Healthy, hearty, and packed with smoky flavor...this vegetarian split pea soup is pure comfort in a bowl!
Do you have a go-to dish that you like to make when you have no idea what to make for dinner? I do! It's vegetarian split pea soup. I make this stuff all year round (even during the hottest days of summer) and I love it.
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 version of what I consider classic split pea soup — the smoky stuff that's normally made with ham. It's full of smoky flavor and super satisfying, so it's perfect for a meal!
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Ingredients You'll Need
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!
- 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: This vegetarian split pea soup recipe is really easy to customize and make your own! Switch up the spices or add some veggies. I've made this soup with the addition of hot sauce, greens and even a potato, and all variations were delicious..
How It's Made
The following 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!
First you'll need to sweat your veggies. Heat some oil in a large pot and add your onion, carrots and celery. You'll need to cook them for a few minutes before adding everything else, to start softening them up.
Once the veggies are soft, add some garlic and your cumin. Toasting the cumin first brings out the flavor.
The garlic should become really fragrant after about a minute. Now it's time to add the broth and peas.
Give everything a good stir, crank up the heat and bring the broth to a 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!
You may find that the broth dries up while your soup cooks. Keep a cup of hot water near the stove and add some whenever this happens.
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!
Simply cook your carrots, celery and onion using the "sauté" function. Add your garlic and spices during the last minute, just like you'd do on the stove.
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. When the time is up you can move the valve to "venting" and let the pressure release before opening the lid.
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.
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.
I'm sure it can, but I haven't tried, so I can't give exact instructions.
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!
Smoky Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
Healthy, hearty, and packed with smoky flavor...this vegetarian split pea soup is pure comfort in a bowl!
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
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound dried split peas
- Hot water, as needed (I used about 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke, or to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Stovetop Method
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Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and place it over medium heat.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrot and celery.
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Sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes, until they soften up a bit.
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Add the garlic and cumin, and cook them with the vegetables until the garlic becomes very fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Stir in the broth and peas. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
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Lower the heat and allow the soup to simmer until the peas are very soft and falling apart, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Keep a bowl of hot water near the stove and add it as the broth dries up.
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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.
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Ladle into bowls and serve.
Instant Pot Method
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Press the "sauté" button on your Instant Pot then add the oil.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrot and celery.
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Sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, until they begin to soften up.
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Add the garlic and cumin, and cook them with the vegetables until the garlic becomes very fragrant, about 1 minute. Hit the "cancel" button.
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Stir in the broth and peas.
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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.
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When the soup has finished cooking, carefully move the valve to the "venting" position. Let the pressure release completely.
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Remove the lid from the Instant Pot. Stir in the vinegar and liquid smoke. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
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Ladle into bowls and serve.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
Hi, delicious. Thanks for sharing. I did add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves to add another layer of flavor.
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. 😁
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!!