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Easy-to-make, delicious Curried Instant Pot Split Pea Soup that will warm you up! This soup can be made either in your pressure cooker or on your stove top, instructions for both ways are included.
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When I was little, there was a canned split pea soup my mom used to buy for us to have at lunch. She didn't buy it often, but when she did, I was happy.
Yes, I was a kid who loved pea soup. A little odd, I know. But I remember that soup tasting so, so good.
Maybe because it was a rare occasion kinda thing for us, or maybe because mostly everything we had was made from scratch and having something out of a can was a bit different. Who knows.
Whatever it was, it was a memorable soup since I clearly remember it all these years later.
Any time I make my vegan split pea soup, I think of that canned soup.
Vegan curried split pea soup is one of my stove top recipes that I make often, but since I treated myself to an Instant Pot not long ago, I've been using it to make my soups instead of making them on the stove.
What I love about the Instant Pot is that there's no babysitting, no constant stirring, and no monitoring.
Once that lid is locked, you walk away and take care of whatever needs to be taken care of, elsewhere.
Of course, you don't need an Instant Pot to make this recipe, I've included my stove top instructions as well, but if you're interested in getting one, I bought the 6-Quart 9-in-1 Duo model:
This magical pressure cooking machine can do so many things, including cooking all of the best stews, soups, side dishes, rice, and even desserts in record time.
If you do buy this for someone, you may also want to get them a cookbook specifically written for cooking in the Instant Pot since there is a tiny learning curve to working with this machine. Find a list of the best ones here.
It has nine different functions (including yogurt!), and since buying it, I've been using it multiple times per week. I guess you can say I'm very happy with it!
Important: If You Have Leftovers...
When you make your curried Instant Pot split pea soup, there's a good chance you'll have leftovers. If you do, there's something important to know...
Your soup will naturally thicken as it cools, but after it has been refrigerated, it's going to be a whole different kind of thick. You'll find that your soup is solid. Like the type of solid that can be sliced!
But not to worry, that's OK and totally normal! This has to do with the abundance of starch in split peas. You can read a more detailed explanation about why this happens here.
To fix, all you need to do is add a little vegetable broth or water, stir, warm up, and your soup will be good as new again.
The cooking time for this soup is just 10 minutes, BUT, you have to also take into account the time the instant pot takes to come up to pressure and the time it takes to come down from full pressure.
So, in total, your soup will take roughly about an hour to finish.
In this case, there's nothing instant about making this soup in the Instant Pot because the stove version takes about the same time, but as mentioned above, your Instant Pot soup does not have to be monitored.
The texture of this soup is perfect when it's done, the split peas are no longer whole but they haven't broken down.
There's no need to purée it, but if you want a smoother soup, feel free to do so.
If you like this Curried Instant Pot Split Pea Soup recipe, you'll also like these:
- Apple Spice Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
- Instant Pot Vegan Recipes
- Vegan Cauliflower Soup
- Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Carrot Soup
- Curried Cauliflower Sweet Potato Carrot Soup
- Whole Grain Vegan Spelt Rolls and Cornbread (rolls or cornbread would be perfect to serve with this soup!)
If you like this recipe, pin it on Pinterest and if you make it, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@delightfuladventures) with a pic of your remake. I'd love to see!
Curried Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 medium carrots sliced
- 2 stalks celery sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups yellow split peas picked through and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
- Set your Instant Pot to the Sauté function. Add olive oil.
- Once the olive oil is hot, add the onions and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, cumin, coriander, and salt. Mix to combine. Cancel the Sauté function.
- Add split peas to the Instant Pot, then add the broth and water.
- Lock the lid in place and make sure the steam release handle is closed. Set to manual high pressure for 10 minutes. Instant Pot will take roughly 15 minutes to build pressure, timer will start counting down after it has reached pressure.
- After the time has ended, let the pressure release naturally (this will take roughly 35 minutes) or quick release after 15 minutes.
- Once the pressure has been released naturally (you will know pressure has been released when the float valve has dropped back down), slowly unlock and remove the lid. Stir the soup so everything combines.
- Garnish with fresh parsley (optional) and serve.
Stove Top Directions:
- Set heat to medium-high and add olive oil to a large pot. Once the olive oil is hot, add the onions and sauté for 4 minutes.
- Add the carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, cumin, coriander, and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add split peas to the pot, stir, then add the broth and water. Bring to a boil and then cover the pot. Turn the heat down to medium low
- Simmer for about 50 minutes or until the split peas are soft. Stir every now and then.
- Garnish with fresh parsley (optional) and serve.
Recipe Notes:
- Refrigerate any leftovers when fully cooled off.
- Leftover soup out of the fridge will be solid. To re-heat, add a little water or extra broth until soup gets to desired consistency. See above for info why it gets solid (it's nothing to worry about!).
- Cooking time in the Instant Pot is only 10 minutes, but be sure to account for the time the Instant Pot takes to come to pressure and come down from pressure. Total time the soup will be in the Instant Pot after locking the lid is about 60 minutes. (roughly 15 minutes to come to pressure and 35 minutes to come down). Time can be cut down by quick releasing 15 minutes after the cooking time has ended.
- This recipe makes 9 cups of soup.
- Nutrition data does not include any garnishes. Click here to learn how nutritional info is calculated on this website.
Olivia says
It was very good! I wish I had used potatoes in here.. I also had to add a generous amount of salt and pepper to my bowl of soup. I felt like it could've used more flavor. I would maybe use onion and garlic powder too next time. Overall was very easy and filling! Thanks for the recipe!
Gwen Leron says
Feel Free to add potatoes if you make it again, Olivia! Same with the spices, fee free to adjust to your taste. I'm glad you gave it a try!
Michael Hickman says
Hi. Can you use red or green curry past instead of curry powder? Thanks.
Gwen Leron says
Hi Michael, I have not tried making this recipe with a curry paste, so I am not sure how the flavour would be. Curry pastes have quite a different flavour than curry powder since there are additional things like lemongrass and ginger in there. That being said, if you like the flavour of your curry paste and think it would go well with split peas, then give it a try. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out, I'd love to hear!
Susan Reetz says
Can I make this with green split peas? What modifications are required in cooking time, amount of broth, etc.?
Gwen Leron says
Hi Susan! Yes, green lentils can be used instead, and there are no modifications needed, simply use the green lentils in place of the yellow. However, note that the two have slightly different flavours (yellow split peas are subtly sweet, while green split peas are more savoury), so the final flavour will be a little different than it would be with the yellow. Let me know how things go, I hope you love the soup!