Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup
This is a great recipe for a rich, creamy soup that utilizes leftover ham and veggies in a savory homemade broth.
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone with some ham left on it(or a few pieces of ham diced up) + any ham juice and pieces of ham rind that were left in the pan after cooking the ham for a previous meal
- 4 cups water
- 1 stalk celery, diced fine
- 1 small onion, diced fine
- 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 cups diced potatoes
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup corn
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Place ham bone and ham juice in a large stockpot. I used my 6 quart enameled dutch oven. (My favorite!) Add water to the pot with the bone and juices.
- Prep celery, onion, and garlic. Add to pot.
- Add dried parsley and pepper to the pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- While the broth simmers, prep your potatoes and carrots by dicing into bite size pieces. Measure out your corn, I use frozen corn.
- When the broth is done simmering, remove any waste pieces of meat, ham rind, or fat. These pieces are what makes a great broth, but you won't want to have to pick around them while you're eating your soup. Remove any remaining meat from the ham bone and leave in the broth. The bone can stay in the broth.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, and corn - simmer another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
- Remove the pot from heat. Remove the ham bone from the broth and add the cheddar cheese. Once the cheese is melted in, pour in the cream and stir well.
- Serve & enjoy! Serve with extra cheese on top if you'd like. I love to pair this with a good biscuit or roll.
Notes
Crockpot instructions:
Add ham bone, juices, rind, etc. to crockpot with the 4 cups of water. Add onion, celery, garlic, parsley and pepper. Turn on low and let simmer as long as possible.. 4 hours or so is sufficient.
Prep your potatoes, carrots, and corn. After the broth is done, remove any waste meat, pieces of rind and fat. Get as much meat off of the ham bone as possible and leave it in the broth. Then - add the potatoes, carrots, and corn. Leave on low for about 3 hours or until potatoes are done. Once the potatoes are done, remove the ham bone from the soup.
Turn off the crockpot, add cheese and stir until melted. Add cream and serve.
*Note on cheese:
Freshly grated cheddar melts smoothly. Shredded cheese that is bagged has a coating on it that keeps it from sticking together, it also inhibits the melting process just a little bit. I use pre-shredded, in the bag cheese all the time and it's fine, but if you want your broth to be perfectly smooth - grate it fresh!