Split Pea Soup with Bacon
This Split Pea Soup with Bacon has a thick and creamy, split pea base, loaded with veggies, seasonings and tons of crunchy, salty bacon.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 1 small onion diced (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 stalk of celery diced
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound dried green split peas rinsed and picked over
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8-12 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth or water
Instructions
- Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook in the pot until crisp. Reserve half of the bacon for serving later with the soup and drain all but about 2-3 tablespoons of the grease.
- Add onions, carrots and celery to the pot and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft and onions translucent. Stir in garlic, bay leaves, thyme and split peas and stir for 1 minute. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then pour in 8 cups of vegetable broth.
- Increase heat and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, skimming any foam that rises to the top, until no more foam appears. Simmer uncovered for 1-1 ½ hours, or until peas are soft. Add more broth as needed while the soup simmers.
- Turn off heat. Stir soup to mix well from the bottom up.
- *OPTIONAL STEP: Using an immersion blender directly in the pot, puree the soup until slightly chunky (almost smooth but with some texture). Alternatively, puree in batches in a food processor or blender. Reheat soup in the pot and continue with the next step.
- Ladle into bowls and serve warm, garnished with reserved crumbled bacon and/or homemade croutons.
Notes
The bacon can be optional and the soup will be delicious either with or without it.
Nutrition
Calories: 602kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 1774mg | Potassium: 951mg | Fiber: 20g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2506IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 4mg
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