Split Pea & Ham Soup

Tasty and Easy to Make Source of High-Glycemic Carbs With Plenty of Protein!

It's been a while, so I cooked up a big batch of this stuff this afternoon.

When I was on soft foods I used to eat this all the time. It was easy to make, exceptionally cheap to make (remember, I'm frugal!) and it hit the spot every time. One batch of this makes probably a dozen post-op servings, so it goes a long a way and stores well. You can even freeze it!

You can vary the recipe any way you want, but it's all pretty simple. To make my basic recipe you will need the following:

1-2 tablespoons of butter

1 medium or large onion

1 carrot

1-2 cups of chopped ham

2 tablespoons of minced garlic (For convenience, I buy mine in the jar and keep it in the fridge, ready when I need it)

1 cube of vegetable or chicken bouillon or 1.5 tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base (a concentrated stock paste that stores in the fridge and tastes better then powdered bouillon)

1 package of split peas


To Make:

Melt the butter in the bottom of a large pot. I like butter, but if you prefer, you can use any oil, margarine or cooking spray. Just use enough to coat the bottom of the pot well)

Chop the onion to desired consistency and add to the pot and let it start cooking.

In the meantime, peel and chop the carrot into small pieces then add to the onions.

Add the chopped ham and minced garlic. I like to buy pre-chopped ham pieces for convenience. Traditionally, this is made with a ham hock, but I think chopped ham is easier to deal with, and probably healthier. What exactly is a ham hock anyway?

In the meantime put all the peas in a colander and rinse thoroughly to remove any foreign matter such as sand or small pebbles.

Once the onions, carrots, ham, and garlic have started to brown and soften a bit, add the peas and enough water or stock to cover them. How much liquid you add is up to you, but I like to use as little as possible so that the soup turns out really thick. In my opinion the soup is better that way because the less liquidy it is the less of a "slider" food it is. Thin soups slide right through my stoma, so the denser the food, the less it takes for me to fill my pouch and feel satiated. My goal is to achieve the consistency of refried beans. If you have a particularly tight stoma, you may want to make it a little more liquidy by simply using more water or stock.

Stir in the bouillon cube or paste and bring to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and cover.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, until all the peas turn into a "mush" - usually about 60-90 minutes.

Mash the whole thing up a bit and season to taste with salt and pepper.


I've also made this soup once with barley added and it tasted great!
One of my favorite ways to serve this is super thick just spread out on a plate and sprinkled with reduced-fat grated Parmesan cheese, yum!