant Pot split pea soup, but not so much that it’s overwhelming.
What kind of Instant Pot to use?
All pressure cooker brands vary! The brand we use is an Instant Pot 6 Qt Programmable Pressure Cooker. This recipe is customized for a 6 quart pressure cooker. We also can’t speak to other brands and types of pressure cookers. For example, Instant Pot Mini works differently, so use it at your own risk!
Dietary notes
This Instant Pot split pea soup recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, and vegan.
Easy Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
This Instant Pot split pea soup is the ultimate meal: filling, plant based, and easy to make in a pressure cooker. It’s a tasty healthy vegan dinner recipe!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Plant Based
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 carrots
- 2 celery ribs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 quarts vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound split peas
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion. Finely chop the carrots and celery.
- Turn on Saute mode and add the olive oil to the Instant Pot. When it is heated, add the onion, celery and carrots and saute for 7 minutes until the onions are softened. Add the broth, kosher salt and split peas to the Instant Pot. Lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Place the pressure release handle (vent) in the “Sealing” position.
- Cook on High Pressure for 15 minutes: Press the Pressure Cook button, making sure the “High Pressure” setting is selected, and set the time. Note that it takes 10 to 15 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
- Quick release: Vent the remaining steam from the Instant Pot by moving the pressure release handle to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. Open the pressure cooker lid.
- Add the final flavorings: Stir in the grated garlic (you can grate right into the pot) and liquid smoke, some fresh ground pepper. Add a little more kosher salt if you’d like. Allow to cool and thicken for about 10 minutes before serving (it thickens as it cools). Garnish with hot sauce. Serve with crushed crackers or biscuits.
More Instant Pot recipes
Whole food plant based recipes can be some of the tastiest dinners around: and they’re easy to make in the Instant Pot! Head to our Whole Food Plant Based Diet Guide for more recipes, or check out a few of these favorite Instant Pot soups:
- This Instant Pot vegetarian chili is so tasty, featuring two types of beans and lentils for added texture. Top with cashew cream for fully plant-based toppings.
- This Instant Pot lentil soup is an easy vegetarian meal that everyone will love!
- Our Instant Pot wild rice soup recipe is super creamy, packed with flavor and full of tender veggies and hearty rice. Everyone asks for the recipe!
Made this today, with ham. So good!
The flavor is good but the peas aren’t cooked all the way. I cooked it for the time stated in the recipe but it wasn’t long enough.
Thanks for this great recipe! If I double the recipe, do I need to change the cooking time(s) for sauté or pressure cooking? Thanks!
You’d only be able to double if you have a large instant pot! The saute should be about the same, but reduce the pressure time by 2 or 3 minutes because it will take longer to come to pressure with more ingredients.
Really liked this recipe as am a vegetarian. The only thing I found, which initially thought when perusing the recipe, is there is a lot more liquid than am used to for a split pea soup. Generally the ones I have had are on the thicker side. Next time will reduce the vegetable stock to 1.5 quarts to compensate for a thicker base. But otherwise a very nice recipe so easy to make in the Instant Pot. Thx.
Does this soup freeze well? We’re trying to find our favorite recipes for freezer meals.
Yes!
I added about double celery, 6 cloves garlic to sautée with veggies until soft and a little burned. Also added 1tsp smoked paprika. Deglazed pot with water, got all the stuck bits off. IP high pressure 17m, 15m natural release, then quick release, added liquid smoke and used stick blender to purée. Yum! Also used water with veg stock concentrate from penzys.
Awesome pea soup. I’ll make this again. Spouse says 👍🏼👍🏼
When should you add jam hi ks, if you prefer them?
Are you referring to ham hocks? This is a vegetarian recipe so we don’t have experience with using ham hocks here!
We LOVE this recipe in our house!! The liquid smoke is the key.
So easy, delicious and love the protein content. The liquid smoke takes it to the next level!