A delicious and easy soup, this split pea soup with sausage makes a wonderful hearty meal on cold winter evenings.
About This Recipe
- It’s easy to make.
- It’s budget friendly using dried split peas and fresh vegetables.
- This split pea soup is low in fat, high in fibre and is healthy.
This split pea soup with sausage recipe is a variation on the traditional split pea soup with ham hock. As much as I like pea and ham soup, it’s a very fatty soup and can take 5-6 hours or more to make.
Also ham hocks can be quite expensive and hard to find at certain times of the year.
This split pea soup with sausage can be made in less than tow hours and uses cooked sausages to reduce the fat in the soup.
Ingredient Notes
Sausage
Using fresh sausages instead of ham hock is not only cheaper, but you can change the flavour of the soup with the type of sausage you use.
I have used a fresh chorizo sausage in this recipe, if you don’t like chorizo use a different flavoured sausage.
Left over cooked sausages can also be used in the recipe, just cut them up into bite sized pieces and add them toward the end of cooking.
If you don’t like sausage replace it with diced cooked ham.
Split Peas
Yellow or green split peas can be used. Before adding the split peas to the soup, pick through them and remove any small stones that may be present. And give them a rinse under cold water before using.
There is no need to soak the peas however, if you wish they can be soaked overnight in cold water and drain before using. The soaking will help to decrease the cooking time slightly.
Vegetables
Onion, carrot, celery and leek all add to the flavour of the soup and also add bulk, making the soup more filling.
Garlic
Not everyone likes garlic so leave it out if you don’t like it.
Chicken Stock
If you have homemade chicken stock use that, if not, a good quality store bought stock could be used.
Or, make some with water and stock cubes or stock powder, which I usually do when I run out of homemade stock.
Dried Bay Leaves
Bay leaves add a unique flavour to the soup, just use one leaf as it has a strong flavour.
Step By Step Instructions
To make the soup:
Cooking the sausage
You have to options on how the sausage is cooked sausage and used in this soup.
First, remove the skin from the sausage and break the meat into small pieces. When you cook the meat break it into tiny pieces. Choose one of the following ways to use the sausage in the soup.
The healthy way. If you like a lean almost fat free soup, fry the sausage in a fry pan until they are evenly cooked, remove from the pan, place on absorbent paper and discard the fat. The cooked drained sausage can then be added to the soup. You do loose some flavour with the fat, but the soup is leaner and healthier.
The not so healthy way. If you don’t mind having a slightly fatty soup, fry the sausage in the same saucepan you are cooking the soup in, leave the fat in the pan and remove the sausage before you fry the vegetables and make the soup.
Prepare and cook the vegetables
Roughly dice the vegetables and grate or roughly chop the garlic. In a medium size saucepan, fry the vegetables and garlic in a little oil or the sausage fat if you choose. Cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes.
Stir the vegetables from time to time to prevent burning. Add a splash of water if the mixture is looking dry and starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add the stock and split peas
The soup can be made by adding half the split peas with the stock and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Then add the remaining split peas and simmer covered for another 45 minutes or, until the peas are tender and begin to get mushy when pressed. Giving you a soup that is textured with tender whole pieces of yellow split peas.
If you don’t want pieces of yellow split peas, add all of the dried yellow split peas at the start when you add the stock and simmer covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until they completely break up.
Don’t forget to add the bay leaf when you add the stock and stir the soup from time to time.
Add sausage
Add the cooked sausage about 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Season the soup
When the soup has finished cooking, season with salt and pepper and enjoy.
Tips And Frequently Asked Questions
My Split Pea Soup Is Too Thick
It’s normal for split pea soup to be thick, it usually gets thicker the next day when it has cooled. The soup can easily be thinned down by adding some stock or water as you heat it up. After adding stock or water taste the soup for salt and add more if necessary.
Can you freeze split pea soup with sausage?
Yes, it can be frozen.
Recipe
Split Pea Soup With Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 100 grams onion (1 large), roughly chopped
- 100 grams leek (1 small), roughly chopped
- 140 grams carrot (1 medium), roughly chopped
- 80 grams celery (2-3 sticks), roughly chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced optional
- 200 grams green split peas split into two 100 gram lots
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 250 grams chorizo sausages
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, leek, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan and cook over a low/medium heat for about 8 – 10 minutes or until soft. Occasional stir the vegetables, if the mixture looks a little dry add a splash of water and continue cooking.
- Add the stock, half of the split peas and bay leaf, turn the heat to high and bring to the boil.
- Cover the pot, turn the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until the peas are tender and almost falling apart. Stir occasionally.
- Add the remaining split peas and cook covered for another 40 minutes. Occasionally stir the soup.While the soup is simmering: Remove the skins from the sausages and discard the skins. Break the meat into pieces, place in a fry pan and cook the sausage meat. As you fry the meat break it into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove the sausage from the pan, drain on a paper towel and put aside for later.
- In the last 10 minutes of the cooking time add most of the cooked sausage to the soup, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Discard the bay leaf, season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot, garnished with the remaining cooked sausage.
Notes
Nutrition
More Delicious Easy Soup Recipes To Try
- Slow cooker chicken rice soup – super quick with 15 minutes prep, your slow cooker takes care of the rest.
- Hamburger soup with macaroni – an easy filling soup that’s cooked on the stove top.
- Mie Bakso (Indonesian meatball soup) – A light and healthy soup that can be served with or without noodles.
- See more soup recipes
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