The Best Split Pea Soup for a Hearty Meal

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I was born to find the best split pea soup at the grocery store. Just the other day at the office, we were discussing our favorite soups (we really do talk about food all day), and my colleague Justine Sterling and I both said split pea. What an underrated and underappreciated soup! It’s packed with plant-based protein and fiber. It’s hearty and filling. And it’s nice and smoky when it’s flavored with a pork product of some kind. But the sad fact of the matter is that there aren’t nearly enough restaurants serving split pea soup. Yes, it looks like what Regan spews onto Father Karras in The Exorcist, but it tastes so good! Anyway, I can’t make restaurants serve split pea soup, but I can direct you toward the best canned split pea soup at the grocery store. 

When we sat down for this tasting, we were looking for split pea soup that’s creamy, flavorful, and doesn’t just taste like a can. We wanted restaurant quality split pea soup—and we actually found it. Now, rustle up some croutons, start shifting into soup mode, and let’s talk about the best split pea soup you can buy.


best split pea soup

Best Accessible

Progresso Split Pea with Ham

Not to be confused with Progresso Green Split Pea (which is not good), this canned split pea soup has big chunks of carrot and potato, and little chewy cubes of ham. It’s salty and tastes like a lot of other Progresso soups in that sort of homogenous canned soup way, but it definitely scratches that split pea soup itch. It’s also much better than Campbell’s Chunky Split Pea—same idea, but Progresso’s execution is much better. This isn’t the best canned split pea soup at the grocery store, but if you see Progresso soups on sale, it’s definitely worth stocking up on a few cans for the next time you need something hot, filling, and very low effort.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

best split pea soup

Best Vegan

Dr. McDougall’s Vegan Split Pea Soup

This vegan split pea soup is bursting with savory flavor. It comes in a cup rather than a can; you just dump in a seasoning packet, add water, and pop it in the microwave. The seasoning packet is a great touch—the flavors of the herbs, parsley in particular, infuse the soup. Dr. McDougall’s  also has yeast extract, which amps up the soup’s rich, savory flavor. It almost tastes smoky even though there’s no bacon. This is a really nice, hearty and interesting cup of soup! And we love that it’s both vegan and gluten free. It’s the best split pea soup for vegans, but omnivores will like it, too.

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

best split pea soup

Best Condensed

Campbell’s Split Pea with Ham & Bacon

Campbell’s condensed split pea soup is a staple in my household. It’s flavorful and smoky and packed with veggies. And when you crack open a can, you can always see a little bit of congealed bacon fat nestled in between the nice, firm split peas—what you’re looking at there is flavor, my dudes. Toss this in a pot with a cup of water, stir it (very) well, and you have an unbelievably satisfying meal in no time flat. If you’re really hungry, it’s the best canned split pea soup for pairing with a buttery grilled swiss cheese sandwich. Perfection.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

andersen's pea soup review

Best of the Best

Andersen’s Creamy Soup Split Pea

Here in California, there’s a small chain of restaurants called Pea Soup Andersen’s, which specialize in, you guessed it, pea soup. I’ve never gotten around to stopping on my journeys up I-5, so I was thrilled to discover that Andersen’s sells their pea soup in grocery stores. When I tell you this is the best canned split pea soup I’ve ever tasted, I need you to believe me. It’s unbelievably creamy. If you are highly attached to the texture of whole split peas in your split pea soup, this is not the split pea soup for you. It’s so, so smooth and so rich with pea flavor that I don’t think you’ll miss the chew of peas. At the restaurant, you can add on toppings like bacon bits, shredded cheddar, and diced ham—it would be incredible to dress up the canned version that way. I’m not totally certain this is sold at grocery stores nationwide, but it’s worth ordering by the case on Amazon. (Note: Andersen’s split pea soup is totally plant based, but appears to identify as vegetarian rather than vegan because it may come in contact with eggs and/or dairy during packaging.)

Credit: Merc / Pavilions

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other split pea soup we tried: Tbotchnick, Amy’s, Pacific Foods, Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request

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About the Author

Gwynedd Stuart

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.