Can you freeze Swedish pea soup?

Yes, for up to 3 months. Cool it first, freeze in portions, and thin with water when you reheat it, since it sets nearly solid in the freezer.

Do yellow split peas need to be soaked overnight?

Not the split, skinned peas sold in American stores; they break down in about 90 minutes of simmering. Whole Swedish yellow peas do need an overnight soak.

What can I use instead of pork shoulder?

A smoked ham hock gives the most traditional flavor, and thick-cut smoked bacon or leftover ham both work. For a meatless pot, skip the pork, double the carrot and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika.

Why is pea soup eaten on Thursdays in Sweden?

The habit is usually traced to pre-Reformation fasting on Fridays, when a filling meal the night before was sensible. The religion faded and the schedule did not.

It is better on day two. Cook it fully, refrigerate, then reheat gently with a splash of water and stir often so the bottom does not catch.

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Swedish Pea Soup with Pork (Ärtsoppa)

Name: Swedish Pea Soup with Pork (Ärtsoppa)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 45 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Swedish
Ingredients: 1 lb yellow split pea, about 2 1/4 cups (450 g), rinsed and picked over; 8 cup water; 1 lb pork shoulder, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, or one smoked ham hock; 1 pieces onion, finely chopped; 1 pieces carrot (optional), finely diced; 1 tsp thyme, dried, or dried marjoram if you can find it; 1 pieces bay leaf; 4 pieces allspice (optional), whole berries, or a pinch ground; salt, to taste; black pepper, to taste, freshly ground; mustard, to taste, a sharp or sweet-hot mustard, at the table; 4 slices rye bread; butter, to taste, for the bread

By MiddagsarkivetOctober 26, 2026

Time: 2 h
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4 servings

Thursday pea soup is one of the few Swedish food habits that still runs on a schedule. School cafeterias, army messes, office canteens and a fair number of home kitchens serve ärtsoppa on Thursdays, followed by thin pancakes with jam. The usual explanation is that it comes from the Catholic fasting day on Friday, when a heavy meal the night before made sense. Whether or not that is true, the schedule stuck for several hundred years after the theology stopped applying.

The soup itself is plain on purpose: yellow split peas, a piece of salted or smoked pork, onion, and a dried herb. In Sweden that herb is marjoram, which many American supermarkets stock only sporadically, so thyme stands in without complaint. The mustard is not optional in practice. Each person stirs a spoonful into the bowl, which cuts through the starch and makes the whole thing taste like a different soup.

Swedish split peas come whole and need an overnight soak. The yellow split peas sold in American stores are already split and skinned, so they break down in about an hour and a half with no soaking at all. That is the version here.

Deep bowl of thick yellow Swedish pea soup with cubes of pork and a spoonful of mustard, served with buttered rye bread — AI generated image. The dish has not been photographed.

How to make it

1
Start the peas
Rinse the split peas under cold water and pick out any stones or shriveled pieces. Put them in a large heavy pot with the water and bring to a boil over high heat.
10 min
2
Skim
Skim off the gray foam that rises in the first few minutes and discard it. The soup will be cleaner tasting for it.
5 min
3
Add the pork and aromatics
Add the cubed pork shoulder, onion, carrot, thyme, bay leaf and allspice. Lower the heat to a bare simmer and set the lid on slightly ajar.
5 min
4
Simmer
Simmer gently for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so and scraping the bottom, until the peas have collapsed into a thick soup and the pork is fully tender. Simmering takes the pork well past the safe 145°F (63°C) for whole cuts; it should pull apart easily before you stop.
1 h 25 min
5
Adjust the texture
Fish out the bay leaf and the allspice berries. If the soup is thicker than you want, stir in hot water a little at a time. If it is thin, simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes. Traditional ärtsoppa is part smooth and part whole peas, so leave it as it is, or give it two short bursts with an immersion blender.
10 min
6
Season
Season with salt and black pepper. Salted or smoked pork varies a lot, so taste before you add anything.
2 min
7
Serve
If you used a ham hock, lift it out, pull the meat from the bone, chop it and return it to the pot. Ladle into deep bowls and serve with mustard, rye bread and butter.
5 min

A couple of tips

The soup scorches on the bottom the moment you stop paying attention. Use a heavy pot, keep the heat at a lazy simmer, and stir along the bottom every 20 minutes.

An overnight soak is not needed for American split peas, but if you soak them anyway, cut the simmering time to about 45 minutes.

Stir the mustard into the bowl, not the pot. Each person wants a different amount, and it tastes sharper when it goes in cold.

What you need

a large heavy pot or Dutch oven
an immersion blender (optional)

Serving

Serve in deep bowls with mustard on the side and buttered rye bread. The Swedish Thursday menu follows the soup with thin pancakes and jam, and a small glass of hot punsch if you are being thorough about it.

Storing it

Keeps 4 days covered in the refrigerator and thickens considerably as it sits; thin with water when reheating. Freezes well for up to 3 months.

Nutrition per serving

Calories	740 kcal
Fat	20 g
of which saturated	7 g
Carbohydrates	86 g
of which sugars	11 g
Fiber	31 g
Protein	50 g
Salt	3 g

Guideline values, worked out from the ingredients.

Questions and answers

Can you freeze Swedish pea soup?: Yes, for up to 3 months. Cool it first, freeze in portions, and thin with water when you reheat it, since it sets nearly solid in the freezer.
Do yellow split peas need to be soaked overnight?: Not the split, skinned peas sold in American stores; they break down in about 90 minutes of simmering. Whole Swedish yellow peas do need an overnight soak.
What can I use instead of pork shoulder?: A smoked ham hock gives the most traditional flavor, and thick-cut smoked bacon or leftover ham both work. For a meatless pot, skip the pork, double the carrot and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika.
Why is pea soup eaten on Thursdays in Sweden?: The habit is usually traced to pre-Reformation fasting on Fridays, when a filling meal the night before was sensible. The religion faded and the schedule did not.
Can I make it ahead?: It is better on day two. Cook it fully, refrigerate, then reheat gently with a splash of water and stir often so the bottom does not catch.

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How it was made

This recipe was written by a language model. Below is what it cost, how long it took and when each step ran, so you can see how the archive comes about.

Cost: $0.246
Time: 1 min 50 sec
Model calls: 5
Safety check: Passed

Date	Step	Model	Usage	Time	Cost
Oct 26, 2026	Wrote the recipe	anthropic/claude-opus-5	8,362 in · 3,824 out tokens	53 sec	$0.137
Oct 26, 2026	Checked food safety	anthropic/claude-sonnet-5	2,420 in · 19 out tokens	1.5 sec	$0.005
Oct 26, 2026	Made the picture	bfl/flux-2-max	1 image	37.9 sec	$0.070
Oct 26, 2026	Worked out the nutrition	anthropic/claude-opus-5	1,603 in · 889 out tokens	12.7 sec	$0.030
Oct 26, 2026	Set the collections	anthropic/claude-sonnet-5	1,493 in · 34 out tokens	1.4 sec	$0.003

Swedish Pea Soup with Pork (Ärtsoppa)

How to make it

Start the peas

Skim

Add the pork and aromatics

Simmer

Adjust the texture

Season

Serve