You can even replace it for your slow cooker (it has a slow cooker setting as well).
You can use a smoked turkey leg if you want a pork-free version.Īnd you can even make this soup vegetarian or vegan by omitting the ham and making a few other changes (see notes in recipe below). You don’t have to be like me and buy a whole ham just for the bone! If you don’t have a ham bone – since it’s not very often in life that we come across them, is it? – you can definitely just use thick-cut diced ham, or a ham hock. There is a ton of flavor in the bone itself, as well as marrow and gelatin, which infuses into the soup as it cooks (which both thickens it and gives it many of the same health benefits as bone broth). And there’s also still likely a lot of meat left on the bone, which will easily come off after letting it simmer in the soup for so long.Ĭonfession: I actually bought a whole ham JUST so I would have the bone to make this soup. I don’t care, I am who I am :-)Īdding a ham bone to split pea soup elevates it to a whole new level.
I fully plan on being “that person” who asks to take the turkey carcass home after Thanksgiving at my in-laws so I can make homemade turkey stock. If you’re planning on having ham this holiday season, do NOT throw out the bone! And don’t let the person hosting throw it out either.
How to make split pea soup with a ham bone
