Yellow Split Pea Soup
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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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?
- olive oil
- onion
- celery
- green bell pepper
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Italian Herb Seasoning (affiliate link)
- ground fennel (affiliate link)
- red pepper flakes (optional)
- sweet Italian sausage
- yellow split peas (affiliate link)
- canned chicken broth (affiliate link) or homemade chicken stock
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
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.
How to Make Yellow Split Pea Soup with Italian Sausage:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- In the photo above you can see the yellow split peas (affiliate link) I used; I love the gold color!
- Cut up onion, celery, and green bell pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy soup pot; then cook onion, celery, and green pepper over medium heat about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, Italian herb seasoning, and ground fennel, and cook 1-2 minutes more.
- If you’d like the soup to be a bit more spicy, add about 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes with the other spices.
- 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.
- 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.
- Add browned sausage to the soup pot with yellow split peas and chicken stock.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
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
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
- Cut up onion, celery, and green bell pepper into pieces about 1/2 inch.
- 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.
- Add the minced garlic, Italian herb seasoning, and ground fennel, and cook 1-2 minutes more.
- If you'd like the soup to be a bit more spicy, add about 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes with the other spices.
- 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.)
- 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.
- Add browned sausage to the soup pot with yellow split peas and chicken stock.
- 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.
- Continue to cook, adding water as needed, until the split peas are very well done and starting to break down into the soup.
- 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.
- 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:
8Serving Size:
1Amount 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.
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.
41 Comments on “Yellow Split Pea Soup”
I had been given a small bag of yellow split peas and had no idea what to do with them. I found this recipe in an internet search and made it exactly as written. It’s easy and delicious!!
Very fun, so glad you enjoyed it!
Would this work with a broth or stock other than chicken? Vegetable?
I haven’t made it with any other type of broth, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work.
This looks and sounds super tasty. I’ll put it on the menu for next week. Do you think it could be done in the Instant Pot? I was thinking I could saute the veggies in there, cook the sausage separately, then pressure cook it with slightly less liquid instead of the long simmer. Might make it a little more weeknight friendly.
Yes, I do think you could adapt it to the Instant Pot. If you search on my site for “Instant Pot Split Pea Soup” that recipe might help. (I can’t link it here.) Hope you enjoy; we loved this soup!
This sounds great. Â Are yellow split peas easy to find? Â I think you maybe meant to link to the ones you used?
I ended up buying them on Amazon, and did link to that under “What ingredients do you need.” I bought the Sadaf brand that’s included there. If you have a store like Whole Foods you can probably find them there.
I’m very happy to see this because I am on a low Oxalate diet for kidney stone support and finding recipes that are low is tough. Yellow splits are on the list! And the addition of Italian sausage will be great.
Have you ever tackled making your own turkey italian sausage? I would sure like to have that recipe in my staples.
So glad it is useful for you. I don’t think I’d ever try making Italian Sausage, but I bet Google can help you find a recipe for that!
I just had this for lunch as it was so full of flavor! I am definitely making it. I am so glad it is gluten free!
Thanks Sandi, so glad you enjoyed the soup!
wonderful recipe!
It is very tasty.. Never made italian style pea soup before.. i will now!
The only changes I made was to use split green peas, green beans instead of celery (I’m sick of celery), fresh rosemary, basil and rat tail red peppers instead of the dried herbs. And I simmered the soup with the lid on for an hour+ Thanks Katylyn!
Glad you liked it!
Made this for dinner today and it tasted wonderful.To make it look more pretty, I used red bell pepper and added some spinach leaves for the last 20 minutes cooking time.Topped with greek yoghurt and chopped basil it was really a beauty and tasty.
Thanks from Germany
Doris
Hi Doris, so glad you enjoyed it. Love hearing how you prettied it up! And fun to hear from someone in Germany. (That's on my list of places to visit!)
Campbell, so glad you enjoyed the soup!
Just made this for dinner tonight – it was delicious! I was skeptical at first, as I'm very picky about soup, but this recipe was awesome! I'll definitely be making it again!
This soup would certainly hit the spot on these cold winter days!
Carrie, you're welcome. Glad you liked it.
I didn't have turkey sausage on hand so I used sweet italian that i had. this soup is so good. it it made enough that i did freeze some for one of those nights when i have to run the kids here there and everywhere. thanks for sharing!