Vegan Split Pea Soup with Turmeric
This super-easy, super-satisfying split pea soup recipe with turmeric is hearty, comforting, and unimpeachably wholesome. Includes stovetop and Instant Pot instructions.
Calories: 329kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 grams) yellow split peas (about 2 ½ 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
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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