Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Horseradish Cream

By Sarah DiGregorio

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup With Horseradish Cream
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen.
Total Time
About 8 hours
Rating
4(463)
Notes
Read community notes

Yellow or green split peas are consumed around the world because they are cheap, nonperishable and highly nutritious. Preparing them in a slow cooker makes for an affordable, delicious meal-in-a-bowl that requires nothing more than combining all of the ingredients, then simmering for several hours. Don't skip the horseradish cream swirled in at the end; it is the work of just a few minutes, and it makes this humble dish feel special. To make the soup vegetarian, use water instead of chicken stock, increase the smoked paprika to 1 teaspoon, omit the ham, and stir in a spoonful of white or yellow miso paste at the end, which will add savoriness. (You can also prepare this in a pressure cooker.)

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 3tablespoons olive oil
  • 1yellow or red onion, minced
  • 3celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 1large carrot, chopped
  • 5large garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
  • ½teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2fresh or dried bay leaves
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1smoked ham hock (about 1 pound)
  • 1pound green or yellow split peas
  • 5¼cups chicken stock (or water)
  • ¼cup dry white wine or vermouth (see Tip)
  • ½lemon, juiced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 1cup sour cream
  • 2tablespoons jarred, drained horseradish
  • 1teaspoon Dijon mustard
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

464 calories; 16 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 52 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 29 grams protein; 845 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine the oil, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt and a few generous grinds of pepper. Add the ham hock, split peas, stock and wine, and cook on low until the peas are tender, 8 to 10 hours.

  2. Step 2

    Discard the bay leaves. Transfer the ham hock to a bowl. Using two forks, pull the meat from the ham hock, discard the bone and return the meat to the pot. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste the soup, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. The soup will thicken as it sits; if it is too thick for your taste, stir in a bit of warm broth or water.

  3. Step 3

    Combine the sour cream, horseradish and mustard in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup with the horseradish cream for topping.

Tip
  • If you prefer to cook without the wine, omit it and add an equivalent amount of stock. At the end, add extra lemon juice to taste.

Ratings

4 out of 5
463 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Maggie

This soup is a very popular winter warmer in Germany, traditionally served wherever large crowds gather, such as at Christmas markets. If you have some bacon on hand, cut it in small pieces, render the fat in a skillet, add the bacon bits to your Slow cooker. Dice the onion and fry it with the carrots and celery in the bacon fat until translucent before adding to the pot. If you can get your hands on some very good Vienna sausage, cut that in pieces and add at the end. Don‘t boil the sausage.

Kate

I made this vegetarian by substituting some parmesan rinds for the ham and using veggie stock. Still very tasty!

Kay Hudson

There was awhile where I couldn’t find any ham hocks at my grocery store. So I asked the butcher for a good substitute and he suggested smoked turkey leg. My go-to now for anything requiring ham hocks. Tastes very similar to to ham and with plenty more meat.

Ro

Our classic Dutch pea soup, called ertwensoep or snert, never thought of using a slow cooker before works well. Instead of ham hock, we use thick-cut bacon and add rookworst, Dutch smoked sausage, plus celeriac

Janet

I had WHOLE yellow peas, and this is what I did. I brought them to a boil on the stove, turned off the heat, and let soak for an hour. Rinsed and drained. Placed in slow cooker with everything else, cooked on high a couple hours, and then on low for about 3 more hours. (Just keep tasting and when they're soft and tender, they're done.) I made the horseradish sauce with plain fat-free yogurt instead of sour cream, and it was really good! Lots of compliments!

Josh

Delicious! The slow cooker has a way of releasing and melding flavors that just can’t be achieved with the instant pot. Thank you for the recipe.

PoshGeek

Made this in Dutch oven, worked fine (~3 hours simmer). Sautéed aromatics in rendered ham fat and used ham bone, enriched ham stock. Throw thyme in directly and then fish out with bay. Lemon amount excessive, start with a few teaspoons. Took far, far more stock—have at least a quart extra available. Added leftover ham chunks. No need for horseradish cream because of lemon, but might make next time.

KCWS

This was good. Increase paprika and add a bit of cayenne. If using Extra Hot horseradish, use less than 2 T with sour cream.

Kay

Can do in Instant pot 15 mins high pressure then 10 min natural release

Tilt

8 hours on a modern slow cooker is way too long. I did about 5-6 hours, then set it to “keep warm” when I realized soup was done but I was running late for a short event. Short event was about an hour and a half, so “eight hours later” it had thickened quite a lot in the cooker (it looked cooked down almost by half volume!). Tastes great, love the horseradish in the sour cream. But will schedule it for a lot less time. Skipped the meat, used white vermouth (per note) as I didn’t have white wine

Maggie

I had some Kalua pork seasoning salt from a recent Hawaii trip, and added that. Excellent way to enhance smoky flavor.

Mary

Excellent recipe. Easy to make with the added benefit of the aroma throughout the day. Perfect for a rainy day.

Jayme

Made as directed and found it way too salty. I did use cooked ham that had previously been frozen so maybe that is the salty culprit? If making again, i would increase the carrots, i found that i was wanting more.

Marianne

Wow, this was a winner for us! So easy to put together and we loved the horseradish cream. I cooked it for 10 hours on low in my slow cooker and the peas cooked beautifully, much better than when I have made split pea soup on the stove in a dutch oven. Thank you for the recipe!

Heather Hagy

I made this in dutch oven on the stove top. it took about 4 hours, and it was really truly delicious. I couldn't find a ham hock at the store, so I substituted diced ham, and it worked just fine. :)

Meg E

Add at least me extra cup of stock.

Juli

How large are the servings - 1 cup / serving?

Dianne

Made exactly as directed but it was definitely done after 6 hours on low in my slow cooker. Couldn't be easier. Absolutely delicious.

Ricia

I made this according to the recipe. It was so salty it was inedible, and I love salt. I tried it again with salt-free chicken stock and half the ham hock amount. It was better, but still not great.

dimmerswitch

Made mostly per ingredient list but didn't use the ham hock. Instead stirred in chopped up ends of oven roasted ham (maybe 7 oz total) after soup was finished. Modified recipe technique to cook in Dutch oven on stove top, not in slow cooker. Didn't use immersion blender bcuz at end of cook, @1 hr 'minus' the green split peas (Zursun brand) were perfect consistency. Good first day and as leftovers. Comes together easily. Horseradish sour cream is "it" to finish. Keeper.

JJ

Made this soup today minus the ham hock but added rendered bacon and slightly increased the smoked paprika per suggestions. Served it up with a dollop of the horseradish cream. While I thought the soup was delicious, I didn’t feel the dollop added anything to the dish and will not add next time. And there will be a next time for the soup!

Katie S.

Good! Would be better if reduce or omit salt if using pork hock.

Yvonne

I soaked the peas first. Not successful for me using the crock pot. I had to finish on the stove. Next time I'll do it strictly on the stovetop so I can bring out the flavor of the veggies. Otherwise, really good as written. (Horseradish sauce waiting in wings.) I agree to add a smokey meat component because that's what I'm used to. I blenderized half so it'd still have some texture. This makes a lot. You could half it and easily still serve 4 if you include crusty bread and a composed salad.

PotomacGirl

Smoked turkey legs / breasts other parts work very well, too.

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