This creamy ham soup with chunky potato is a classic chowder-style that only uses a few ingredients to bring instant rainy-day comfort. And, it’s ready in only 30 minutes!
This classic ham soup recipe is creamy and loaded with soft chunky potato. It also uses some chicken broth, whole milk, and flour. You can easily turn it into a loaded potato soup by adding some cheddar cheese and green onions as a topping when you serve it.
For this recipe, you don’t need a ham bone, but if you have one, I have instructions for what to do to make soup using a ham bone below. Additional details about this recipe are below or you can click here to jump straight to the recipe.
Ingredients For Potato Ham Soup
The ingredients in this soup are really basic, which is wonderful because I can often make it from things that I already have. You’ll need:
- Baking potatoes (peeled or not): If you have a different type of potato, don’t worry. Any type will work. The baking potatoes are just nice and fluffy, so that’s why I prefer them.
- Ham: I like to buy a package of cubed ham. That’s convenient for sure! But, any kind of ham lunchmeat works. This soup is also a wonderful use for leftover baked ham, so if you have some baked bon-in ham or baked boneless ham leftover from a dinner, you’re in for a treat! The only thing that I really have to say about the type of ham is that you need to keep in mind that flavors in the ham will get into the soup. If your ham is really smoky, your soup will be smoky. If your ham has a marmalade glaze, your soup will have a subtle orange flavor. Having said that, I have never found any of the possible flavors on ham to not be good in this soup, so don’t worry. I just want you to know what to expect.
- Chicken broth: You can use vegetable broth or any kind of stock. Just note that some broths and stocks have more color to them than others. So, for instance, if you used a beef stock, your soup might have a more beige tint to it. If you have ham broth, you can use that instead too. Ham broth is typically made by simmering a ham bone with water. Note that ham broth can be a bit salty so be careful when you add salt.
- Whole milk: The recipe calls for whole milk and that is my preference for this soup. It adds a lot of creaminess without being too heavy or sweet. However, you can use heavy cream or half-and-half if you have it. Fat-free milk will also work, it’s just a bit thinner in flavor. The texture of your ham soup will still be fine because you’re thickening it with some mashed potato, and with some flour.
- Salt and pepper: I don’t typically use other seasonings in here because I like the flavor of the ham to shine through. But if you want to add a dash of a different seasoning, go for it. I think that thyme or smoked paprika would be lovely in there.
- All-purpose flour: This soup is thickened partly from the potatoes and partly from a slurry made with flour and the milk. A slurry is kind of like a roux but it doesn’t use fat and is added towards the end of making the soup, instead of near the beginning. Because this soup uses a slurry instead of a roux, you can instead thicken it with cornstarch instead of flour. You’d do everything the same but only use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Green onions as garnish: I usually garnish this soup with a sprinkle of green onion. But I also love it with shredded cheddar cheese, because ham and cheddar just go so well together, you know?
Using A Ham Bone To Make Ham Soup
If you have a ham bone, you’re very very lucky! Here’s how you use that bone to make this tasty ham soup. What you’ll do is to trim any meat off of the bone first. You’ll use that as the ham meat for your soup. Then put the bone into a large pot with 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, and then let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Then, you’ll go ahead and make your soup right in that pot, with the water and the ham bone. Simply add the potatoes and cubed ham to the pot. Add in the black pepper too. But taste the broth before adding any salt because the ham bone can add a lot of salt to liquid. Proceed with Step #2 and onwards of the recipe, simmering the potatoes until they’re tender. Remove the ham bone before you add in the flour and milk slurry, and you’re good to go!
More Soups With Ham
If you like this ham soup recipe, you’ll love these hammy soups too!
Enjoy! -Christine xo
Classic Potato Ham Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This chunky potato and ham soup takes a handful of simple ingredients and turns it into a cozy meal in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. baking potatoes, cubed
- 8 oz. cubed ham
- 4 cups low or no sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk*
- 2 spring onions, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Put the potatoes into a large pot with the ham, broth, salt, and black pepper. Stir.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Scoop out about half of the potatoes and put them into a large bowl. Use a potato masher to gently mash them a bit. You don’t want them fully mashed, more like half mashed. Return the half-mashed potatoes to the pot. Stir.
- Measure the flour into a jar or container with a tight-fitting lid. Add the milk. Put on the lid and shake it well until the flour and water are fully combined.
- Stir the flour mixture into the pot of soup. Return the soup to medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for one minute.
- Taste and add extra salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve topped with some of the chopped spring onion for garnish, if using.
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Notes
*Instead of the whole milk, you can use heavy cream, half-and-half, a mixture of either of those with the milk, fat-free milk, or even water. I just find the whole milk to be the perfect balance of flavor and thickness for this soup.
Rose says
This is a perfect recipe for a cold winter’s night. It came together quickly and easily. It was delicious.
★★★★★