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My Yellow Split Pea Soup is flavored with Italian sausage and green pepper, and this favorite soup is surprisingly low in net carbs! And when I updated the photos, my taste testers went crazy over this soup!

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Yellow Split Pea Soup in white serving bowls with spoons

I’ve always been a fan of split peas, and this Yellow Split Pea Soup is a delightful twist on soups that are normally made with this inexpensive and tasty legume. The soup uses sweet Italian sausage, onion, garlic, celery, green bell pepper, and chicken broth, and it’s perfectly seasoned with Italian Herb Seasoning and ground fennel. And you can add a pinch of two of hot pepper flakes if you like. 

This soup simmers on the stove on low for a few hours, making your house smell great while it cooks. It’s a simple combination of ingredients and also easy to make, but it was delicious, warm, and comforting on a cold day recently.

I am urging you to make this delicious soup that has been one of my favorites for years, and if you do please be sure to use the ground fennel; that fragrant spice is an addition really takes the soup to a new level.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

What’s the difference between yellow and green split peas?

Yellow and green split peas have a similar nutritional info and the cooking time is similar, but yellow peas have a more earthy flavor, while green peas are sweeter.

Do Yellow Split Pea Soups have to be soaked?

Split peas are the dried seeds of peas that are peeled and then split, increasing the surface area. As a result, split peas don’t need to be soaked and cook more quickly than whole peas. (See About Split Peas for more information.)

What Italian Sausage did we use?

Lately I’m having a hard time finding my favorite turkey Italian sausage, so we used Sweet Pork Italian Sausage for this recipe. You can also use Hot Italian Sausage if you’d like more spicy flavor in the soup.

Can you make a lower-carb version of this recipe?

If you check the nutritional information this soup is relatively low in net carbs (especially for a soup with legumes), but if you want a version with even fewer carbs just use a bit less split peas and a bit more sausage and/or green pepper.

Yellow Split Pea Soup process shot collage

How to Make Yellow Split Pea Soup with Italian Sausage:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

  1. In the photo above you can see the yellow split peas (affiliate link) I used; I love the gold color!
  2. Cut up onion, celery, and green bell pepper.
  3. Heat olive oil in a large heavy soup pot; then cook onion, celery, and green pepper over medium heat about 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add the minced garlic, Italian herb seasoning, and ground fennel, and cook 1-2 minutes more.
  5. If you’d like the soup to be a bit more spicy, add about 1/4  tsp. red pepper flakes with the other spices.
  6. While the vegetables are cooking, heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan, squeeze the sausage out of the casings and brown well, breaking apart with the back of the turner as it cooks.
  7. I’m giving you this photo of the oil left from the pork sausage to show you why we cooked it in a separate pan, but cook it in the soup pot if you prefer.
  8. Add browned sausage to the soup pot with yellow split peas and chicken stock.
  9. Let soup simmer at low heat uncovered. After about 45 minutes I tasted the soup to see if I wanted more red pepper (no!) and added 2 cups of water.
  10. Continue to cook, adding water as needed, until the split peas are very well done and starting to break down into the soup. (We added more water several times.)
  11. Total cooking time will be about 2 hours, or slightly longer depending on how old the yellow split peas are and how soft you want them.
  12. Serve hot and enjoy!

Yellow Split Pea Soup in white serving bowls with spoons, bowls closer together

More Soups with Split Peas:

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Vegan Split Pea Soup with Challah Croutons from The Perfect Pantry
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Sausage from Kalyn’s Kitchen

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

Yellow Split Pea Soup in white serving bowls with spoons
Yield: 8 servings

Yellow Split Pea Soup

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

My love affair with split peas continues with this slightly-spicy Yellow Split Pea Soup with Italian Sausage!

Ingredients

  • 1 T + 1 T olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup finely diced celery
  • 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 T minced garlic (or less if you’re not that into garlic)
  • 1 tsp. Italian Herb Seasoning (see notes)
  • 1 tsp. ground fennel seed
  • 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 19.5 oz. package sweet Italian sausage (see notes)
  • 2 cups yellow split peas
  • 8 cups chicken broth (plus more water as needed during cooking)
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cut up onion, celery, and green bell pepper into pieces about 1/2 inch.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large heavy soup pot; then cook onion, celery, and green pepper over medium heat about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the minced garlic, Italian herb seasoning, and ground fennel, and cook 1-2 minutes more.
  4. If you'd like the soup to be a bit more spicy, add about 1/4  tsp. red pepper flakes with the other spices.
  5. While the vegetables are cooking, heat the other tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan, squeeze the sausage out of the casings and brown well, breaking apart with the back of the turner as it cooks. (Don't rush this step; browning creates flavor.)
  6. We cooked the sausage in a separate pan so we didn't have so much fat in the finished soup, but you can push the vegetables over and brown the sausage in the soup pot if you prefer.
  7. Add browned sausage to the soup pot with yellow split peas and chicken stock.
  8. Let soup simmer at very low heat uncovered. After 45 minutes I tasted the soup to see if I wanted more red pepper (no!) and added 2 cups of water.
  9. Continue to cook, adding water as needed, until the split peas are very well done and starting to break down into the soup. 
  10. Total cooking time will be about 2 hours, or slightly longer depending on how old the yellow split peas are and how soft you want them.
  11. Serve hot.

Notes

Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link) is a mix of dried oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary if you don't have the blend.

I'm a fan of turkey Italian Sausage for soup, but lately I can't find it so I used pork sausage and cooked it in a separate pan for less oil in the soup.

Use homemade chicken stock if you have some, but the Kirkland Chicken broth we used or chicken broth from a can or a carton is fine for this recipe.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 205Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 1450mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 17g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

© Kalyn Denny
Category: Soups & Stews

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions: 
Split peas may seem high in carbs for a low-carb diet, but this soup has a lot of sausage, green bell pepper, and chicken broth and if you check the nutritional information you’ll probably be surprised how low the net carbs are. And split peas are a low-glycemic ingredient and all ingredients in Yellow Split Pea Soup are approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2011, with photos that were pretty bad. It was updated with greatly improved photos and more information in 2021 and was last updated with more information in 2022.

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