Parsnip & Split Pea Soup
Full of protein and fiber, this thick and hearty Parsnip & Split Pea Soup is easy to make in your slow cooker, Instant Pot, or on the stovetop! Healthy and full of flavor, you can’t go wrong with a big hearty bowl of vegan split pea soup!
Split pea soup is always a welcome soup in my home!
Growing up, I ate soup often, usually from a can, but gladly, today, I enjoy preparing my meals from scratch. Making your own soups is so much more rewarding and flavorful. These days, I definitely like to control what goes into my food.
This hearty soup recipe is easy to put together, delicious, and hearty enough to fill you up. It’s adapted from Robin Robertson’s book, ‘Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.’
Why We Love This Recipe!
- Multiple cooking methods. This recipe has been adapted with instructions for making it in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, or stovetop.
- It’s healthy and hearty. I’ve added carrots for an extra veggie to bulk up the fiber and nutrients. Plus, you can make it oil-free!
- Adjust the herbs to suit your taste. If you don’t have a specific herb on hand, you can easily switch it up with a variety of flavorful herbs.
With soup season underway, this recipe can be adapted to what you have on hand!
Ingredient Notes
In this recipe, carrots, parsnips, onion, and garlic are sauteed and then simmered with green split peas and flavorful herbs for a thick and hearty vegan soup perfect for a healthy lunch, dinner, or meal prep idea.
Here is everything you will need:
- Onion and garlic – The staple aromatics that infuse flavor.
- Carrots – I love the addition because you can never have too many veggies!
- Parsnips – This root vegetable is related to carrots so you can sub with more carrots.
- Green split peas – Buy them packaged in most grocery stores or in bulk from select stores.
- Thyme – For variation, try using a blend such as poultry seasoning or herbs de Provence. Also, parsley, rosemary, or savory would be great!
- Bay leaves – Can be optional.
- Low-sodium vegetable broth: I use 1 teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon Veg Paste (affiliate link) with water, which allows me to control the sodium. You can use your favorite broth, water, or a combination of the two.
- Salt + pepper – As always, use to taste.
How To Make Parsnip Split Pea Soup
(Note – The full printable recipe and instructions for Instant Pot, stovetop, and slow cooker methods are at the bottom of this post)
- Start by quickly sauting the onion, carrots, parsnips, and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Next, add the split peas, thyme, and other herbs of choice, bay leaves and pour the liquids overtop.
- Depending on the cooking method, cook as directed in the recipe card below.
- Once done, let cool for a few minutes and remove the bay leaves.
- The soup is now ready – enjoy as is, in its chunky state, or skip to the next step and puree.
- Using an immersion blender (affiliate link), puree the soup until desired consistency. Alternatively, transfer the soup to a food processor or blender to puree (may take 2 – 3 batches to complete).
No matter how you make it, this is one DELICIOUS split pea soup!
How To Store
- Refrigerator: Store leftovers for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: This vegan split pea soup is freezer-friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let cool completely and store in freezer-safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2-inch head space for expansion. You can also freeze larger portions in large ziplock bags (remove as much air as possible before ziplocking). Let thaw before reheating.
- Reheat: Simply re-warm on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through. Alternatively, reheat in the microwave using 30 – 60 second intervals, stirring after each, until warm.
Serving Suggestions
This soup is super hearty on its own, but it never hurts to add a topping or something extra on the side. Here are a few of my favorite options:
- Bread: Serve with a chunk of homemade Artisan Bread, soft and chewy Vegan Naan, or gluten-free Socca.
- Toppings: Split pea soup is great topped with Crispy Roasted Chickpeas, Coconut Bacon, seasoned croutons, or diced fresh carrots for a little crunchy texture.
- Salad: Serve with a side House Salad, Green Salad w/ Chickpeas, Vegan Caesar Salad or Radish & Cucumber Salad.
- Veggies + dip: Serve with fresh veggie sticks and Classic Hummus, White Bean Hummus, or Vegan Ranch for dipping.
More Hearty Soup Recipes!
- A Very Good Vegan Split Pea Soup
- Creamy Broccoli + Red Lentil Soup
- Butternut Squash + Red Lentil Soup
- Roasted Fennel & Potato Soup
- Creamy Asparagus + Red Lentil Soup
If you try this easy soup recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintPARSNIP & SPLIT PEA SOUP
Full of protein and fiber, this thick and hearty Parsnip & Split Pea Soup is easy to make in your slow cooker, Instant Pot, or on the stovetop!
- Cook Time: 1 – 8 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: Serves 4 – 6 1x
- Category: Soup, Entree
- Method: stovetop, slow cooker, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water (for water saute)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 – 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 large parsnips, peeled, quartered and chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled, quartered and chopped
- 1 pound dried green split peas (about 2 1/4 cup), picked over and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or herb de provence, optional
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, + more as needed
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional (I didn’t use any)
- salt + pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, optional
Instructions
This soup can be prepared 3 different ways:
Instant Pot:
- Set Instant Pot to SAUTE and add the 1 tablespoon olive oil or 1/4 cup water, onion, carrot, parsnip, and garlic, saute for 4 – 5 minutes (feel free to skip this step entirely adding everything to the pot and cooking).
- Add split peas, herbs, bay leaves, and at least 5 cups of broth, and stir to combine.
- Lock lid, set the valve to SEALING, and manually set to HIGH pressure for 15 minutes. Let natural release for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves, stir in parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Using an immersion blender, puree soup until desired consistency. Alternatively, use a blender or food processor (may take 2 – 3 batches).
Slow Cooker method:
- Place ingredients into the bottom of your crock pot, starting with the split peas and finishing with the broth. Heat on low for 7 – 8 hours or high for 4 – 5 hours. Add parsley 30 minutes before done. Let soup cool slightly and remove bay leaves.
- Using an immersion blender, puree soup until desired consistency. You can also puree using a food/processor or blender, may take two batches. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Stovetop method:
- In large pot or stock pot, heat oil or water and saute onion, garlic, carrots and parsnips until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the split peas, herbs, bay leaves and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the parsley 30 minutes before soup is done.
- Let soup cool slightly and remove bay leaves.
- Using an immersion blender, puree soup until desired consistency. Alternatively, use a food processor or blender, may take two batches. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Serve with whole grain or artisan bread. I just paired mine with some good seeded bread I had on hand and added some diced raw carrots on top which gave a nice freshness and crunch to the soup. Crumbled Coconut Bacon is also a nice topping!
Serves 4 – 6
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for 5 – 6 days. For longer storage, keep in the freezer for 2 – 3 months.
Notes
Soup will thicken upon standing, add more water as needed.
If you don’t have parsnips on hand, use extra carrots or omit them altogether.
For variation, try using a blend such as poultry seasoning or herbs de Provence. Also, parsley, rosemary, or savory would be great!
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This was SOUPER delicious :-)! Thanks. I don’t eat parsnips very often but when I do I ask myself, “Why not?” They’re so good in this!
Just getting to try this today. Never cooked with parsnips before and never made split pea soup which is one of my favorite soups. This looks yummy!
I am on my 5th time making this soup……it is THAT good….freezes perfectly !!
Thanks for a great recipe…:)
Wonderful to hear! Thanks for the feedback. Cheers :)
Made this today, eating as I type. So thick, hearty and delicious. Perfect for my vegan daughter. i added celery and swapped out parsnips for turnips.Consistency was just right, didn't need to blend. A definite keeper for the Australian winter. Will make this again and again, thanks!
do you think this would work well with baby turnips vs. parsnips? I have a ton of them and would love to find a great way to use them. Thanks
Yes, baby turnips should do just fine! Sounds great too! Enjoy :)
excellent split pea soup. Made twice, once with green and once with yellow split peas…delicious,!
not printer friendly. please allow for "print recipe only" on this website
nothing like bubbly hot soup on a frigid day, even in South FLORIDA!
APWF, Broward Cp, FL
So glad you love the recipe! It's been on my meal rotation quite a bit this winter. Will have to try this with yellow split peas or chana dal. I have a 'Print Friendly' button just above the comments, it allows you to remove photos and any text you don't need saving just the recipe if you like. I've got you covered! :)
thanks for this easy recipe, can't wait to try it with coconut bacon:)
Thank you for the crock pot AND stove top recipe.
I cut the recipe in half, and then made the mistake of adding the entire 6 cups of fluid! Uh oh… I frequently get going on a project, and then get absent-minded.
I ran the stove top version, and simply turned up the heat, stirring every :20 mins to check & make sure all was well.
After an hour, we had a hearty and robust split pea soup (much thicker than I though having used so much fluid), served with homemade, whole wheat bread. Filling and tasty!
We are relatively 'new' to vegetarian / vegan cooking, and rely heavily on blogs for inspiration and ideas.
Thank you so much for the recipe – we will definitely be back for more.
beautiful!
Delicious recipe. Thank you!
We made this for dinner tonight and it was so good. The only thing I did different was a small thing in that I made it in a pressure cooker so it only took 30 minutes after the onions were clear.
We will be making this again, but my personal preference is for more carrots and parsnips…but that is just me and it was great as written. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you liked this. I need to buy a pressure cooker! I happen to agree with you the more veggies the better. I especially loved adding raw diced carrots to the top of this. Thanks for sharing. Cheers :)