Erwtensoep – Dutch Split Pea Soup

Thick and hearty Erwtensoep is a savoury delight. This smoky bowl of Dutch-style split pea soup is so comforting, just like a warm hug from Grandma on a cold winter’s day. It’s also the perfect soup base for making Pie Floaters for dinner!

Why We Love This

The smoky aroma fills the kitchen, instantly warming and welcoming anyone who steps over the threshold. A slightly different take on the English version of Pea and Ham Soup, we love the use of celeriac and a clove-studded onion in the Dutch version.

There’s also nothing better than mopping up a bowl of this one pot soup with a crusty piece of bread dripping with butter. Yum!

Related: Best Winter Comfort Food Recipes

What is Erwtensoep? 

Erwtensoep (pronounced: Air-ten-soup) is a hearty, smoky soup featuring green split peas simmered down with pork, carrots, onion, leeks and celeriac (which is the root ball from a type of celery).

It can also go by the name of Snert or just Dutch Split Pea Soup. No matter what you call it, we’re sure you’re going to love it.

Now, Erwtensoep is traditionally eaten during the winter, with rookworst, slices of frisian rye bread (roggebrood) and bacon, cheese or butter.

If you’re lucky enough to head down to the frozen canals, ponds or lakes of the Netherlands for a spot of ice skating, you can warm yourself up afterwards with a bowl of piping hot snert, dished up as a savoury street snack from ‘koek en zopie‘ outlets.

Dutch Split Pea Soup it may be called, but the final dish has more of a stew-like consistency. The key is to make it so thick a spoon can stand upright in it.

What You’ll Need

All the good and hearty ingredients for a nice thick soup are in this dish! All ingredients should be easy to come by, or have substitutes to get you close enough.

You’ll find smoked bacon bones at the butcher or local supermarket more often around the cooler months. Ask around or call ahead if you’re unsure they’ll be in stock. In a pinch, add either a ham hock or just a couple of drops of liquid smoke to give the soup that smoky flavour.

Celeriac is the root of a type of celery, and tastes like celery but has the texture of potato in a soup. You can usually find them at the supermarket or Farmer’s market. If you can’t get hold of one, you can easily substitute with a couple of potatoes, turnips, parsnips or celery stalks.

How to make Dutch Split Pea Soup:

Start with a big pot because you’re gonna need it!

Pour the green split peas straight into the empty pot, then add the bacon bones, bacon pieces, pork chop, pepper, beef stock, and clove-studded onion. Pour in the water and fire up the stove to a medium-high heat.

Bring to the boil then simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Scoop off any broth foam that appears. Remove the pork chop and slice the meat off the bones – we’ll be adding the meat back in later.

Add all the chopped veggies (leeks, carrots and celeriac) and give everything a good stir. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes until soft and delicious. Stir occasionally to avoid the vegetables sticking to the bottom.

At the “15 minutes-to-go” mark remove the bacon bones and the clove-studded onion. Discard the bones. Remove the cloves from the onion and discard the cloves, then chop the onion. Add the chopped onion and pork back into the soup.

Now you’ve got a big choice friends. To blend – or not to blend? To blend, use a stick blender, regular blender or food processor and blend the soup in batches til you’re happy with the consistency. Or you can easily leave it chunky! We won’t judge.

Your final soup/stew should be thick enough for a spoon to stand upright. Mission accomplished?

Wandercook’s Tips

• Studding the onion with the cloves means you don’t have to go fishing for the tiny bits and pieces later!
• If you find the cloves too hard to put in the onion, try poking little slits in the onion first with a knife, then pushing them in with the back of a spoon instead of using your fingers.
• Let the onion cool a little before cutting it up, as it stays quite hot. Otherwise, use tongs or a fork to hold it in place without touching it. If you’re feeling really lazy, put it back in whole and just blend it later.
• If you want to use the soup as a base for something like Pie Floater with Pea Soup, blend it for the best consistency to hold up the pie.

FAQs

Variations

• Substitute celeriac with a couple of potatoes, turnips, parsnips or celery stalks.
• Swap out the bacon bones for either a ham hock, Polish kielbasa or just a couple of drops of liquid smoke to give the soup that smoky flavour.
• You can use yellow split peas if required, the taste will be slightly different, but should yield ‘souper’ similar results.
• Make it vegan by omitting the meat and adding extra vegetables such as potato to make up the weight. You can also use vegetable stock instead of beef and add a few drops of liquid smoke to round out the flavour profile.

Batch cooking for winter? Here are some more warming favourites:

• Udon Noodle Soup
• Chunky Pumpkin Miso Soup
• Pumpkin Sweetcorn Soup
• Jani Me Fasule – Albanian White Bean Soup

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