Yellow Split Peas substitute

Best substitute

Green Split Peas

Use the same amount by volume, same cooking time as the yellow split peas you are replacing

Best for artsoppa

Close match

The best substitute for yellow split peas is green split peas, measure for measure, cooked exactly the same way. Chana dal is the next best but needs 15 to 25 minutes longer and extra liquid, and red split lentils work if you halve the cooking time and use a little less liquid.

Other yellow split peas substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Chana Dal (Split Desi Chickpeas)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, but add 15 to 25 minutes and about ½ cup extra liquid per cup
Similar size and colour, similar starchy body, and it turns golden the way yellow peas do.
What changes
Best for
split pea soup, purees, dals, fritters
It holds its shape far more stubbornly, so the soup ends up chunky and brothy rather than velvety, and the flavour is nuttier and firmer. Blitz half of it with a stick blender at the end and the texture problem disappears.
3Red or Orange Split Lentils (Masoor Dal)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, roughly half the cooking time, about 10 percent less liquid
Cheap, everywhere, and they break down into a puree exactly as split peas do, only faster.
What changes
Best for
quick split pea soup, purees, dals, thickening stews
Sweeter, softer and a touch more mineral, and they collapse completely in about 20 to 25 minutes, so watch the pot. The finished soup is smoother but thinner in body, which is why you hold back liquid at the start.
4Yellow Moong Dal
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, about 25 to 30 minutes
Right colour, cooks fast, and breaks down into a completely smooth puree with no lumps.
What changes
Best for
quick soups, purees, porridges
Delicate, sweet and pale, without the savoury depth that makes a good artsoppa taste like a meal. Lean harder on the pork, thyme and marjoram, and add a little extra salt, or the soup tastes like baby food.
5Toor Dal (Split Pigeon Peas)
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, similar cooking time, rinse well
Very similar size, colour and cooking time, and it makes a genuinely good pea-style soup.
What changes
Best for
artsoppa, split pea soup, purees, dals
Earthy with a faintly sour-sweet aftertaste that a Nordic pea soup does not normally have, though it is subtle enough that most people would not name it. Some toor dal is sold oiled, so rinse it in a few changes of water first.
6Cooked White Beans, Blended
Different taste
2 drained cans replace roughly 1 cup dried split peas
The fast fix when dinner is in 30 minutes and there are no dried pulses in the house.
What changes
Best for
emergency soup, purees, thickening
Creamy and thick, so the texture is convincing, but the flavour is sweetish and bland with no pea character at all. Push the seasoning hard: mustard, marjoram, plenty of black pepper and a smoked ham hock or bacon, or the soup tastes of nothing.

What is Yellow Split Peas?

Yellow Split Peas is the hulled, halved dried field pea, which cooks from dry without soaking and collapses as it goes, so what it contributes to a soup or a dal is thick starchy body and a mild earthy sweetness rather than a bean that holds its shape.

Cooking tips

Split peas do not need soaking, which is the whole point of splitting them, but do rinse them and pick out grit and any dark or shrivelled peas before they go in the pot.
Hold back the salt, vinegar and tomato until the peas are fully soft. Acid and salt early in the cook keep the skins tough, and that is the single most common reason a split pea soup stays grainy after two hours.
Old peas may simply never soften, no matter what you do. If a batch is still gritty after 90 minutes of gentle simmering, the peas are the problem, not your cooking, so buy fresher stock next time.
Swedish artsoppa and Finnish hernekeitto are built on yellow peas simmered with pork, and the sweet mustard served alongside is part of the dish rather than a garnish. Put it on the table even if you had to substitute the peas.
The soup thickens a great deal as it cools and even more overnight, sometimes to the point of being sliceable. Loosen it with water or stock when reheating and re-check the salt afterwards.
Simmer gently and stir the bottom of the pan regularly. Split pea starch settles and scorches fast, and a scorched batch tastes bitter all the way through.

Frequently asked questions

Are yellow and green split peas interchangeable?

Yes, almost perfectly. They cook in the same time, need no soaking, and thicken identically. The only real differences are that green split peas taste grassier and more strongly of pea, and they turn the soup green, which matters if you are making a traditional golden Swedish artsoppa or Danish gule aerter and want it to look right.

Can I use whole dried peas instead of split peas?

You can, but soak them overnight first and expect an extra 30 to 60 minutes of simmering. Whole peas keep their skins, so they hold their shape rather than dissolving, and the soup comes out brothy with distinct peas in it instead of thick and creamy. Blend part of it if you want the traditional texture.

Can I just leave the split peas out?

No. In artsoppa, hernekeitto or gule aerter the peas are the body, the thickener and most of the flavour all at once, so removing them leaves you with seasoned pork broth. Any of the split pulses above will give you a real soup; green split peas or chana dal are the closest.

Can I use frozen or canned green peas instead?

Not for the body of the soup. Garden peas are a different, sweeter, high-moisture vegetable that will never thicken a broth, so you would get sweet pea soup rather than the earthy, porridge-thick dish split peas make. They are fine stirred in at the end for colour and sweetness alongside a real split pulse.

Do I need to soak yellow split peas?

No. Splitting removes the hull, so they absorb water quickly and cook in roughly 45 to 60 minutes straight from dry. Soaking does no harm and can shave off 15 minutes, but it also makes them more likely to fall apart into complete mush, which some cooks want and others do not.

Related substitutes

More legumes substitutes

Yellow Split Peas substitute

Other yellow split peas substitutes

2Chana Dal (Split Desi Chickpeas)

3Red or Orange Split Lentils (Masoor Dal)

4Yellow Moong Dal

5Toor Dal (Split Pigeon Peas)

6Cooked White Beans, Blended