Now that Winter has returned to the Northeast, I have decided to try making a bunch of new soups with the Instant Pot. I had a bag of split peas left from the last time I made soup with a Dutch Oven and this was so much easier! I will be featuring a new soup every few weeks!
This recipe comes courtesy of the Salt & Lavender website (Saltandlavender.com). It is super simple but very delicious. It comes out pretty chunky, so if you are someone that likes soups more creamy, you may want to take an immersion blender to it after the Instant Pot. I am thinking I will do that next time (with some half and half or cream) but I really enjoyed it this way this time, so I decided to leave it as is.
I made this recipe vegetarian since I am not a big fan of ham, but the original recipe has options to add the meat. I won’t comment on that since I didn’t try making it with ham. You can make it fully vegetarian if you use vegetable stock. I used both vegetable and chicken stock.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 medium onion chopped (I used yellow onion)
- 2 medium carrots and 2 sticks of celery, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
- 1 pound green split peas
- Seasonings: 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions:
- Add oil, butter, onion, carrots, and celery to the Instant Pot and sauté for 5 minutes (stir occasionally)
- Add garlic, broth, split peas, paprika, and cumin (I used 1/2 a teaspoon since I love the flavor), stir
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set the timer to cook for 15 minutes on high pressure (remember it also takes time to build up the pressure, so this will be closer to 30 minutes total).
- Let the pressure self-release for 15 minutes and then release the rest by pushing on the valve or letting it release on its own.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste afterwards.
The smoked paprika is brilliant! It really gives it a very distinct flavor. I really hated making this soup when I used a Dutch oven. The flavor didn’t seem right and I had to keep stirring and checking. The Instant Pot makes it so easy. You can definitely see the chunks of carrots and celery at the end and initially I was going to blend it but I decided to leave it. Next time, I will see if it is better smooth but this will add another appliance and some extra time.
I have been eating it over a few days and it does thicken after being in the fridge. You can add a little broth or just heat it up as is. I tried it both ways and enjoyed each one. Recipe says it can be frozen as well but I haven’t tried this, so not sure how good it is when it is defrosted. It has kept up well in my fridge for about a week. I highly recommend trying it!
Let me know what your favorite soups are or if there is any particular recipe you would like me to make.