15-30 min6-8 servingsAmerican

Traveler’s Special Split Pea Soup

By Pamela Ellgen

6-8 servings

15-30 min

Easy

Recipe Details

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Total Time: 15-30 min

Cooking Technique: Pressure Cook

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

1/3 cup dried onion
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1/4 cup dried celery
2 leaves dried bay
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon smoked sea salt
3 cups dried green split peas
6 cups vegetable broth

About half an hour up the coast from where I live in Santa Barbara, California, lies Anderson’s Restaurant, which prides itself on its pea soup, serving more than 2 million bowls a year. There’s something so cozy about driving up the Central Coast and stopping in for a steaming bowl. I also really appreciate that they offer a completely vegetarian soup—a rare find. When I’m staying closer to home, I try to recreate their soup, and it comes pretty close! Jar size: 4 cups

INSTRUCTIONS

Layer the dry ingredients in the jar in the order listed.
Place all of the jarred ingredients into the Instant Pot. Add 6 cups of vegetable broth or water. Stir to mix. Cover with the lid and ensure the vent is in the “Sealed” position. Pressure Cook or Manual on High for 20 minutes. Allow the steam pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then release any remaining pressure manually.

Notes

Ingredient Tip: Regular sea salt is acceptable in place of the smoked sea salt, but if you have it, it lends a nice smoky component to this naturally vegan recipe. If you wish, you can add a ham bone or a few pieces of bacon to the Instant Pot and sauté for 5 minutes before commencing the recipe.

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About the chef

Pamela Ellgen

Food writer and cookbook author Pamela Ellgen has written twenty-eight cookbooks, including her latest, The I Love Trader Joe’s Snack Boards Cookbook, to be published by Ulysses Press in December 2023. Other books include The Gluten Free Cookbook for Families: Healthy Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less and bestselling The 5-Ingredient College Cookbook: Easy, Healthy Recipes for the Next Four Years & Beyond. She has also done collaborations with Instant Pot, Beyond Celiac, and Settlers of Catan. Her work has been featured in USA Today, HuffPost, TODAY, Healthline, Outside Magazine, Scary Mommy, and The Pioneer Woman. She has worked as a private chef and taught farm-to-table cooking classes in public schools. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Pamela now lives in sunny Oceanside, California with her fiance and their three boys. She loves surfing, pasta, and wine.

View All Pamela's Recipes