I have always loved split pea soup. Up until recently, I’ve only eaten canned split pea soup. I was under the impression that to make homemade split pea soup, I’d have to soak the split peas overnight before cooking. I was wrong! With the slow cooker split pea soup recipe I am sharing today, you simply just cook the peas in hot water with spices and veggies for a few hours. It turns out that with a slow cooker, it’s quite easy to make home-cooked split pea soup!

Slow Cooker Split Pea Recipe

This recipe couldn’t be easier! I just added some dry split peas, chopped carrots, water and spices to my slower cooker and cooked it all on low for a few hours. That night, I had delicious split pea soup for my family.

Ingredients

16 ounces split peas

4 medium carrots, peeled and diced 

2  garlic cloves, smashed 

1  bay leaf

1 tablespoon  salt

^1/2 teaspoon  pepper

6 cups  hot water

Optional:

Onion powder (to taste)

Garlic powder (to taste)

Cumin (to taste)

Hot pepper flakes (to taste)

Top each bowl of pea soup with slices of cooked bacon if desired.

Directions

• Add ingredients to your slow cooker, starting with the peas, then the carrots, the garlic, etc. (In the order listed.)
• Add seasonings to taste. (I basically did 2-3 shakes of each spice over my ingredients.)
• Put the cover on your slow cooker and cook until the peas are soft. High: 4-5 hours or Low: 8-10 hours 
• If you like, use an immersion blender to blend in some of the peas and carrots for a smoother soup. (Remove the garlic and bay leaf before blending.)
• When the soup is ready, remove the bay leaf and garlic before serving.
• If you like, garnish the soup with some strips of cooked bacon.