Healthy, hearty, and packed with smoky flavor... this vegetarian split pea soup is pure comfort in a bowl! It's really easy to make, 100% plant-based, and guaranteed to warm you up when it's cold outside.
Do you have a go-to dish that you like to make when you have no idea what to make for dinner? I have a few, and they're all hearty soups — no kidding! My Mediterranean red lentil soup, vegan minestrone soup, and vegan beef barley soup are all in regular rotation in my kitchen. But I have one soup I make more than any other, and it's vegetarian split pea soup. I make this stuff all year round (even during the hottest days of summer), and I LOVE it.
Jump to:
Split pea soup is healthy, comforting, and so easy to make. In fact, I have about a million and one versions that I make, and I never actually follow a recipe.
I had a hard time picking a version for this post, but I decided to go with a vegan take on what I consider a classic split pea soup — the type normally made with ham. This version contains no actual ham, though! It's full of smoky flavor and super satisfying, so it's perfect for a meal!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Olive oil. Just about any high heat oil can be used in place of this. Canola, coconut, avocado, and corn oil are all fine choices.
- Onions.
- Celery.
- Carrots.
- Garlic.
- Ground cumin. This will add some depth of flavor to our soup. For even more flavor, it's worth it to add a teaspoon or so of whole cumin seeds, though you might need to make a trip to the Indian market for these.
- Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon brand in seasoned vegetable flavor.
- Dried split peas. Look for these near the dried beans and rice at your store. We're using green split peas, but you can switch things up and use yellow if you'd like. (Or check out my favorite yellow split pea dal recipe!)
- Hot water. We're going to use this to thin the soup as it simmers. Making sure the water is hot is important to avoid cooling down the soup and slowing the cooking process.
- Red wine vinegar. A little acid will enhance the flavor of the soup. White wine vinegar or even plain old white vinegar will do as a substitute in a pinch.
- Liquid smoke. This is how we're adding some smoky flavor to our soup.
Tip: The awesome thing about this soup is that it's easy to keep all of the ingredients on hand, so you can make it any time!
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook the vegetables. Heat some oil in a large pot and add your onion, carrots, and celery. Cook them for a few minutes to start softening them up. Next, stir in the garlic and cumin. Cook the mixture briefly, just until the garlic and cumin become very fragrant.
Step 2: Simmer. Stir in the broth and peas, then crank up the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer. The tough part about cooking split pea soup is the wait. Split peas can take an hour or more to soften up completely. Be patient! Or don't, and scroll down for the Instant Pot instructions!
Tip: The soup will get very thick! If it gets too thick for your liking, just thin it with some hot water. Keep some hot water close by for this purpose — I like to keep a kettle on the stove for this.
Step 3: Season the soup. Once the soup has reached your desired consistency, take it off the heat and stir in the red wine vinegar, liquid smoke, and salt and pepper if needed.
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Don't have time to let your vegan split pea soup simmer for an hour or more? Make it in the Instant Pot!
Step 1: Cook the vegetables. Cook your carrots, celery, and onion using the "sauté" function. Add your garlic and cumin during the last minute, just like you'd do on the stove.
Step 2: Cook the soup. Hit the "cancel" button, then stir in your broth and split peas. Place the lid on your Instant Pot, set your valve to "sealing," and set your soup to pressure cook ("manual" button on older models) on high pressure for 15 minutes.
Step 3: Vent. When the time is up you can move the valve to "venting" and let the pressure release before opening the lid.
Step 4: Season the soup. Add the liquid smoke and a splash of red wine vinegar when your soup is done cooking. Season your soup with salt and pepper to taste, ladle it into bowls and dig in.
Variations
- Add vegetables. You can add all kinds of veggies to split pea soup! Just be mindful about when you add them. Hard vegetables like potatoes can simmer with the soup the entire time, but most vegetables like broccoli, peppers, and hard leafy greens can be added during the last 10 to 20 minutes. Tender greens like spinach should be added during the last few minutes.
- Add heat. I love spicy split pea soup. Just season the soup with cayenne pepper or hot sauce to taste.
- Spice variations. Spices that work well in split pea soup include savory herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary, as well as curry powder, ground cloves, and smoked paprika.
Tip: Looking for even more variations? Try one of my other split pea soup recipes, like my yellow split pea soup, curried split pea soup, or slow cooker split pea soup.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftovers of this soup keep great! Store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You may find that your soup thickens up quite a bit during storage — if this happens just add some water when you reheat it.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is!
First off, keep in mind that this stuff does take a long time to cook. Have you given it a full hour and fifteen minutes? If not, be patient.
Another common culprit is old peas. Check the date on the bag and consider how long they've been sitting in your pantry. Dated split peas often won't cook fully.
Finally, did you add any extra seasonings? Acidic ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar can prevent split peas from cooking. This is why the red wine vinegar goes in at the end of this recipe.
Liquid smoke is a seasoning that's made by burning wood and condensing the smoke. So liquid smoke is actually smoke, in liquid form! It's totally vegan and most supermarkets carry it near the barbecue sauces. You can also buy it online.
They don't, although you can certainly soak them overnight if you'd like. It will shorten the cooking time a bit.
More Hearty Soup Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Smoky Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 medium celery stalks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 7 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound dried split peas
- Hot water, as needed (I use about 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke, or to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Stovetop Method
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrot, and celery. Sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they soften up a bit. Add the garlic and cumin, and cook them with the vegetables until the garlic becomes very fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the broth and peas. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and cover the pot. Allow the soup to simmer until the peas are very soft and falling apart, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Uncover the pot and give it an occasional stir. Keep some hot water near the stove and use it to thin the soup if needed.
- When the soup has finished simmering, remove it from the heat and stir in the vinegar and liquid smoke. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Instant Pot Method
- Press the "sauté" button on your Instant Pot then add the oil. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrot, and celery. Sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften up. Add the garlic and cumin, and cook them with the vegetables until the garlic becomes very fragrant, about 1 minute. Hit the "cancel" button.
- Stir in the broth and peas. Place the lid on your Instant Pot and set the valve to the "sealing" position. Press the "pressure cook" or "manual" button and set the pressure to high. Set the soup to cook for 15 minutes.
- When the soup has finished cooking, carefully move the valve to the "venting" position. Let the pressure release completely.
- Remove the lid from the Instant Pot. Stir in the vinegar and liquid smoke. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Super simple, inexpensive, healthy and delicious...my kind of recipe.
Great recipe! I used a little chipotle in adobo & smoked paprika before softening the veg. It creates a great smokey flavor. The vinegar creates a perfect balance - thank you for sharing!
I just made your smoky vegetarian split pea soup. WOW factor! Incredibly delicious and packed with flavor. I usually do not like split pea soup at all. You just changed my mind. I used 3 shakes of smoked paprika instead of liquid smoke. I loved the cumin powder in it. But I did not use the cumin seeds either or the red wine vinegar.. I used 2 Tsp of fresh lemon juice after it was done cooking. My whole family said it was the best split pea soup they ever tasted. You’re talking about split pea haters turned split pea lovers. My nephew said it was the best soup he’s ever eaten. Super easy to make. Divine in every way! I will definitely be trying more of your fabulous recipes. Thank you so much.
Wonder if I can use my vegan ham broth in place of vegetable broth?
I think so! You might need to make some adjustments to the seasonings though. I haven't had vegan ham broth, but my guess is that you might need to reduce or eliminate the liquid smoke. I'd make the recipe without it, then taste-test and only add some if you think extra smoky flavor is needed.
Did you try it Paula? I got some vegan ham broth in a pack of broths. I was thinking the same thing!!! Im making this soon!!
Such a great alternative to traditional, meaty, split pea soup! I’ve made this several times and vary quantities of things, and it always turns out tasty!
Great! I’m curious about the red wine vinegar? Why is it needed. I’m asking as I’m confused about the acid although I k ow not to put it in during the cooking. Thank you
It's just in there to balance the flavors. You could substitute another type of vinegar or lemon juice if you'd like.
The soup was good, but there was too much cumin in it. I am not sure if I just had really pungent cumin or not. I balanced it out with some garlic powder and nutmeg. I also added smoked paprika, more liquid smoke, black pepper, and red pepper flakes after I made the soup per instructions. This fixed the overwhelming cumin taste, and gave it an extra flavor punch. Thank you for sharing your recipe, it has definitely put split oeas back on the menu since my body no longer tolerates any pork products!
Really great. Thanks for sharing. I didn't have any carrots, so I used sweet potato instead. Also, didn't have liquid smoke, so I used a dried chipotle pepper. Turned out great!
Amazing soup!! I ate 2 bowls of it tonight & loved every minute of it.
I can’t believe I used to like split pea soup from a CAN! Never again. 😁
Hi, delicious. Thanks for sharing. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves to add another layer of flavor.
Seriously, I almost cried eating this. My Italian neighbour's split pea soup was the greatest treat growing up. Being vegetarian, the only thing I crave is ham. Haha, so needless to say, pea soup is not the same without the giant, salted & smoked ham bone. This, was pretty freaking close. Thanks, food friend. It is delicious. I will be making this again.
I made this as is, minus the liquid smoke, since I've never used it & don't know if I like it. It was wonderful without! Will definitely make this soup again and again!
This was very good! One change - I sauteed the garlic with cumin and some mushrooms I was looking to use up and added at the end. Very delicious!
This was delicious! Thank you! I just had a problem with the liquid boiling down too much. I ended up having to add about 2 c of broth so there would be more of a base. It may be me though... it is hard to balance simmering and cooking the peas without evaporrating the liquid.
I would definately make this again! Thank you!
Glad you liked it! And it's not you - that always happens. The instructions suggest keeping a bowl of water by the stove so you can add it as the liquid dries up. Broth works too, but the soup could get too salty if you add a lot.
Love the recipe! I used more garlic! I wish I didn’t add the vinegar and smoke, I preferred the flavor before I did those add ins!
Wow this soup is game changer! A delicious healthy and hearty meal ready in an hour and a half start to finish. The only thing I did different was after the 40 minute mark, when the peas had absorbed most of the broth, I put a lid on and finished cooking that way. I didn’t have to add more water or broth and it didn’t water down the flavour. Delicious!
Made this over holidays and again as popular now with meat eating family. Who knew! So delicious and I love the ease of making it too.
Thank you for great recipe!
That's awesome! I'm so glad it's a hit! Thanks Karen!
Absolutely loved this soup. A sure hit with my family too even those Non Vegan loved it. I omitted the oil to make it WFPBNO. A new family favorite! Thank you!
That's so great to hear! I'm glad it was a hit!
Had a wild Saturday night, so decided to make this. It turned out really delicious, thanks for the recipe Alissa!
Small things I changed were:
- One box of veg broth isn't enough cups so I used a little more water
- Used three stalks of celery, a larger onion, and two large carrots (unpeeled because it doesn't make a difference in soup)
- 5 cloves of garlic
- Doubled the smoke flavor
- Only had some cherry wine, and apple cider vinegar, so I mixed both.
Did I already say it was delicious?! It IS!
Ha! I made this last night too! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks Rodney!
Was great for the weather here. My (still) meat eating brother enjoyed it too!