Momster

I don’t have to say again how much I just love love love soup in the slow cooker. I’ve made a bunch of them already and, as the end of the winter nears, I thought I needed to tackle at least one more. This time I was inspired by the green split peas that I saw in the grocery store. Although I had never made a split pea soup before, I knew I could do it. As always, though, I wanted to make it healthier so I opted for a vegetarian version instead of the typical ham or bacon varieties. But I threw in a bunch of extra veggies (like potatoes!) to fill out the soup. Your family won’t be able to tell the difference, trust me.

Doesn’t that look delicious? Adding in some hearty veggies added a lot to the soup and I honestly didn’t even miss the traditional ham flavoring. The chunky potatoes and variety of produce (with plenty of spices!) made this soup truly stand out. And it was all so easy…

First, I put in the split peas, bags of frozen veggies and water into the slow cooker.

I made sure to mix them up but, since the split peas were the heaviest, they pretty much sunk to the bottom.

Next I added the cut up chunks of potato, which gave the soup a really great hearty component.

Finally, I sprinkled it all with a bunch of spices, mixed it up one last time and set it to slow cook.

When it was done, all of the veggies had floated to the top. No matter, though, after just one good mix with my ladle, the soup was back to normal and ready to be devoured. And devour it I did!

Slow Cooker Vegetable  Split Pea Soup (adapted from About.com’s Crock Pot Vegetarian Split Pea Soup)

Makes: 6 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Slow Cook: 10 hours on Low, or until peas are soft

Ingredients:
2 cups green split peas
1 large potato, diced into 1-inch pieces
1 cup frozen onion and pepper mix
1 (10 oz) frozen mixed vegetables
1 (10 oz) frozen broccoli spears
8 cups water
2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon dried bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
In a large crockpot, put in all of your ingredients and mix them together. Set the slow cooker for 10 hours on low, or until potatoes and split peas are cooked through (and soft). Then just divide up the soup and serve!

Do you like making split pea soup? Have you ever made it in the slow cooker, vegetarian or not? Share your experience in the comments below!

Irina Gonzalez blogs about healthy slow cooking, nutrition, and weight loss maintenance on her blog The Fit Flexitarian, and here on Momster.com.

Related Articles

Slow Cooker Chunky Pink Lentil & Bean Soup

Slow Cooker Creamy Broccoli & Cauliflower Soup

Slow Cooker Curried Eggplant Soup