Soup for the Soul - Jenn’s Dad’s Famous Ham & Pea Soup

Written by Özlem M. Manness



Is there anything quite like a bowl of soup as the leaves change and autumn sets in? Or on a cold, wintery day, when the snow is falling and the wind is howling? It just warms the heart and the soul, you know?

I’ve heard about Jenn‘s dad’s ham & pea soup many times before, but only tried it for the first time a few months ago; and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I was visiting Jenn at her cottage just after her engagement to Justin (something we will be talking about oh so soon!) when Jenn told me excitedly, “my dad made his famous ham & pea soup!” It was here, surrounded by smiling faces and loving hearts, that I shared a meal with my sweet Jenn, her fiancé, and her beautiful family, and tried this soup for the first time; it was heavenly. I just had to have more, and the recipe too!

This past week, I made this amazing soup, and it was as tasty as I remembered. I shared some step by step photos to my Instagram account and received so many messages about sharing the recipe. When I asked Jenn if she would share her dad’s recipe, we got to talking as we often do. She told me about how her father has always been the cook in their family, and that his passion for making meals in their kitchen has never changed throughout her entire life. She told me about how her dad always made split pea soup the day after one of his delicious ham dinners when she was growing up (her favourite and now Justin’s too), and how warm & comforting these memories are to her; “the perfect representation of home to [her], and a recipe that will always be in [her] family cook book.” Now it’s something you can try for yourselves as well.

• 2 cups yellow split peas

• 1 meaty ham bone

• 3 carrots diced

• 1 onion diced

• 2 stalks of celery diced

• 2 gloves of garlic minced

• 1/2 tsp thyme, rosemary, pepper

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 litre of chicken broth & water as needed

• Slow cook your ham on low for 8 hours the day before you make your soup. Cook it in 2 cups of brown sugar, one cup coating the bottom of the pot, the other cup covering the top of the ham. Add in some water.

• Once the ham is cooked, slice off the meat, but keep the bone in some fatty meat in order to use the meaty bone for the soup. When you are ready to make your soup, place the meaty ham bone into your slow cooker or pot

• Rinse your split peas well and add them into your slow cooker or pot (keeping the lid on and covering the peas in broth)

• Add in your diced vegetables, seasoning, & herbs

• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours

• Once the soup has cooked, remove the ham bone, strip the meat from it, and then chop up the ham; return the ham to the slow cooker soup mixture

• Remove the bay leaf

• Serve & enjoy!

This soup will thicken a bit as it begins to cool, but you can always add in more broth if preferred

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do! Bon appetite! 🥄