Yellow Split Pea Soup

My Yellow Split Pea Soup is flavored with Italian sausage and green pepper, and this is one of my favorite hearty soups! And when I updated the photos, my taste testers went crazy over this easy soup that’s made on the stove!

PIN Yellow Split Pea Soup to try it later!

Yellow Split Pea Soup is a delightful twist on the kind of soups that are normally made with inexpensive and tasty split peas. Besides golden split peas, this soup has 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 hot pepper flakes if you like.

And this soup simmers on the stove on low for a few hours, making your house smell great. It’s a simple combination of ingredients, but it was delicious, warm, and comforting on a cold day recently. And I tested this when several people were visiting, and everyone who tried it loved this tasty soup!

I’m excited to have better photos for this Yellow Split Pea Soup recipe! I’m urging you to make this comforting soup that’s been one of my favorites for years. And if you try it, please don’t skip the ground fennel. That ingredient really takes this soup to a new level.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• 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 Peas need to be soaked?

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

What sausage did we use for Yellow Split Pea Soup?

I’m having a hard time finding 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.

How low in carbs is the Yellow Split Pea Soup?

This tasty soup with a moderate amount of split peas and a lot of celery, green bell pepper, and sausage has only 11 net carbs per serving with 17 grams of protein!

Want a lower-carb version of Yellow Split Pea Soup?

This soup is relatively low in net carbs for a soup with legumes. If you want a version with even lower carbs just use fewer split peas and a bit more sausage and/or green pepper.

How to Make Yellow Split Pea Soup:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

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 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.
6. While vegetables cook, 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.
7. I’m showing this photo of the oil left from the pork sausage to illustrate 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 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 the soup hot and enjoy!

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

If you wanted to make Yellow Split Pea Soup into a complete meal without adding many carbs, serve it with one of these low-carb breads or muffins:

• Olive Bread
• Low-Carb High Fiber Savory Muffins
• Savory Almond Flour Bread

More Soup with Split Peas:

If you’re a big fan of Split Pea Soup, I also have a version made in the Instant Pot and one made in the Slow Cooker.

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe for Yellow Split Pea Soup has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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4.5 Stars (21 Reviews)

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

Toggle ingredient group

• 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 Yellow Split Pea Soup hot and wait for compliments!.

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!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions: 
This Yellow Split Pea Soup has a lot of sausage, green bell pepper, celery, and chicken broth. So if you check the nutritional information you’ll probably be surprised how low the net carbs are. And all ingredients in this soup are approved for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, although South Beach would prefer turkey or chicken sausage.

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 for Yellow Split Pea Soup was first posted in 2011, with photos that were pretty bad. It was updated with greatly improved photos in 2021 and was last updated with more information in 2026.