Hearty Split Pea Soup with Turkey Sausage

The turkey sausage I use is Coleman Organic. It has NO pork products. Some turkey sausage has pork casings! Can you believe it? Anyway, Coleman is organic and tastes wonderful. The casings are lamb. I like the mild Italian flavor. I cooked the sausages first in a skillet with about 1 TB olive oil for 5-6 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Then I cut them into chunks.

Hearty Split Pea Soup with Turkey Sausage
Yield: Serves 6

Adapted from: The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufman

  • 2 cups [organic] dried split peas, picked over and rinsed
  • 6 cups [organic] chicken broth or water
  • 1/2 pound [organic] turkey kielbasa, split lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (I cook mine first)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 large stalks celery, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt (or to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf

1) Place all the ingredients in the rice cooker bowl (I misted with olive oil and lecithin). Close the cover and set for regular cycle. Set timer for 1 hour.

2) When timer sounds, check the peas for doneness, they should be VERY SOFT. (Mine took about 1 hour and 45 minutes.) Taste the soup and add any seasoning needed. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

About Vickilynn Parnes

A student of health and nutrition for 40+ years, Vickilynn Parnes has over 30 years of actual hands-on experience reviewing and personally using different tools of the homemaking vocation, focusing on the areas of health and nutrition. Vickilynn is a magazine columnist, product reviewer, cookbook author and radio talk show host, as well as being full-time mom to 5 children.