Best Spices for Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup barely needs seasoning. Across three extension recipes, onion and black pepper are the only constants. Celery, carrot, garlic and ham come and go, and not one uses an herb. For herbs, look to Sweden’s traditional Thursday pea soup, which adds marjoram, thyme and ginger, with mustard on the side.¹ And if you want a warmer pot, one recipe offers curry powder, cumin and turmeric as options.

At a glance

Seasoning	Job in the pot	Notes
Onion	Savory base	In all three US recipes²³⁴
Celery and carrot	Aromatic base	Iowa and Maine recipes²³
Ham, ham bone or ham hock	Smoke, salt, meaty depth	Standard in Iowa, optional in Maine²³
Black pepper	Gentle bite	All three US recipes²³⁴
Garlic	Savory depth	Maine recipe³
Thyme and marjoram	Herbal note	Swedish ärtsoppa¹
Ginger	Warmth	Swedish ärtsoppa¹
Curry powder, cumin, turmeric	Warm-spiced variation	Optional in the Maine recipe³
Mustard	Sharp condiment at the table	Served with Swedish ärtsoppa¹

Three American baseline recipes

	Iowa State (8 servings)²	University of Maine EFNEP (8 one-cup servings)³	Illinois Extension (4 servings)⁴
Split peas	1 lb	2 cups, green or yellow	1 1/2 cups
Aromatics	1 cup each onion, celery, carrot	1 onion, 2 celery stalks, 4 carrots, 2 tsp garlic	1 large onion
Fat	none	2 tbsp canola, olive or vegetable oil	3 tbsp butter or margarine
Pork	1 cup ham, cubed	Optional: 1 cup ham, a ham bone or smoked ham hock	none
Seasoning	1/2 tsp black pepper	1/4 tsp each salt and pepper; optional 1 tbsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric	1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper
Liquid	4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 6 cups water	7 cups low-sodium broth	6 cups water
Extra	1/2 cup brown rice	Optional potato	none

These are the extension services’ own recipes, not a house standard.

The core seasonings and what each one does

Onion and celery: the base

All three US recipes use onion, and the Iowa and Maine recipes add celery and carrot. Green onions or chives make a good garnish. Chives taste mildly of onion and are usually sprinkled on just before serving. See onion powder, celery seeds and chives.

Ham and other cured pork

Iowa’s recipe uses a cup of cubed ham, and Maine’s lists ham, a ham bone or a smoked ham hock as an option.²³ Illinois’s version has no meat at all.⁴ In Sweden, the traditional soup is made from yellow split peas and salted pork.¹ If there’s ham in the pot, taste before you salt.

Black pepper

Every US recipe here uses black pepper: 1/2 teaspoon in Iowa’s, 1/4 teaspoon in Maine’s and Illinois’s.³⁴ Iowa stirs it in at the start with the broth, water, peas and rice.² Grinding it fresh is up to you; we didn’t find any measurement comparing fresh and pre-ground pepper in soup. See black pepper.

Garlic

Only the Maine recipe uses garlic, 2 teaspoons minced.³ If you’re sautéing garlic with the vegetables, America’s Test Kitchen says to add it after the others have softened, because garlic added too early can burn and turn acrid and bitter.⁵ You’ll sometimes read that garlic is what makes meatless versions taste full, but we found no source for that. See garlic and garlic powder.

Thyme and marjoram: the herbs

None of the three US recipes uses an herb. The Swedish living-traditions inventory lists onion, marjoram, thyme and ginger as other common ingredients of Swedish pea soup.¹ Thyme brings a sharp, savory taste.

When to add herbs to a long simmer is disputed:

Source	Advice
America’s Test Kitchen	Hearty herbs such as thyme go in early; their flavor compounds are somewhat more heat-stable⁶
University of Delaware Extension	For long-simmered recipes, add herbs during the last 45 minutes⁷

The Delaware guide also suggests going moderate with thyme, 1 to 2 teaspoons for 6 servings.⁷ A practical starting point: a sprig or two of fresh thyme early, or dried thyme and marjoram crumbled in for the last 45 minutes. See cooking with thyme, cooking with marjoram and too much thyme.

Curry, cumin and turmeric: a warm-spiced version

The Maine recipe offers 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric as optional additions.³ Curry powder is a blend with no fixed recipe. The USDA’s purchasing specification lists turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, ginger and cardamom without proportions.⁸ See curry powder, cumin and turmeric.

Oil or butter

Maine’s recipe starts with 2 tablespoons of canola, olive or vegetable oil, Illinois’s with 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, and Iowa’s uses no added fat.²³⁴ A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil at the table is up to you.

Regional variants

American ham and pea: onion, celery, carrot, black pepper and ham, as in the Iowa recipe.²
Swedish ärtsoppa: yellow split peas and salted pork with onion, marjoram, thyme and ginger, served with mustard.¹
Warm-spiced: curry powder, cumin and turmeric, as in the Maine recipe’s options.³

“Pea soup and pancakes on Thursdays”, Levande kulturarv. levandekulturarv.se · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷
“Split Pea Soup”, Spend Smart. Eat Smart., Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. spendsmart.extension.iastate.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
“Split Pea Soup”, EFNEP, University of Maine Cooperative Extension. extension.umaine.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³
“Split Pea Soup”, Eat. Move. Save., University of Illinois Extension. eat-move-save.extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
Liz Bomze, “Why You Should Wait to Add Garlic”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2023. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩
Liz Bomze, “Our Guide to Fresh Herbs”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩
“Using Herbs and Spices”, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, revised 2025. udel.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Commercial Item Description A-A-20001C, Spices and Spice Blends, 2023. ams.usda.gov · Regulator ↩

Also drawn on

Chives, Allium schoenoprasum (Susan Mahr, revised July 2026), University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Horticulture. hort.extension.wisc.edu

The Best Spices for Split Pea Soup, from American Ham-and-Pea to Swedish Ärtsoppa