I don’t know about you, but after a long weekend of cooking all things Easter, I am ready for some meals that are quick and easy and use up some leftovers. This Chunky Ham and Potato Soup is the PERFECT solution. Its creamy, chunky, hearty, and a cross between a chowder and regular style soup. Chunks of ham, bacon, and corn compliment the textures of the dish, and the addition of the greek yogurt that is mixed in at the end adds such a wonderful depth of flavor.
Soup Season
I’ve been making this soup for years! We live in central Ohio, and although the summers are hot and full of sunshine, we have a lot of long months full of rainy, dreary days. These days always draw me to yummy soup and bread dinners! We eat soooo many different variations of soups in these seasons.
I feel like soup is the perfect way to get a well balanced, less wasteful meal. You can load your soup recipe with veggies to fill your kiddos bellies, or even throw together some leftovers in your fridge with some yummy homemade (or boxed) bone broth, add some seasonings and voila, a yummy soup!
You can even pair it with a loaf of my delicious homemade bread, and your left satisfied and filled with a dinner full of all the good things.
Soup is the perfect meal to feed a crowd too! Growing up, I was the oldest of 7 kiddos in a wonderful homeschool family. My moms go-to dinner was often a soup, because she could stretch her ingredients and feed our large family well. I have good memories of gathering around our big table eating chili or her chicken and black bean soup – one of my favorites.
Leftover Easter food makes Chunky Potato Soup easy!
We just made it though the most wonderful (and busy) Easter weekend full of family, get-togethers, and LOTS of eating.
Some things I have in my fridge and pantry are raw potatoes leftover from the large bag I got for mashed potatoes, a good amount of milk, since I utilize that a lot in my holiday dishes, delicious leftover ham, and some corn.
These are literally the majority of the ingredients needed for this hearty soup, and you can make it in a half hour or less. You know that’s the perfect post-holiday meal to whip up, because if you guys are like me- mama is a bit worn down right now.
Tips for making Chunk Ham and Potato Soup
• Freeze your ham leftovers! I cannot say enough how helpful it has been to freeze my leftovers. I use the ham and chicken bones for bone broth and the leftover meat for new recipes. This makes it so easy to throw together a quick soup in an evening when your meat is already cooked and ready to be tossed in. No use wasting leftovers! Freeze them. This recipe is perfect for your frozen ham meat. My ham and bean soup is another great recipe to use up some of these same leftovers.
• You can definitely make this gluten free if you substitute your regular all purpose flour for a gluten free option. You can also use an unflavored almond milk, goat milk, or coconut milk could also be substituted for the milk that is needed in this recipe. It might affect the creaminess of the recipe slightly, but my sister has been dairy free for a long time and has had good results exchanging regular milk for her dairy free milk.
• Chop your potatoes small! The smaller the potato size, the quicker this soup will cook since the majority of cook time is simmering your potatoes until they are soft.
• You can totally add some more veggies into this soup. I use corn, but I’ve made this before with some chopped celery and carrot too. Just add it in with your onion when you sauté it and cook them all until tender.
• If you don’t have ham you can totally just omit it from the recipe, and it’s still delicious!
Tools you will need
• A large pot
• Chopping knife
• Potato Masher
• Cutting board
• A plate for bacon
• Measuring cup and spoons
Ingredients
• Bone broth. You can always use chicken broth, if that’s what you have on hand. I love utilizing bone broth because it adds an extra dimension of flavor to the dish and is loaded with protein and nutrition for your body.
• Milk. I buy local whole milk that’s gently pasteurized and non homogenized. Essentially a milk that’s close to raw, and has many of it’s benefits, without actually being raw (my goal is to have raw milk someday soon!) If you want to make this soup lower in calories, you can absolutely use skim milk instead! It just might lose a little of its creaminess.
• Bacon. You can sub turkey bacon for regular bacon if you’re looking for fewer calories. I have done it successfully, but there is nothing like the flavor of regular bacon.
• Ham. Leftover ham is great! It takes the work out of this dish, since it’s already prepared. See tips above for my ham tips.
• Flour.
• Onion and garlic.
• Potatoes. Yukon or russet are my favorite to use!
• Shredded cheddar cheese. Freshly grated is ALWAYS best! It tastes better, melts better….just is better.
• Greek yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt. You can also use sour cream if you would prefer. I like the extra protein Greek yogurt offers.
• Salt and pepper
Recipe
Begin by frying the bacon in a large pot. When it is finished, remove the bacon and set it aside on a plate to add back in later.
In the pot of bacon grease, add your chopped onions and sauté until tender, about 5 mins. Add in your garlic and sauté until fragrant – be sure to not let the garlic burn.
Add 1/4 cup of flour to the pot and sauté for one min, stirring constantly.
Add bone broth and milk to the pot, followed by the potatoes. Allow soup to come almost to a boil. Once it reaches a heavy simmer reduce the heat to medium low and cover. Cook an additional 15+ min, until potatoes are fork tender, making sure to stir fairly often to prevent the bottom from burning.
Once the potatoes are soft take your potato masher and give the soup a quick mash. You’re looking for chunky soup, not a fully mashed, creamy soup.
Next stir into the soup ham, corn and bacon. Allow soup to simmer for a few min to get everything warmed up well.
Pull soup from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Finally stir in grated cheese and greek yogurt, blending until all is combined into the perfect cheesy chunky ham and potato soup!
Chunky Ham and Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bone Broth
- 2 cups Milk Whole milk for creamier texture, skim for lowfat
- 1/2 Onion chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 1/4 cup Flour All purpose
- 3 slices Bacon chopped
- 1.5 pounds Potatoes chopped small
- 1 cup Corn fresh or canned
- 2 cups Cooked Ham
- 1 tsp Salt more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
Instructions
- Begin by frying the bacon in a large pot. When it is finished, remove the bacon and set it aside on a plate to add back in later. In the pot of bacon grease, add your chopped onions and sauté until tender, about 5 mins. Add in your garlic and sauté until fragrant – be sure to not let the garlic burn.Add 1/4 cup of flour to the pot and sauté for one min, stirring constantly.
- Add bone broth and milk to the pot, followed by the potatoes. Allow soup to come almost to a boil. Once it reaches a heavy simmer reduce the heat to medium low and cover. Cook an additional 15+ min, until potatoes are fork tender, making sure to stir fairly often to prevent the bottom from burning. Once the potatoes are soft take your potato masher and give the soup a quick mash. You're looking for chunky soup, not a fully mashed, creamy soup.
- Next stir into the soup ham, corn and bacon. Allow soup to simmer for a few min to get everything warmed up well. Pull soup from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.Finally stir in grated cheese and greek yogurt, blending until all is combined into the perfect cheesy chunky ham and potato soup!
