Split Pea Potage

I call this split pea potage because it is lighter and more French due to the use of onions, parsley and mint, rather than the traditional split pea ingredients of ham, bacon, and potatoes.  Potage is French for soup; click to hear the French pronunciation. 

Even though it's made with water, not chicken broth, the soup has a wonderfully rich flavor from the onions, coriander, and herbs.  Also, I used carrot tops instead of wasting a perfectly good carrot to flavor the peas while cooking. If you've never bought carrots with the tops at your local farmer's market, do try, because they are much juicer and more flavorful than store bought carrots.

Lots of fresh parsley and mint are essential in this soup. If you have savory, marjoram, or celery leaves on hand, those would all be great additions.

Nutrition Highlight: Split Peas

Full of Fiber

If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet, legumes are the way to go because you don't have to eat much to rack up those fiber points. A 1/4 c of dry split peas provides 52% of your daily fiber, and if you have 1 serving of this soup, you'll be ingesting the equivalent to about 1/3 c dry split peas.  

Ponder this— Flossing is to Teeth as Fiber is to Heart 

As flossing helps prevent cavity formation, fiber intake helps prevent cardiovascular disease.  Soluble fiber helps keep your cholesterol levels in check because it binds with excess cholesterol and acts as the chauffeur, escorting cholesterol through the colon and out.  However, if you're not reaching the recommended 25-35 g per day, cholesterol is left to hang out in the body and turn into obstructive plaque that prevents proper blood flow inside your arteries.  When arteries are obstructed,  your heart has to work a lot harder to pump blood throughout the body, and this is why low fiber intake is related to hypertension, heart attack, and ultimately heart failure. 

Ponder this— Potassium is to Potatoes as Iron is to Split Peas 

Red meat and bananas—the icons for iron and potassium. However, there are other lesser-known sources of these minerals, such as split peas for iron and potatoes for potassium. 

What's in a serving?

One serving of this soup has a little over 10% of your daily iron coming from 1/3 c dry split peas.  To enhance absorption of this plant-based iron, it's a good idea to eat some vitamin C foods like bell pepper strips, orange wedges, or spinach.   

Quick nugget of nutrition science:  Non-heme (plant based) iron occurs primarily in the ferric state, which is a form of iron that can't handle the basic environment of the small intestine. However, the binding of ferric iron to vitamin C (ascorbic acid) allows for increased absorption because the ferric iron gets to pass in an acidic bubble, remaining unaffected by the basic conditions of the small intestine.  So eating some bell pepper strips with this soup will help you get more bang-for-your-buck—always a good thing!

Split Pea Potage
Printable Recipe

A delicious, aromatic, French inspired soup adapted from this recipe. I increased the onion and had to cook the split peas much longer than the original recipe directed; I also found that it didn't need the pat of butter stirred in at the end. Excellent with yeasted pumpkin bread toast and a tangerine.

1 1/2 c dry green split peas
6 cups water
For flavor: 2 stalks of parsley, 1 bunch carrot tops or 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery

1 med small yellow onion (6 oz flesh), sliced and finely diced
1 T olive oil
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt 
1/4 tsp (a few grinds) freshly ground pepper 
For soup: a handful each of fresh mint and parsley (other herb options: savory, marjoram, &/or celery leaves)


Bring split peas and water to a boil with celery, 2 parsley stalks, & carrot tops. Reduce to a  simmer. Cook for about 1 1/2 h at low heat (no less!), lid ajar, until reduced to a puree. Can simmer up to 2 h. 

Meanwhile heat 1 T oil in 10-12" cast-iron skillet on medium high, add onion, cook 3 min (to sear) then reduce to low and cook 12 more min with ground coriander.  Note: the 3 minutes seems to be the magic number because the onions start to get too brown after that. Add to split peas. Add salt and pepper.

When split peas are done, remove the flavoring veggies and herbs. 

Prepare the herbs in the "for soup" category by mincing, julienning, or shredding, depending on size of the leaf. 

Stir in the parsley and garnish with mint.  Mint gets black with intense heat, so it looks best when sprinkled on top.  Some flakes of parmesan would be a nice touch if you have available. 

Makes 4, 1 c servings.