Paul and Linda McCartney’s Split Pea Soup

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
  • Servings: 8
  • About This Recipe

    “Another celebrity recipe. I do not know if you should chop up the tomatoes or not, but this sounds great. This would be vegan if you don’t use the butter.”

    Ingredients

  • 1/2 lbsplit peas
  • 1/4 lborange lentils
  • 1 1/2 largeonions, quartered
  • 4stalkscelery, including leaves, rinsed & chopped
  • 2tomatoes, peeled
  • 2leeks, white part only, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 5cupswater( about)
  • 1/4 lb butter or 1/4 lbsoy margarine
  • crushed black peppercorns
  • sea salt
  • Directions

  • Place split peas, lentils, onions, celery, tomatoes and leeks in large pot and cover with water.
  • Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer about 1-1/2 hours, until split peas and lentils are soft.
  • Add butter and stir until melted.
  • Add peppercorns and sea salt to taste.
  • Reviews

  • “Well, I gotta say I was leary of making this as I am a fan of split pea and ham soup.This was awsome.I made it yesterday for lunch/dinner today and it did not make it past 8:00 P.M. it was that good.My daughter, who is a vegetarian thanks you, and has informed me that not only will I be making it again today, but can plan on making this on a regular basis.The only thing I changed was the tomato-I could not find fresh tomatoes that were worth buying so I used a small can of whole tomatoes with juice. I also liked the fact that I could slide some Lentils past my DH!Excellent recipe!Di”

  • “This was quite delicious and easy, too.I think I’ll reduce the butter next time — don’t get me wrong — it was utterly delicious — I just thinkI could get by with a little less butter and it taste just as good! Thanks!”

  • “This is delicious and easy to make. Instead of the fresh tomatoes, I used a 16-oz can of ‘recipe-cut’ tomatoes. I can’t see any point in cooking fresh tomatoes that long — they’re going to be just like canned tomatoes after all that time.I used a scant 1/4 CUP of canola margerine rather than the 1/4 LB of butter, and it was certainly rich enough. Butter IS good with split-pea soup, tho. A person who’s not worried about cholesterol might want to add a spoonful to a serving made with minimal margerine.”

  • “This was good, but I don’t think I’ll make it again. I’m not going to rate it because my peas were still too chewy, even after two hours of cooking (I ate a bowl after 1.5 hours and then cooked it another 30 minutes and they were still too chewy). I’m not rating because maybe I was supposed to soak them first? I do like the spicy versions of this kind of soup better. I used a wonderful local butter which enhanced the flavor a lot, but the peas were just too chewy.”

  • “I thought this soup was excellent. At first I thought it was incredibly thick but once I used the stick blender to puree it, the soup became much thinner and was the perfect consistency. I did leave out the tomatoes, and would probably do so again. I’ll definitely be making this again.”

  • “While this soup doesn’t necessarily stand out from among the many other similiar recipes, it is indeed delicious, and with the exception of the butter, quite nutritious. I added 1/4 c whole milk & 1/4 c light butter at the end, which definetly ‘made’ the soup (I tasted it before those additions and it was nothing to write home about!). I also used carrots rather than leeks (I’ll use leeks next time I make this) and drizzled lemon juice ontop while serving. Yum :)”

  • “Took previous raters advice and added stock cube and didn’t add ANY dairy and this was GREAT and easy to boot!Thanks for posting!”

  • “This was nice, but high in fat! Works out to be 6 weight watchers points per serve (and it serves 8 small serves). I wonder if a stock cube could be used (instead of just water) and then less butter added at the end.”

  • “Yes, yes, yes! I’ve made this recipe a handful of times, making several adjustments along the way based on what was in my pantry.I’ve taken to adding 1/2 lb of lentils, 2.5-3 diced onions, diced canned tomatoes, and skipping the leeks.It tastes just as good as following the recipe to a T and cuts back on costs.I add butter/margarine to my bowl to taste instead of all at once.My coworkers like when I bring this in for lunch because it makes the kitchen smell so wonderful…I always have a bowl or two in the freezer!”

  • “I didn’t have the orange lentils or the leeks, so I had to improvise.I used 1 pound of dried split peas and about 4 medium carrots chopped in addition to the celery and onion.When it was done, I stirred in a can of Rotel and 1/2 stick butter and salt to taste.It turned out delicious!!Even my carnivore husband said it was good. I was so happy to find a good vegetarian split pea soup that could stand on it’s own!The left-overs were equally delicious.We had an ice storm yesterday, and this soup was so good!Next time, I might try 5 cups of vegetable broth in place of the water.Lennie, thank you for the post!God Bless Linda McCartney!”

  • “Lol! I have not made this soup yet, but I’m giving you 5 stars for the name 😉 I’ll come back to update.”

  • “best soup I’ve ever made. And SO EASY! You just throw it all in a pot and then in a while it’s done!”

  • “Yum!One of my favorite Split Pea Soups, despite the lack of ham/smoked hock etc.I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t have much flavor but it really does!This will definitely become a staple in my home, especially when money is tight.I didn’t have tomatoes since they’re out of season right now, so I used a 15oz. can of diced tomatoes.I also used my immersion blender at the end to puree most of the soup.I like a smoother texture.Excellent recipe Lennie (& The Mccartney’s!).”

  • “Love this!I am used to ham in my split pea soup, but this is just as flavorful and much healthier.I didn’t have celery, so I left that out; replaced half the water with low-sodium chicken broth, and added 4 cloves minced garlic.I also used a #2 sized can of crushed tomatoes instead of the tomatoes and only 1/2 the butter called for, topping each serving with a drizzle of olive oil.My picky 8-year old who HATES veggies and most soups LOVED it and asked me to make it again.She also said it tasted “like it had meat in it.” That speaks volumes!Thank you for posting this wonderful, versatile recipe which stands up well to variations!!!”

  • “YUMMY!!!So much richer than plain split pea soup!My store didn’t have orange lentils so I used red.I don’t like celery so I left it out.Completely forgot to buy leeks, so left them out too.I used 3T of butter and a 16 oz can of petite diced tomats.I then froze in a bunch of 2c containers for lunch on the go.Had one today and YUM!! Definite keeper!Thanks for sharing!”

  • “Delicious.I had had this once at a friends and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so it was my great loss that I waited a full 6 months until I got the recipe. My bad.My only qualm was that it took ages for these split peas to cook properly, and after 2.5 hours (I made a double batch) I just gave up and ate it with rather firm peas.Nonetheless, it was DELICIOUS and froze (for all of two days, until we HAD to have it again) beautifully.Sprinkle with parmasean cheese, or even go ahead and add your ham (which, of course, is a soy ham substitute). Either way, it’s a winner!I replaced leeks with onions and sauteed all of the onions in butter first and added less butter at the end. I thought it would add something, but it wasn’t necessary. I’ll simplify next time.THANK YOU!!!”

  • “YUMMY!I made a couple of minor changes.I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes, so I added one can of diced tomatoes.I didn’t have any leeks, so I used carrots instead.That gave it great color!I didn’t add the butter at all.Still . . .SOOOO yummy!All 3 of my kids slurped it up.So did my husband.My oldest asked to put it in a thermos for school tomorrow.:o)”

  • “I love this vegetarian version of split pea soup. I wanted to follow the recipe exactly as stated but I decided to make a double batch to freeze right before I started cooking and didn’t feel like running to the store for 1 more tomato and 2 more leeks. I also didn’t feel like going through the trouble of taking out an extra pot and boiling water for the tomatoes to just peel them, so I skipped the peeling part too. And I didn’t have sea salt on hand, so I used regular salt. Tasted wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.”

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