Diet: Yellow Split Pea and Bacon Soup

This recipe for Yellow Split Pea and Bacon Soup is full of flavor and an easy alternative to traditional split pea and ham soup.

Is there anything more comforting than a bowl of thick hearty soup?  There’s something so wonderful about it that takes you right back to childhood.

My grandmother always made spit pea soup using leftover ham bones (you can see my recipe for split peas and ham soup if that’s what you’re looking for) after a big family gathering.

I absolutely LOVED her soup, but let’s face it, sometimes we don’t have ham bones to work with.

I created this recipe which is a lot easier to prepare, but doesn’t scrimp on flavor.

Why This Recipe Works:

• The bacon adds a meaty flavor without the need for bones.
• The smokes paprika gives it a rich smokey flavor.
• This soup is just as tasty as traditional split pea soup with a lot less hassle.

• Yellow Spit Peas Vs Green

  There aren’t any major differences between yellow and green split peas.  They have similar flavors, nutritional content and cooking times. Yellow split peas sometimes have a milder flavor than the sweeter green peas.
  This soup is total hearty comfort food. It’s packed with flavor and fills you up so this soup is an all around win!
  It’s so good that if you do make the classic split pea soup, you might just find yourself converting to this easier recipe!

• Cook’s Tips:

  • Leave a little fat on your bacon.  It adds loads of flavor!
  • On dry frying bacon – some lean bacon doesn’t brown well when dry frying.  If it needs some help, just add a little oil. 
  • Have some extra stock on hand.  Split pea soup thickens a lot and may need some thinning out.
  • For extra pork flavor, make some stock using ham hocks and replace the chicken stock with ham stock.
  • For extra smokey flavor, use smoked bacon.
  • Can’t find Yellow Split Peas? Green work just as well.
  • Careful salting – Some bacon can be quite salty so you may want to wait to season the soup and taste at the end.

  Top Tip:

  • Over seasoned your soup? All is not lost.  Acid neutralizes salt.  Add a teaspoon of white vinegar at a time and taste in between.  You won’t taste the vinegar, but you’ll save the soup!