A Pea Soup that uses frozen green peas instead of split peas so that it’s ready before you believe possible. And it’s beyond delicious too!
I’m a bit obsessed with making quick and easy soups, like this Chicken Noodle Soup and this Cream of Mushroom Soup. And so I really wanted to also do a quick and easy pea soup recipe. However, split pea soup takes a bit more time to make than I’d like. That’s how I got the idea of using frozen green peas instead.
This soup has all of the delicious pea and ham soup flavor that you love, but the ingredients are slightly different, and the time it takes to make it is much shorter also.
Video: How To Make This Quick Pea Soup:
Making Soup With Frozen Peas
The flavors I chose for today’s pea soup are the classic ones you find in split pea soup: ham and bay leaf. Together with some chicken broth, onions, carrot, and all those peas, it tastes amazingly like that old standard but with a fresher brighter flavor.
All you need to do is to defrost the peas, and then you’ll be pureeing them with a bit of broth. That’s what makes the base of this soup.
Using An Immersion Blender
I don’t usually tell you that you need a particular piece of equipment. And you don’t *need* this one to make this recipe. But it does make things quicker and easier. The tool in question is an immersion blender
Instead of having to transfer the pea and broth mixture to the blender in batches, blending each batch and then transferring that to a separate pot or bowl while you wait for subsequent batches to be pureed, you do it all at once in the pot or bowl that it’s already in. Simply insert the immersion blender and puree to your heart’s content. So easy.
Type of Ham To Use
You can use any kind of ham for this recipe, really. I tend to steer away from any with overly sweet flavor though, like a maple or honey ham. I find that it adds too much sweetness to the soup.
My favorite kind of ham to use is the kind of boneless ham that you’d use for a baked ham, but a smaller version. My grocery store often has these smaller hams, or hams like that cut in half or quarters.
If you can’t get that, then go to the deli and ask for a 7 ounce piece of smoked ham. They’ll give it to you in one piece, and then you’ll chop it up when you’re ready to make the soup.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
If you love soup as much as I do, you need to go browse through my soup recipe collection. There are over 70 soup recipes here for you to choose from. I’m also linking to a few of my all-time favorite soup recipes here for you:
- Beef and Farro Soup
- Vegetable Soup
- 13 Bean Soup Recipe
- Easy Minestrone Soup
- Chicken and Dumplings Soup
- Spicy Mussel Soup
Podcast Episode About Making Green Pea Soup
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this soup, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Green Pea Soup with Ham Recipe
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
All the flavors of pea soup in a fraction of the time! This soup uses frozen green peas instead of split peas to come together quickly. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Yield: 7 cups
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 cup carrot matchsticks*, roughly chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 7 oz. smoked ham, finely chopped
- 32 oz. frozen green peas
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. dry thyme leaves
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven warm the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the carrot, onion, and ham to the pot. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium.
- Put the frozen peas into a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high until hot, 4-6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the garlic to the pot and cook while stirring for 30 seconds. Then pour in the chicken broth along with the salt, thyme, and black pepper. Stir and cover. Increase heat to high and bring the broth up to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
- Once the broth is simmering and the peas are hot, use a ladle and scoop some broth over the peas. Use an immersion blender to puree the pea mixture until it’s mushy. (You can alternately do this in batches in a blender). Put the lid back on the pot and let the broth simmer until the carrots are tender.
- Transfer the mushy peas into the broth and stir. Heat through. If you like your soup thinner, add more broth.
Notes
*These are sometimes labelled as shredded carrots. If using whole carrots you’ll need two of them. Peel the carrots and then shred them using the large holes on a box grater, or slice them very thinly. This is done so that they cook quickly.
Connie says
I can’t believe I’d never thought of doing this before! I love split pea soup but it takes a long time. This is so quick and tastes even better!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
So happy you liked it, Connie!
Garrison says
@Jeff, I would think it could be missing the seasoning of the ham into the broth. I have to admit I have not made this recipe but am definitely not new to cooking. Don’t ask me to bake anything like cakes, etc. but I can do most other things and… well back to the comment. Cooked ham, is that right from the package or actually cooked somehow while doing the other things? I have found fatty ham best. Especially for the Corn Chowder using frozen corn, frozen Obrien potatoes, and a milk/cream base. Much like a white Oyster Stew. That is my guess.
Judi B says
I made this recipe with fresh picked peas from our garden. Only change was substituting kielbasa for the ham. It’s phenomenal! Best pea soup I’ve ever tasted!! My husband, who’s not usually a pea soup fan, raved about it! Will definitely make this recipe again.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Judi! Thanks for coming back to comment.
ERICH MOELLER says
I used this recipe and it was good, but i’ll never use your site again. I had to keep turning off ads so I could see your recipe. Also the screen kept jumping up and down so I would have to scroll up and down to get back to where I was.
Christine Pittman says
I’m sorry to hear that, Erich. There shouldn’t be any ads covering the recipe or screen jumping, so I’ll look into that. Thank you for the feedback.
Don DeFrisco says
Just saw recipe fro frozen peas, pea soup. Looks like it’s all there, will give it a try
Christine Pittman says
Hope you enjoyed, Don!
Kim says
It’s a few days after Christmas, I have a leftover ham bone and two open bags of frozen peas, still waiting for my sister to send me my grandmothers split pea soup recipe here I am first time ever making this.
I improvised a bit, used the instant pot to get the bone broth and ham off the bone 10 minutes. In the meantime tossed carrot, onion and celery in a food processor and cooked the peas in microwave and followed the rest of the instructions. I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner :0
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
That’s great, Kim! So happy it worked well for you.
Jeff says
Don’t you just hate spell-check sometimes…. Hairy should read hearty … Lol
Jeff says
It was ok. Soup is bright green but the flavor lacked a little something. Not sure what exactly. I’m trying to simmer it
a bit longerr in the hope that will give it a harrier flavor.
Christine Pittman says
Thanks for your feedback, Jeff. If you make any adjustments to the recipe, please share!
Ann-Marie Blaney says
OMG! I never comment on anything but this is amazing! Why on earth would anyone ever use spit peas again. I have made many versions of split pea, and this was by far the best. I ground a clove of garlic in each batch of peas I blended, as well as sautéing the initial garlic. Otherwise I followed it as it is written. Thanks!
Christine Pittman says
Ann-Marie, Isn’t it great? I only use green peas in pea soup now. Much quicker and so bright-tasting. Thank you for your kind comment!
plasterers bristol says
This sounds really delicious. thanks for sharing this. :-)
Simon
Christine Pittman says
Thanks! If you try it, let me know what you think. It’s definitely a favorite around here!
Yum Goggle says
Hi there from YG. Thank you for your submission and please keep these 30 minutes or less coming – we love them and so do our readers!
Carrie @ poet in the pantry says
It’s so vibrant! Beautiful soup!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
This is so gorgeous and vibrant!
The Food Hunter says
all of a sudden I’m craving soup :)
Sharon (Nut Free Wok) says
I love frozen peas, they are so easy to use so I’ll have ingredients on hand to make your beautiful soup anytime! Thanks for the recipe!