Delicious yellow split peas cooked in ham stock and finished with cooked ham – this is the perfect recipe for using up leftover roast ham. It’s ridiculously easy to make, yet packed with flavour – and only 5 minutes hands on time! (No leftover roast ham? No problem – I have a solution!)
An easy way to love honey roast ham leftovers
There are lots of lovely things you can do with honey roast ham leftovers – everything from sandwiches or ploughman’s, to risotto, macaroni cheese and special fried rice.
But one of the tastiest – and easiest – things to make with leftover ham is this Ham and Split Pea Soup – it uses only 5 ingredients, requires no chopping, uses only one saucepan – and takes only 5 minutes hands on time!
Easy Ham and Split Pea Soup
All you need to do is place the split peas, ham stock, water, bay leaves and black pepper in a saucepan. Then cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Lightly mash the split peas with a potato masher, then add the cooked ham and simmer for a further 10 minutes. And you’re done – easy peasy!
What if you don’t have any leftover honey roast ham?
This recipe tastes best when it’s made with honey roast ham leftovers and homemade ham stock. But if you don’t have either of those, it’s not a problem – you can still make this Easy Ham and Split Pea Soup!
If you don’t have any ham stock, simply use 1 ham or chicken stock cube and 1 litre of water.
If you don’t have any leftover Honey Roast Ham, buy ready-cooked ham from your butcher or supermarket and chop into cubes. Alternatively buy an uncooked gammon steak, cube it and add to the soup a little earlier – so it cooks in the stock for 20 minutes.
Easy Peasy Honey Roast Ham
What to serve with Ham and Split Pea Soup?
Serve this easy peasy ham soup on its own or with crusty bread.
If you want to cook some quick, easy and delicious homemade bread while your soup is simmering, then why not make one of my popular soda bread recipes?
- White Soda Bread
- Wholemeal Soda Bread
- Granary Soda Bread
- Pumpkin Seed and Rye Soda Bread
- Cheese Soda Bread
They take just 40 minutes from start to finish!
What to drink with Ham and Split Pea Soup?
Sometimes it’s a little tricky to know what wine to pair with soup – but not so with this soup!
Ham and Split Pea Soup is a very wine friendly soup and goes especially well with soft and fruity reds, such as Merlot, Grenache or New Zealand Pinot Noir.
It also works well with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, if you prefer white wine.
Make it your own!
There are lots of ways to adapt this recipe! For example:
- Fry a diced onion first, then follow the recipe as below
- Add celery and/or carrots
- Use red lentils instead of split peas
- Use bacon instead of ham (I recommend browning the bacon first)
- Use leftover roast chicken or roast pork instead of ham
- Any combination of the above!
What to do with leftover Ham and Split Pea Soup?
Technically you should not reheat food – especially meat – more than once, so I would not advise you to reheat this soup or use this as a make ahead recipe.
Can you freeze Ham and Split Pea Soup?
Again, I would not advise freezing this soup as you should not reheat food – especially meat – more than once.
Instead, what I do is freeze the cubed ham and leftover stock when I cook a Honey Roast Ham. Then, when I want to make this soup all I need to do is defrost the stock and ham overnight in the fridge and make the recipe as below. It’s so quick and easy, so this is not a problem!
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Ham and Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 200 g yellow split peas (see Note 1)
- 500 ml ham stock (see Note 2)
- 500 ml water
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 twists of black pepper
- 300 g cooked ham cubed (see Note 3)
Instructions
- Place the split peas, ham stock, water, bay leaves and black pepper in a saucepan.
- Cover and bring to the boil then simmer for 50 minutes.
- Remove the lid, lightly mash the split peas with a potato masher. (Optional – see Note 4.)
- Add the cooked ham, replace the lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
- Serve the soup with crusty bread.
Notes
- Split peas vary enormously in how long they take to cook – so I advise you follow the packet instructions and also test as you go along. It is likely to take between 50 minutes and 1 hour 10 minutes to achieve a soft texture. Don’t add the ham until the split peas are quite soft.
- Use ham stock from making Honey Roast Ham. If you don’t have any ham stock, use 1 ham or chicken stock cube and 1 litre of water.
- Use leftover Honey Roast Ham. If you don’t have any leftover Honey Roast Ham, buy ready-cooked ham from your butcher or supermarket and chop into cubes. Alternatively buy an uncooked gammon steak, cube it and add to the soup a little earlier – so it cooks in the stock for 20 minutes.
- Lightly mashing the split peas gives the soup a little more ‘body’ / makes the soup thicker, while still preserving some of the texture of the split peas. If you prefer a chunkier texture, omit this step. If you prefer a smoother texture, use a hand blender to blitz the soup before adding the cubed ham.
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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