British Pease Pudding
Pease Pudding is an easy, British side dish made with yellow split peas that are cooked with vegetables and smoked ham. Typically served on a ham sandwich, or as a side to a meat dish.
Pease Pudding is not even a pudding, it is more of a paste (like hummus). It is made by cooking yellow split peas with a smoked ham hock or shank with vegetables, then blended or mashed.
Not to be confused with mushy peas, this is a native dish to the North East of England from the 14th Century that has its own rhyme. It has been dubbed as ‘Tyneside Pâte’, or Geordie Caviar which. Also, the name is not a typo, there really is an ‘e’ on the end of peas. Not sure why.
What is the Pease Pudding rhyme?
Pease pudding hot, Pease pudding cold, Pease pudding in the pot nine days old. Some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in the pot, nine days old.
Some recipes don’t call for the use of ham broth to cook the split peas, including my own mothers. Cooking it this way gives a great depth of flavor and once you try it this way, I think you’ll prefer it too.
Use of the ham shank/ham hock
The ham shank is only used to flavor the broth. Once you have used it, you can save it to use the ham for Ham & Split Pea Soup.
Traditionally, Pease pudding is served in a sandwich roll with ham or as a side dish with sliced ham. It can be served warm or cold. Personally, I like it warm or room temperature because the flavors are better which makes it portable for road trips and picnics.
Another dish served in the North of England is a British pork sausage called a Saveloy, a cooked sausage. It is like the British version of a hot dog that can be served with Pease pudding.
Additional serving suggestion
Blend with chicken stock to make a smoky lentil soup.
How long does Pease pudding keep?
In a sealed container, refrigerated up to 1 week. Contrary to the rhyme.
British Pease Pudding
A side dish made with yellow split peas, flavored with smoked ham and vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) yellow split peas, rinsed
- 1 ½ pound (711 grams) Ham hock/shank/ham bone or smoked bacon
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 1 onion, peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Add the split peas to a bowl and cover with water, make sure they are well covered. Leave overnight, or 8 hours to soak at room temperature.
- Add the ham hock/shank/bone or smoked bacon, carrot, onion, bay leaves, to a pan and cover with 3 liters (12 cups) water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the ham shank/hock, vegetables and bay leaves.
- To a pan, add the split peas pour over enough of the ham broth to cover, about 4 cups (1 liter). Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, stir in the salt and butter. Mash or use a blender to achieve your desired consistency.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 178Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 37mgSodium 611mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 5gSugar 3gProtein 14g
This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.
20 Comments on “British Pease Pudding”
Boiled ham or Savaloys and pease pudding was very common in East London when I was a child.
We used to have it for lunch on Saturdays and ate it hot on plates, never in bread.
Pease pudding was the same consistency as mashed potatoes and must have been mashed as there were no lumps.
I went yesterday and bought a ham hock , soaked split peas overnight and bought fresh bread buns, wish it was a Scottie cake and when it cools I’m going to have a ham and peace pudding in a bun .
Live in Australia, you can’t buy it ready made over here.
Same here, I live in the U.S and pease pudding doesn’t even exist. Enjoy.
Just seen a recipe with it served with a large lamb chop, and had malt vinegar stirred into the pudding, immediately before serving, looked good enough to try soon?
Don’t know where Saveloy in the NE derives from, it’s been nationwide in UK chip sops since Adam was a lad. Many legume recipes in UK, pre-date the arrival of potatoes!!!!
Apologies, Pork Chop!!!!
Also delicious with faggots and creamed potatoes ….
A very long time ago, “pease” meant a single legume seed, what we would now call a “pea”; in fact, the same word apparently served as both singular and plural. In more recent centuries, a sort of folk etymology took hold and refashioned the use of the word to make it similar to other English nouns, so “pea” was created as a singular, and “peas” (with the “e” dropped) became the new plural.
I live in New Mexico and I’ve never made this before and was wondering if it can be made in a slow cooker/crockpot?
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Please and thank you,
If I were to make this in the slow cooker, I would soak the split peas overnight. Then add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I hope this helps and please come back and let me know how it turned out. Enjoy.
Yes you can.I live in the North east of UK. I make it regularly in my slow cooker. Give a good stir after a few hours. You can make it on high or low. We don’t add veg never have done, but do add butter at the end. When this is cooked it is thick but still thin enough to run. Once cold it goes solid but a soft solid. Very nice 👌
I don’t ever remember my nana putting veg is any of her pease pudding recipes but I can’t find her original one does anyone have or know the original pease pudding recipe I’ve always eaten it spread on bread & butter I’ve been craving it for years? I live in the north of the uk too
My Gran came from Durham and always put a potatoe in her Pease Pudding,, this was during the war years so may have done this because of the lack of butter being unavailable.
Cooked it yesterday, very nice; I have also made a modified version of the recipe to cook in my ‘Sage Fast Slow Go’ (type of instapot) which has also been a success as there is no soaking involved.
I’m a native Tynesider with another serving suggestion. Fry up some bacon and just before it fully cooked add a large tablespoon of pease pudding to the pan and heat it through in the shallow bacon fat and allowing it to crisp on the outside. Then serve it hot with the bacon in your sandwich. Delicious. My favourite way to eat it. Yum!
That sounds delicious and sounds like something my family would make. Thank you for the suggestion 🙂
I,m also from NE. I love it on toast.
Ham shank 110% never heard of it any other way other than not using it at all for vegetarians. Personally I put hint of garlic and ginger in mines but thays beauty of pease pudding its each to there own.
Thank you for garlic and ginger suggestions, I’ll give that a try 🙂
Never ever use smoked ham or shank to make peas pudding. Use boiled ham. Remove the ham when cooked, pour in your yellow split peas and leave to simmer for a couple of hours. Then blend it with an immersion blender stick. Then put a few dice sized pieces of ham into the pud and let it cool overnight. Nothing more complicated than that.
I’m not sure that you can say that considering that my Nana would make this recipe different to someone else’s, but thank you for your version.