Vegan Split Pea Soup

This super-easy, super-satisfying vegan split pea soup recipe with turmeric is hearty, comforting, and unimpeachably wholesome. Includes stovetop and Instant Pot instructions.

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Why we love this recipe

Split peas are so dreamy. They’ve got a pristine nutritional profile yet manage to feel incredibly cozy, too. They’re easy to work with and easy to love. This soup is:

• Simple yet flavorful
• A nice texture that you can customize to your preference
• Make-ahead and freezer-friendly (makes a pretty big batch)
• Naturally gluten-free
• Whole-food plant-based no-oil, if you’re into that sort of thing

What you’ll need

Here’s a glance at the ingredient you’ll need to make this recipe.

• Split peas are field peas, a variety of yellow or green peas that are grown specifically for drying. By the time you buy them, they’ve been hulled and split in half. You can use either yellow or green split peas in this recipe, though I usually choose yellow. The green ones are a bit sweeter, less starchy, and more pea-flavored than the yellows.
• If you’re using veggie broth, choose one with a clean flavor profile. Reduced-sodium Imagine No Chicken Broth is my favorite boxed veggie broth by far, since it somehow magically has the flavor profile of a good chicken stock rather than being weirdly red and tasting tinny or sweet, as some other vegetable broths can do. If you’d rather not use broth or don’t have any on hand, you can use water without making any additional changes to the recipe.

How to make it

Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a perfect pot of vegan split pea soup, whether you’re cooking on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.

1. First you’ll rinse the split peas well, until the water runs clear. Place them into a large pot or a 6- or 8-quart Instant Pot along with the vegetables and seasonings.
2. Pour in the broth or water. In the IP, use 8 cups broth. It’s a sealed environment, so there won’t be much evaporation. On the stovetop, start with 8 cups and add more toward the end of cooking if you’d like a thinner result.
3. On the stovetop, bring to a boil, then cover and cook until very tender, about 90 minutes. In the Instant Pot, seal the vent and cook on manual, high pressure, for 15 minutes.
4. In the IP, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes before performing a manual release. Give it a stir and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Soup will thicken up as it cools.

Expert tips and FAQs

More favorite vegan soup recipes with legumes

• Spiced tomato soup with red lentils
• Vegan black bean soup
• Layla’s red lentil soup
• Vegan minestrone

4.53 from 269 votes

Vegan Split Pea Soup with Turmeric

By Carolyn Gratzer Cope

This super-easy, super-satisfying split pea soup recipe with turmeric is hearty, comforting, and unimpeachably wholesome. Includes stovetop and Instant Pot instructions.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 6

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound (454 grams) yellow split peas (about 2 1/2 cups)
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• ▢ 3 ribs celery, diced small
• ▢ 3 medium carrots, diced small
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 8-10 cups 1890 to 2(365 ml) lower-salt vegetable stock or water (see note below)
• ▢ Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish, optional

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Instructions 

Stovetop instructions

• Rinse the split peas until the water runs clear.
• Place all ingredients into a large pot.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Cover and simmer for about an hour and a half, until split peas are very tender.
• L?et cool slightly before serving. Soup will thicken up as it sits.

Instant Pot Instructions

• Rinse the split peas until the water runs clear.
• Place all ingredients into a 6- or 8-quart Instant Pot, using 8 cups broth.
• Set vent to sealing position and cook on manual, high pressure, for 15 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes before doing a manual release.
• Give it a stir and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Soup will thicken up substantially as it sits.

Notes

1. Split peas are field peas, a variety of yellow or green peas that are grown specifically for drying. By the time you buy them, they've been hulled and split in half. You can use either yellow or green split peas in this recipe, though I usually choose yellow. The green ones are a bit sweeter, less starchy, and more pea-flavored than the yellows.
2. If you're using veggie broth, choose one with a clean flavor profile. Reduced-sodium Imagine No Chicken Broth is my favorite boxed veggie broth by far, since it somehow magically has the flavor profile of a good chicken stock rather than being weirdly red and tasting tinny or sweet, as some other vegetable broths can do. If you'd rather not use broth or don't have any on hand, you can use water without making any additional changes to the recipe.
3. Like all seeds, nuts, and legumes, split peas contain phytic acid, which can bind with some nutrients and make them less bioavailable. Soaking split peas in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking helps remove it. But you absolutely don't have to, and I typically don't. From a culinary perspective, the split peas will do just fine in your soup as-is.
4. This recipe makes a nice big batch and, as with many soups, only improves as it has a chance to relax a bit. Once completely cooled, it keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a year. If it becomes too thick for your preference, you can thin it out with a bit of additional broth or water when reheating.

Nutrition

Calories: 329kcal, Carbohydrates: 61.9g, Protein: 20.2g, Fat: 1.1g, Fiber: 22.4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Soups

Cuisine: American

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