Vegan Split Pea Soup
I don’t have very good memories of split pea soup (or pea and ham soup) from when I was a kid, for I was quite the food phobe. Plus, the version I had tried contained barley and barley was weird, man. There was one I liked in my early 20s, so I get the appeal, truly I do.
What I do have, however, have great memories of singing the pease porridge nursery rhyme, and this vegan split pea soup is sort of the same!
I needn’t have worried, because I eventually grew into it, and when I had the idea to veganise it for the crock pot, I realised how delicious it really is. I’m trying to think up lots of crock pot recipes this year, and I remember pea and ham soup being a bit of a staple in it growing up. I thought about how I would replace the smoky ham flavour, and then realised I didn’t really want a hammy-tasting soup. The smoke I like, the ham… not so much. I would normally use a liquid smoke for the same effect, but I’m all out, so I turned to my backup – smoked paprika.
Then I saw Veggieful had posted a vegan split pea soup recipe and figured I must have been on the right track! Do you read their blog? It’s irresistably gorgeous.
Anywho, if you’re up for a creamy soup full of flavour, then this vegan split pea soup is for you. Winter warmer at its best.
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When you want a creamy, smoky, thick, chunky soup on a cold winter’s day, then throw this vegan split pea soup in the crock pot and you’ll thank me!
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced small
- 1 large stalk celery, diced small
- 1 medium carrot, diced small
- 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup green split peas
- 1 cup yellow split peas
- 5 cups homemade vegetable stock
- 1 large bay leaf
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Sweat the onion, celery, carrot and garlic over low heat for 20 minutes, until it caramelises and the flavour deepens.
- Add paprika for the last few minutes (this can be a bit of a drag if you’re just looking to throw everything in the crock pot and go, but is much nicer. By all means, throw and go, though!
- Put the sauteed veggies into the crock pot with the split peas, the thyme, stock, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and cook on low for 6 hours. You don’t want any bite in the split peas at all, they should have simmered into a thick mush (add extra stock or water if too thick).
- Check for seasoning and don’t be afraid to be liberal with the salt if you have used a homemade stock.
Liquid smoke? Dang you vegetarian foodies are whack! 😉 I don’t much like pea’n’ham soup either. Too green, too hammy.
Liquid smoke? Well I never…
Do your LO’s like it? So far my 2.5 yo has not gone for soup, which disappoints me as they are so easy to pack full of nutrients. Just wondering.
Lovely, i hate pea and ham soup ,well the one i tried was horrid it tasted like greasy water to me ,yuck but i like the look of your soup ,though minestrone soup is one of my very favourite soups i must say.
Pea and ham, yuck. Pea and veg, yum. I recently read on another blog something about smoked salt as an alternative to smoked paprika, but liquid smoke sounds way cooler! Must find me some of that stuff!
Oh that sounds good. I have some smoked paprika which I don’t think I have even opened… and have the split peas, everything but the celery is to hand – thank you!
Yummy!! It’s sort of a westernised veggie dahl…perfect for the non spice types ;-)) x
Brilliant idea to get the smoke flavor from liquid smoke. I have yet to experiement with it but your soup looks fantastic.
I have never cooked split peas – but I have some in the pantry so, thanks for the recipe! 🙂 Thank you for hosting.