This Curried Split Pea Soup is a fresh take on the traditional. Creamy and delicious, enhanced with yellow curry, coconut milk and fresh peas.

This Curried Split Pea Soup is a fresh take on the traditional. Creamy and delicious, enhanced with yellow curry, coconut milk and fresh peas.

There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One With Life. Being one with life is being one with Now, you then realize you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance.

Eckhart Tolle

This Curried Split Pea Soup is easy to make and full of the most delicious flavor with a lusciously creamy texture.

For another yummy twist on split pea soup try our Mediterranean Split Pea Soup!

Ingredients in Curried Split Pea Soup

Ingredients in Curried Split Pea Soup.

Recipe Notes

  1. First note: cook the split peas with no seasonings, and no salt! This is important for assuring that the peas get tender and soft. Salt prevents the water from hydrating the peas.
  2. At the same time, saute onions, apples, celery and ginger to create a flavorful base. Yellow curry powder livens things up and coconut milk gives a rich creamy balance.
  3. Blend the finished soup to make it lusciously creamy. Adding frozen peas and cilantro creates a fresh flavor and lovely spring green color.

Ingredient Notes

  • Split Peas– we use green split peas and pre-cook them to assure they get tender.
  • Fresh Peas– blended in at the end, adding such a delicious freshness to the soup.
  • Coconut Milk– makes it creamy and good!
  • Yellow curry powder – store-bought or make your own!

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.     

How To Make Curried Split Pea Soup

Split peas in a pot with water.

Step One– Bring the split peas to a boil with 1 quart (4 cups) water.  Do not add salt! Salt will impede softening. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Drain off the excess water.

Chopped ingredients on a cutting board.

Step Two– While the peas cook, prep and chop your ingredients.

Sautéing vegetables and curry powder.

Step Three– Sauté onion, ginger, celery and apple until softened about 3 minutes.  Add curry powder, salt, broth and the cooked drained split peas. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn heat off.

Cooked split peas in a colander.

Step Four– Add coconut milk, peas, cilantro and mint.  

Pot of cooked soup before blending.

Blend together until smooth.  If you like a little more texture reserve 2-4 cups of soup and blend the rest. Gently reheat to serve.  Add lemon juice.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and a drizzle of coconut cream or yogurt, if desired.

Curried split pea soup in a pot.

Recipe FAQS

Why won’t my split peas get soft?

1) They may be old. Best to purchase small batches and use them within one year. Split peas should be stored in an air-tight container, in a cool dry place away from light.
2) Don’t cook with anything acidic in the beginning of the cooking stage.
3) Hard water can prevent softening due to its high mineral content.
4) Salt will prevent the water from hydrating the peas.

Do split peas need to be soaked before cooking?

Generally no. However, if you suspect you have an old batch of peas, soaking them for 12 hours before cooking may assure they soften when cooking them.

Is split pea soup healthy?

Split peas have protein and fiber and are a great source of folate, iron, and potassium. Soups are always a great way to add lots of nutrients in to your meal, especially with the addition of vegetables, spices and good broth.

More Recipes You May Enjoy

Curried split Pea soup in a bowl with a spoon.

Hope you enjoyed this different take on Split Pea Soup!

~Tonia

Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.

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This Curried Split Pea Soup is a fresh take on the traditional. Creamy and delicious, enhanced with yellow curry, coconut milk and fresh peas.

Curried Split Pea Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 14 reviews
  • Author: Tonia | Feasting at Home
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 9 cups
  • Category: soup
  • Method: stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This Curried Split Pea Soup is a fresh take on the traditional. Creamy and delicious, enhanced with yellow curry, coconut milk and fresh peas. Vegan!


Ingredients

Units
  • 2 cups green split peas
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 small onion, chopped about 1 cup
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped about 1 cup
  • 1 small apple, chopped about 1 cup
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (adjust to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons salt (adjust to taste)
  • 2 1/2 cups flavorful vegetable broth
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (add more to taste)
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro

optional additions:  1/4 cup fresh mint or 2 teaspoons dried


Instructions

  1. Bring the splits peas to a boil with the 6 cups of water.  Do not add salt! Simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Drain off the excess water.
  2. Meanwhile prep and chop your ingredients.
  3. Sauté onion, ginger, celery and apple until softened about 3 minutes (we use coconut oil or avocado oil).  Add the cooked and drained split peas, curry powder, pepper, cayenne,  salt, and broth. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn heat off.
  4. Add coconut milk, peas, and cilantro.  Blend together (with a blender, food processor or immersion blender) until smooth.  If you like a little more texture reserve 2 cups of soup and blend the rest, combine together and gently reheat to serve.  Add lemon juice, then adjust lemon and salt to taste.  

Garnish with fresh cilantro, a drizzle of coconut cream or yogurt.


Notes

Adding salt to the split peas, in the beginning, prevents them from getting soft. 

Soup will keep up to 4 days in the fridge- or freeze up to 6 months. 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: a generous cup
  • Calories: 281
  • Sugar: 8.8 g
  • Sodium: 377.2 mg
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 5.5 g
  • Carbohydrates: 43 g
  • Fiber: 15.8 g
  • Protein: 14.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

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Comments

  1. I was unsure about the apple and lemon juice in split pea soup, but I really trust your recipes so I made as written and it is delicious! The family loved it. We dipped into it with homemade garlic bread. Thanks for a healthy warm soup during winter!






  2. Made this for dinner last night. I left the apple out because I was worried it would make it sweet. I doubled the spices, we like it that way. This was truly amazing!! It’s now on the rotation. I made mine in 20 mins in the electric pressure cooker.






  3. Tonia, this was fabulous – a keeper recipe. Can’t do nightshades, so I left them out. The soup lacked for nothing!!

  4. Simply Delicious!! This recipe is very well balanced and I love the imaginative yet simple ingredients . Definitely will be adding this to the menu more often.






  5. Delicious looking recipe — what oil do you recommend using to saute the onion? Coconut oil, given the coconut milk later? Or Would an olive oil or canola work? Also, if I can’t find the yellow curry powder, would regular curry powder work as well — that’s readily available in most spice sections? Thank you!

    1. Coconut oil is nice, but definitely use what you prefer. We do have a recipe for yellow curry powder, just use the search bar on the blog. That said regular curry powder should work.

    1. Any flavorful apple will do. We usually have gala, honeycrisps or green apples around- we throw in one of those.

  6. Do you put mint in the same time as the cilantro? or just as a garnish? Thanks, looking forward to it!

  7. Wow, this was absolutely delicious and a nice change from my traditional split pea soup with a ham bone. I didn’t have cilantro on hand the two times I have made it so am looking forward to trying it with the cilantro. However, I must say it was delicious w/o the cilantro. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!






  8. I used red lentils instead of green split peas (that’s what I had). I substituted 1/2 cup spicy broth for 1/2 cup of vegetable broth. This gave the soup a little bit of a kick without using more salt. This is a great recipe; fun to make and share with neighbors!






  9. I do not have split peas, but I do have a lot of green peas. Can I use regular peas in place of split peas? Or is there another alternative? Thanks!

  10. I know this is a silly question, when you say “blend” I am assuming a blender or food processor for that correct?

  11. My husband and I made this recipe with lentils since we didn’t have peas. We both agreed it was the best lentil soup ever.






  12. This is AMAZING!! This is the best pea soup I have ever had. I followed your recipe to the T and as always it is perfection!!






  13. Fantastic flavor with humble ingredients. The only modification I made is that I doubled the recipe and used only one bag of frozen peas and subbed 4 cups of fresh baby spinach for the other bag. Everyone I shared it with gave rave reviews! Thank you for the recipe! It’s a keeper for sure!






    1. I used Frontier brand Yellow curry powder. The link will also take you to a recipe on the blog!

    1. I think they need to be split peas in order for the timing to work for this recipe. But you could experiment!

  14. This sounds delicious… I have a question. the ingredients have 6 cups of water and instructions call for 4 cups to be used to boil the split peas. When are the remaining 2 cups of water used in this recipe? thanks!

    1. opps that was a typo, recipe card it fixed now. 6 cups of water is used for pre cooking the split peas!

  15. I am looking forward to making this soup! Do you recommend yellow or green split peas for this recipe? Thank you for all your wonderful, healthy recipes!

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