This pea pottage with gammon and vegetables is an all in one meal that is perfect for feeding a family or a crowd.
This slow cooker meal uses budget friendly ingredients, such as carrots, split peas and potatoes. It's nutritious, filling and delicious.
Perfect for freezing too, for when you want to get ahead.
Enjoy.
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❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Family friendly and great for a crowd.
- Great for freezing.
- Budget friendly ingredients and cooking.
- Serve as is - no need for extra vegetables.
- Filling and nutritious.
- Easy to vary the ingredients.
🤔 FAQs
Pottage has its origins in Medieval europe, where it was a staple meal in every household and cooked over a cauldron.
Grains or dried split peas formed the basis for the stew. Next, it was whatever vegetables were to hand, such as carrots, cabbage, turnips and swede, (rutabaga).
For richer households meat would be added, such as pork or beef that had been cured to last over the winter.
Typically, pottage is quite a soupy stew and not to be confused with pease pudding, which is a concoction with split peas cooked to a thick consistency and often served with boiled gammon.
Sometimes it's worth investigating old fashioned ideas, to make a meal out of basic ingredients to save money. I have to say that, if you love ham and pea soup or London Particular soup, you will definitely love the flavours in this dish. It's rich and hearty.
This is also a great one pot meal for feeding a family, with very little to wash up afterwards. Or, make a batch and freeze for when there is nothing in the house.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Gammon - Use smoked gammon steaks for the best flavour.
- Peas - dried yellow split peas which will need to be soaked in water the night before cooking. The slow cooker won't reach a high enough temperature to cook them thoroughly.
- Potatoes - new potatoes for ease or boiling potatoes such as red potatoes, (Rooster or Desiree).
- Stock - ham or pork stock.
- Oil - vegetable or olive oil for frying the gammon. Depending on the water content of the gammon, you might not need to add any oil.
- Onion - regular brown onion.
- Celery - this really cooks down in the stew but adds lots of flavour.
- Carrots - any carrots you have.
- Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
- Bay leaf - a dried bay leaf gives a great subtle flavour. Add a teaspoon of dried herbs if you like too.
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.
🍽 Equipment
- 3.5 litre / 5.3 pint capacity slow cooker
- chopping board
- sharp knife
- large skillet or frying pan
- saucepan
🍲Slow Cooker Tips for this recipe
- Preheat the slow cooker while you are preparing the ingredients.
- Vegetables can take a long time to cook in a slow cooker, so always place large pieces at the bottom. A slow cooker with a larger capacity cooks vegetables more evenly.
- Make sure that there is at least 2 centimetres of space in the bowl when it is full.
- Do not remove the lid in the first half of the cooking time, as valuable heat will be lost and cooking time will need to be extended.
- All stock should be boiling when added at the beginning of cooking.
- If you prefer, you can add all the ingredients to the slow cooker without any precooking. This is useful if you don't have much time, but keep in mind that the cooking time may be longer.
🔪 Instructions
Soak the split peas in 500 millilitres or 1 pint of water for 8 hours.
Drain and add to a saucepan with the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave the peas in the stock.
Cut the potatoes into chunks about an inch or 2-3 centimetres. There's no need to peel them.
Chop the carrots into 1 centimetre pieces, dice the onion and slice the celery.
Put the vegetables in the slow cooker with the potatoes at the bottom.
Slice the gammon steaks into bite sized pieces.
If required, put the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the gammon for 2 minutes.
Add the onion and allow to soften for 2 minutes.
Add the peas and stock to the ham, along with the bay leaf and pepper.
Bring to a simmer and check the seasoning.
Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Cook on HIGH for 4 - 6 hours. until the peas and vegetables are tender.
Traditionally, pea pottage is quite thin. If you prefer a thicker stock, combine a tablespoon of cornflour (cornstarch) with water and stir through the stew.
Leave to cook for another 20 minutes.
Garnish with some fresh chopped parsley to serve.
🥗 Serve with
Try this slow cooker pea pottage with, bread or some of these side dish ideas.
- Leeks in White Sauce
- Honey Roast Carrots and Parsnips
- Fried Cabbage with Bacon
- Roast Savoy Cabbage
- Whole Baked Cauliflower Cheese
- Roasted Green Beans and Carrots
- Roasted Long Stem Broccoli
- Roasted Swede Chips
- Kentish Huffkins
- Cheese Savoury
🥙 Substitutions
- Gammon steaks - use leftover shredded ham added directly to the slow cooker.
- New potatoes - boiling potatoes such as red potatoes, (Rooster or Desiree).
📖 Variations
- Pork - use pork shoulder steaks instead.
- Leftovers - use leftover roasted lamb, beef, chicken, pork or game and add straight to the slow cooker.
- Vegetables - use swede, parsnips, turnips, cabbage or butter nut squash.
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer - cool and pack into a container or in individual packs and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat - Place in a covered casserole dish in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 for 20 to 30 minutes until piping hot. Alternatively place in the slow cooker.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Many slow cooked meat stews actually taste better the day after, when the flavours have had time to mature, so you may wish to make the pottage the day before you plan on serving it.
More slow cooker and one pot meals
- Slow Cooker Beef and Ale Stew
- Slow Cooker Christmas Pudding
- Slow Cooker Brisket and Gravy
- Slow Cooker Beef Cheeks
- Slow Cooker Turkey Crown
- Slow Cooker Corned Beef Hash
- Slow Cooker Chocolate Rice Pudding
- Slow Cooker Venison Stew
📋 Recipe
Pea Pottage
Equipment
- 3.5 litre /5.3 pint capacity slow cooker
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- large skillet or frying pan
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 450 g gammon steaks smoked
- 160 g plit yellow peas
- 500 g new potatoes
- 900 ml ham stock or chicken or pork
- 1 tablespoon oil optional
- 1 onion
- 4 sticks celery
- 2 large Carrots
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
Instructions
- Soak the split peas in 500 millilitres or 1 pint of water for 8 hours.
- Drain and add to a saucepan with the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and leave the peas in the stock.
- Cut the potatoes into chunks about an inch or 2-3 centimetres. There's no need to peel them.
- Chop the carrots into 1 centimetre pieces, dice the onion and slice the celery.
- Put the vegetables in the slow cooker with the potatoes at the bottom.
- Slice the gammon steaks into bite sized pieces.
- If required, put the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the gammon for 2 minutes.
- Add the onion and allow to soften for 2 minutes.
- Add the peas and stock to the ham, along with the bay leaf and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer and check the seasoning.
- Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 4 - 6 hours. until the peas and vegetables are tender.
- If you prefer a thicker stock, combine a tablespoon of cornflour (cornstarch) with water and stir through the stew.
- Leave to cook for another 20 minutes.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article
Slow Cooker
- Slow Cooker Venison Shanks6 Hours 15 Minutes
- Slow Cooker Venison Stew4 Hours 19 Minutes
- Slow Cooker Beef and Ale Stew5 Hours 30 Minutes
- Slow Cooker Chocolate Rice Pudding4 Hours
🍲Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?
Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover the dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties
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Beth
This looks absolutely delicious. I love how packed with veggies it is! This is the kind of hearty stew I love making for the family.
Dana
This is such a delicious recipe. The smokiness is so comforting!
Cathleen
I love this recipe so much!! It is the ultimate comfort food, thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Kathleen
This hearty, comforting and delicious pea pottage is a perfect meal for my family.
Tayler
I made this pea pottage for dinner last night and MAN was it delicious! So comforting!
Stephanie
We enjoyed this pea pottage for dinner - it was delicious and satisfying. A great meal to make during the hot summer months when I use my slow cooker often. Adding this to my recipe box to make again!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
Wow, this pea pottage recipe is simply fantastic! I followed the instructions exactly as written, and the result was a delicious and satisfying dish.
Jacqueline Debono
I love hearty simple recipes like this pea pottage. These dishes are similar to traditional recipes here in Italy where I live. Many are made from basic ingredients that would have been available to the peasant population in the past. Quality meat was more affordable for the rich, the rural folk made use of legumes and off cuts! Going to definitely give this recipe a try when the weather cools!
Elizabeth
The gammon gives this soup a nice smoky flavor. With the split peas and vegetables this is definitely a healthy comfort food recipe!
Andrea
This Pea pottage is new to me but I love how hearty and flavorful it is. Looking forward to making this for my family.