Enjoy the Irresistible Creaminess of Our Ham and Potato Soup

The conundrum of what to do with your leftover roast ham is the best problem to have. Paired with peas, it makes an excellently meaty split pea soup. When sliced, ham can also be thickly layered into lunchtime deli sandwiches. The options for cooked ham are seemingly endless, each iteration a new way to enjoy the holiday centerpiece. In general, pork is always a handy way to add flavor to soups, stews, and even greens, and the fat drippings in things like ham, bacon, and guanciale are prized for their salty, umami-like addition.

Ham is what drives the flavor in this creamy ham and potato soup recipe developed with Michelle McGlinn. Combined with peas, carrots, and herbs like rosemary and thyme, the soup is altogether earthy, springy, and savory. The cubed potatoes and heavy cream give it a chowder-like consistency, perfect for both chilly evenings and warm summer days. Whether you make ham for Easter, Christmas, or even the Fourth of July, this soup is the perfect way to use the last of the leftovers.

You’ll need some fresh and frozen produce for this soup, such as Spanish (or yellow) onion, garlic, carrots, frozen peas, and russet potatoes. You can use a variety of potatoes for this recipe, but russet works best for adding creaminess to the soup without breaking down entirely. You can also use frozen carrots instead of peeling and dicing your own — and often, frozen veggies like peas and carrots are sold in bags together, making it even more convenient. After the produce, you’ll just need butter, heavy cream, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, flour, chicken broth, and roast ham. The roast ham can be leftovers you made yourself or store-bought — or you can even swap for bacon in a pinch.

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven.

Add the diced ham and cook until browned.

Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside to reserve.

Add the onion and carrot to the butter and ham drippings and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, then stir to combine into a paste.

Once the flour is dissolved into a golden-brown paste, add the chicken broth and stir to avoid any clumps.

Add the potatoes, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Add the peas, reserved ham, and whipping cream and cook until the peas are soft, about 5 minutes. The soup should be thick.

Serve immediately.

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The easiest way to make this soup is with ham leftover from a recent roast, which is already cooked and can simply be sliced and diced. Of course, the soup doesn’t have to begin with a roast, and the ham can be found already cooked in the grocery store, too. To find cooked ham, head to the section of your store where bacon is found. You’ll likely see other cured meats like prosciutto, or perhaps other breakfast meats like sausage links and patties. Nearby, you may spot cased sausages like Andouille and kielbasa, and next to that, you’ll likely find cooked ham. Some stores sell it as a roast, which you can slice and dice yourself at home. Other options may include half or quarter roasts, slices of roast ham, or even packages of pre-diced ham. All of these options work in this recipe.

If your store doesn’t sell cooked ham, you can swap the roast for another kind of pork. You could use a ham hock, which has a similar flavor but requires a longer cook time to become tender. You could use chopped bacon or crumbled sausage, which will have a more savory, salty flavor. You can also head to the deli counter and ask for thick slices of honey-baked ham, which can be diced and used in the soup the same way.

This is a great soup for the slow cooker because it only becomes even more flavorful with a longer cook time. Making it in the slow cooker, you’ll use the same ingredients but in a slightly different order. Instead of starting with pork drippings and a roux, you’ll add the vegetables, ham, seasonings, and broth to the slow cooker all at once, then cook until the potatoes are tender and the vegetables are soft. Add the flour and heavy cream at the end, about 20 minutes before serving, to thicken the soup.

For a faster version, the soup can also be made in the Instant Pot. This method also involves adding the flour at the end, but this time, you’ll saute the ham and vegetables in the pot first, add the broth, seasoning, and potatoes, then seal and cook on manual pressure for 5 minutes. Releasing the pressure naturally will take about 15 minutes longer, and once the lid opens, the flour and cream can be added to thicken the soup.

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