Ham and Potato Soup

Easy Ham and Potato Soup is made in one pot on the stovetop. It’s thick, hearty, comforting, and the perfect way to use any leftover holiday ham!

Use additional leftover ham in this Ham and Cheese Quiche, these Ham and Cheese Sliders, or this delicious Ham Pot Pie.

Ham and Potato Soup

We’re having a little bit of a cold spell this week and with lots of leftover ham from Easter, nothing sounds better than Ham and Potato Soup! It’s the ultimate comfort food — it’s hearty and thick with so much flavor. We’ve got all kinds of veggies, plenty of ham, lots of potatoes, and a creamy soup base that’s been perfectly seasoned with a little bit of cayenne, thyme, and oregano.

How to make Ham and Potato Soup

• Start by sautéing the ham and then setting it aside on a paper towel-lined plate: this gives the ham a nice crispness which adds a great texture to the soup.
• Sauté the veggies until they’re golden brown and tender.
• Melt the butter, and then sprinkle flour over everything; this is our roux, which will thicken the soup
• Add milk gradually, stirring until thick. Then add in the chicken broth or stock– You can use ham stock if you’d like; I’ll share how to make that below!
• Mix in the diced potatoes and simmer the soup until thick and the potatoes are tender.
• Add the ham back in, along with corn, and stir to warm through.
• Stir in Cheddar cheese and heat until melted.
• Serve and enjoy.

How to make homemade ham broth

If you’ve got a leftover ham bone, you can make homemade ham broth to use in this ham and potato soup. Here’s how you do it:

• Add the ham bone to a large stockpot (or slow cooker) and add enough water to cover the bone halfway. (This is about 7-8 cups of water for me.) Add in 2-3 carrots (cut into chunks), 1 celery stalk (cut into chunks), and 2-3 minced garlic cloves. Add in a few sprigs of fresh thyme or about 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid, and allow to simmer for about 1 hour or until very fragrant. Alternatively, cook on low for 6-8 hours in a slow cooker.
• Discard the ham bone and strain out the veggies; you’ve now got homemade ham broth! Replace the chicken stock in this recipe with your ham broth. It also freezes well to use for another recipe later.

Variations

• Top the soup with cooked bacon. (To keep this a one-pot soup, cook the bacon before beginning the soup.)
• Thick or thin. We love this soup thick and chunky, but feel free to increase the broth or milk in this recipe to make it a bit thinner. 
• Add in a few more veggies. A handful of chopped frozen broccoli (add along with the corn) or a diced bell pepper (add with the onion, carrot, and celery) would make nice additions.

Ham and Potato Soup tips

• Make sure to dice the potatoes into small pieces (1/2-inch) so they can cook through in the 8-12 minutes indicated in the recipe. Larger potato chunks will need to simmer longer. 
• Cut veggies generally the same size for even cooking; if some pieces are a lot larger than others you’ll have some mushy and some crisp veggies in the soup.
• Use Yukon gold potatoes. While other potatoes will work in this soup, we love the creamy, tender, and buttery flavor Yukon golds deliver. Their skin is also delicate, so you really don’t need to peel them first. Learn a bit about what makes this type of potato so special in this article!
• As this Ham and Potato Soup simmers and thickens, be sure to stir it often and scrape the bottom as you stir (the flour and butter have a tendency to stick to the bottom–and that will result in a soup that doesn’t thicken properly). 

QUICK TIP

I recommend freshly grated cheese; pre-grated cheese has a cellulose coating that results in a greasier/clumpier soup more prone to graininess.

Freezing this soup

Leftover Ham and Potato Soup can be refrigerated for 3-4 days, but I don’t recommend freezing it because there is so much dairy in it. The milk solids will separate as the soup thaws, resulting in a grainy texture with a lot of separation.

Reheating this soup

Reheating a dairy-based soup made with cheese can be tricky; we want to keep it as smooth and velvety as when it was first made. To reheat, add the leftover ham and potato soup to a pot and slowly increase the heat while stirring frequently. Don’t boil the soup or reheat it at a high temperature; this will likely cause the ingredients to separate.

More soup recipes

• Slow cooker Mexican Street Corn and  Chicken Chowder
• Sausage Potato Soup reader favorite recipe!
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup Olive Garden copycat
• Pasta Soup with Italian sausage
• Creamy Vegetable Soup loaded with veggies

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Ham and Potato Soup

5 from 15 votes

- Review this recipe

This easy Ham and Potato Soup is made in one pot on the stovetop. It's thick, hearty, comforting, and the perfect way to use any leftover holiday ham!

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Ham and Potato Soup

5 from 15 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

This easy Ham and Potato Soup is made in one pot on the stovetop. It's thick, hearty, comforting, and the perfect way to use any leftover holiday ham!

Course lunch, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword ham and potato soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 336kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $6.72

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil, separated
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups cubed leftover (fully cooked) ham
• ▢ 1 small yellow onion, diced (~1 cup)
• ▢ 1 large carrot, diced (heaping 1/2 cup)
• ▢ 1 stalk celery, diced (heaping 1/2 cup)
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (~2 cloves)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 3 tablespoons white flour
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon EACH: dried thyme, dried oregano
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, optional
• ▢ Seasoned salt and freshly cracked pepper
• ▢ 3 cups milk (1%, 2% or whole; whole will be creamiest and what I typically use)
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
• ▢ 2 cups Yukon gold potatoes, diced (peeled if desired) (See Note 1)
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups frozen corn
• ▢ 1 cup freshly grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• ▢ Optional: fresh thyme or fresh parsley

Instructions

• HAM: Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to a large cast-iron pot over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add in the chopped ham and sauté for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate. Quickly dry the pot and return to the stove top.
• VEGGIES: Over high heat, add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and once shimmering, add the 1 cup diced onion, heaping 1/2 cup carrot, and heaping 1/2 cup celery. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add in the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons garlic and stir for another minute.
• THICKEN: Add the butter to the pot and stir until melted. Once melted, sprinkle in the flour. Stir for 1 minute to cook off the raw flavor of the flour. Add the seasonings: the 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if desired). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir seasonings for 30 seconds. Pour in 1 cup of milk and whisk until it starts to thicken (~1 minute); then pour in the remaining two cups of milk. Whisk until it thickens (~2-3 minutes) and then add in the 1 and 1/2 cups chicken stock. Whisk until slightly thickened (another ~1-2 minutes). (See Note 2)
• POTATOES: Bring the soup to a boil, slightly lower the heat to medium, and add the potatoes to the soup. Cook for 8 to 12 minutes, stirring often. The soup will thicken as it cooks and the potatoes should be fork tender after 8-10 minutes. (If the soup has thickened too much, add in a splash of additional chicken stock; I usually add up to 1/2 cup extra.)
• HAM AND CORN: Once the potatoes are fork tender, stir in the corn and the ham you set aside earlier. Heat through. Decrease the heat to low and add in the freshly grated cheese. Stir until just melted and then taste for seasonings. Remove from heat.
• SERVE: Serve bowls of soup garnished with fresh thyme or parsley, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Make sure to dice the potatoes into small pieces (1/2-inch) so they can cook through in the 8-12 minutes indicated in the recipe. Larger potato chunks will need to simmer longer, which will result in too much liquid being absorbed.

Note 2: As the soup simmers and thickens, be sure to stir it often and scrape the bottom as you stir. (The flour and butter have a tendency to stick to the bottom which will result in a soup that doesn't thicken properly.)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6servings | Calories: 336kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.6g | Protein: 16.6g | Fat: 18.7g | Cholesterol: 62.7mg | Sodium: 744.6mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 9g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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