A Pea Soup that uses canned sweet peas instead of split peas so that it’s ready before you believe possible. And it’s beyond delicious too!
I love split green pea soup. If you haven’t had it before, it’s kind of like lentil soup, but it has a more green pea flavor. It can take a while of simmering on the stove to cook the dried green peas though. So, I wondered if there was an easier way.
Pea Soup With Canned Peas
So, one day a few years ago I realized that I had a surplus of canned green peas in my pantry. I thought about my love of split pea soup and I wondered if I could make something similar from canned peas. I gave it a try and sure enough, a delicious canned pea soup was born! Frozen peas can also work here if that’s what you have.
All you do to make this soup is to simmer canned peas in stock with some ham (either canned ham or any kind of cooked or smoked ham that you use as lunch meat), and some seasonings. Then use an immersion blender to blend it to the thickness that you’d like (or do it in batches in a regular blender). That’s it. Yes, really. Crazy, right? You can sauté some extra veggies at the beginning to add to the soup, but the basics are so easy.
It’s ready unbelievably quickly and is so comforting and delicious. Enjoy!
More Great Soup Recipes
Pantry Green Pea Soup Recipe
A Pea Soup that uses canned sweet peas instead of split peas so that it’s ready before you believe possible. And it’s beyond delicious too!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Optional vegetables*
- 3 (15 oz.) canned green peas, drained (or 32 oz. frozen green peas, defrosted)
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock, plus more to thin out the soup, if desired
- 7 oz. canned ham (or other ham), finely diced
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. dry thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp. coarse black pepper
Instructions
- Put the peas into a large saucepan or Dutch oven along with the stock, ham, garlic powder, salt, thyme, and black pepper.
- Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the pea mixture until it’s smooth (or until it’s the texture you’d like. You can alternately do this in batches in a blender.
- Taste the soup. Add more stock if you’d like it thinner. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*If you have any of the following, saute them in 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in the soup pot, stirring occasionally, until softened, prior to adding the other ingredients: 1 small onion (chopped), 2 carrots (shredded), 2 ribs celery (finely chopped).
This post originally appeared in March 2020 and was revised and republished in March 2024.
Delicious and so easy – I don’t think I’ll ever buy canned pea soup again! I did tweak the recipe a bit as I made a single serving and did the seasoning to taste instead of measuring it out. I also added 2 small drops of liquid smoke, a dash of onion powder and a dash of celery seed.
I’m so happy you loved it, Doreen! And thank you for sharing you additions.
This is a fabulous recipe. My family loved it & didn’t even realize I used canned peas.
I sautéed a little onion & celery as well as added canned carrots. But the peas were the star.
That’s wonderful, Patricia! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know your adjustments.
Quite enjoyed this. Needed to use up an excess of canned peas. Added the optional carrot and celery. Also used smoked salt/pepper. A winner!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, D! If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!
Thank you for this! Wanted a pea soup that didn’t take all day. This turned out even better than I expected.
Glad to hear it, Natalie! Thank you for our comment.