Warm-up with this delicious and Creamy Ham and Potato Soup – a hearty comfort food favorite that’s creamy without the cream thanks to a little trick. This ham and potato soup recipe will quickly become a family favorite and it’s a great way to use up leftover ham.
This post was originally published on November 29th, 2016. Updated on November 20th, 2020
Warm-up with a Big Bowl of Creamy Ham and Potato Soup
When the weather turns cold, we turn to a big, hearty bowl of soup. Making soup is the epitome of cold weather. It’s easy to make and always leaves you satisfied after enjoying a big bowl of warm deliciousness.
This creamy ham and potato soup recipe is one of our all-time favorite soups to enjoy on a cold winter day. With big chunks of ham, soft potatoes, diced carrots, and the ever delicious and healthy kale come together for an unforgettable bowl of soup the whole family will love.
Do you have leftover ham to use up? If you made our Orange Glazed Ham for a holiday gathering, you’ll have leftovers of the delicious and juicy ham slices. This is an excellent recipe to use up leftovers and eliminate food waste. Chop those leftover ham slices into bite-size pieces and watch them transform into a mouthwatering hearty soup.
Creamy Soup — Without the Cream!
We’re using one of our favorite “hacks” to make this delicious soup creamy without any dairy in sight! Instead, you’ll use an immersion blender (or a regular blender) to blend up 1/2 the cooked veggies, before adding them back to the base of the soup. You won’t believe how creamy this makes the soup!
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Ingredients for Dairy-Free Creamy Ham and Potato Soup
- Cooking fat of choice – We like to use avocado oil or olive oil
- Yellow onion – Can also use white onion
- Celery
- Carrots
- Leek – Use the white and light green part only. May substitute 3-4 green onions instead.
- Garlic
- Red potatoes – May substitute Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
- Chicken Broth – Homemade or store-bought. We recommend using low-sodium broth so that you can adjust the salt to taste.
- Dried Thyme
- Cooked ham – Use ham without added sugar to make the recipe Whole30-friendly
- Kale – May substitute spinach or another hearty green
- Salt & Pepper
- Red Pepper Flakes – Optional
How to make Ham and Potato Soup
First step: Place a Dutch oven or large pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat and add the fat or oil of choice. When melted, add the onion, carrot, celery, and leeks. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions start to soften.
Second step: Add the garlic and stir, cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Third step: Add the potatoes, broth, and thyme. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender – about 30 minutes, depending on how large the pieces of potatoes are and how vigorous the simmer.
Fourth step: When the vegetables are tender, insert an immersion blender into the soup on one side of the Dutch oven (or large pot), and process until creamy. Stir to mix the part you just pureed into the other half of the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and blend until creamy.
Last step: Add the diced ham and kale and continue to heat until the ham is warm and the kale is wilted. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve.
How to store Ham Potato Soup
Store any leftover ham potato soup in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days or place completely cooled soup in a freezer-friendly container and freeze (see below for more).
Stock Your freezer with a Healthy Soup
Have you found yourself in the middle of the week struggling with dinner creation? We understand and we have a solution!
This is a great recipe to double and freeze half of it to enjoy on those busy nights when take-out sounds so tempting (soup recipes in general are awesome for this purpose!). Keeping a healthy batch of ham potato soup in the freezer is a great way to enjoy a healthy meal in under 15 minutes.
After making this dutch oven ham and potato soup, let it cool completely, then transfer it to a freezer-friendly container like this one or these half-gallon reusable silicone bags and freeze. The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months.
More Freezer-Friendly Soup Recipes to Make
- Chicken Tortilla-less Soup
- Instant Pot Taco Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla-less Soup
- Creamy Potato Leek Soup with Bacon
How to Thaw and Reheat Ham and Potato Soup
To thaw the soup, simply remove the container of frozen ham and potato soup from the freezer and empty the contents into a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Cover the saucepan with a list and over medium-low begin to warm the soup stirring occasionally to ensure it doesn’t burn. Continue to heat until the soup is hot enough to enjoy, about 15-20 minutes.
Or remove the container of frozen soup and place it in the refrigerator overnight to slowly thaw. The next day when you’re ready to serve the soup, place the thawed soup into a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat.
Other Soup Recipes You’ll Love
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Creamy Potato and Ham Soup
A hearty soup to take the chill off and fill your belly! Made without cream, this Whole30-friendly soup relies on potatoes for its thick and creamy texture – you’ll never know it’s dairy-free.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. cooking fat of choice (such as ghee, avocado oil or olive oil)
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 large leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 cups red potatoes, skin-on, ½-inch dice
- 4 cups chicken broth (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 8 oz. cooked ham, ¼-inch dice
- 2 cups kale, tightly packed, torn into small pieces (about ½ bunch)
- ½ tsp. sea salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper or to taste
- Red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Place a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid over medium heat. Add fat/oil and when melted, add onion, carrot, celery, and leeks. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions start to soften.
- Add garlic, stir and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add potatoes, broth, and thyme. Bring soup just to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender – about 30 minutes, depending on how large they are and how vigorous the simmer.
- When vegetables are tender, insert an immersion blender into the soup on one side of the pot and process until creamy. Stir to mix the part you just pureed into the other half of the soup (you can also remove ½ of the soup and process it in a blender or food processor then return it to the pan).
- Add diced ham and kale continue to heat until ham is warm and kale is wilted. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Serve.
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/5th recipe
- Calories: 322
- Fat: 11g
- Sodium: 775mg
- Carbohydrate: 30g
- (Fiber: 4g
- Sugar: 5g)
- Protein: 19g
Dietary
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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.
My newly paleo family ate this up tonight. Delicious. Perfect for the cold weather we’ve been having in Seattle. Thank you!
Wow! That’s incredible! Thanks for sharing – glad we could help you serve up something your family loves and to help ward off that PNW chill.
Another Seattle-lite here! Made this recipe this week for a group of people and it was a hit! The only change I made was to leave out the Kale, but that was only because I forgot to include it in my grocery order. Can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Charity,
Seattle + Soup must be a thing right now with all the cold, wet weather. So glad you loved it!
What type of ham do you use for this recipe so that it is Whole30 compliant? What stores carry it?
Hi Laura –
I use Pederson’s Natural Farms Spiral Sliced Ham which can be ordered online at The Simple Grocer.
You can learn more about Simple Grocers here (plus get a discount on your first order – everything they sell is Whole30-compliant and all orders ship free in the U.S.)
You can also look for a Whole30-compliant deli ham and ask to have it sliced thick (so you can then cube it). You may need to use less salt in the recipe if you ham is really salty.
Hope that helps!
I have a huge bag of russet potatoes to use up – do you think they could work in this soup?
Hi Annahita,
You can definitely use Russet potatoes. You may want to peel them (or at least half of them) since their peels are tougher than those of red potatoes. I often use a mix of both if that’s what I’ve got on hand and it always turns out great. I just prefer red potatoes for the fact that they don’t need peeling, they’re pretty in soup and it’s what we grow in our garden every summer. Yukon golds will also work, too.
Enjoy!
I just made this dish (in my Instant Pot) and it is phenomenal! I highly recommend :). Thanks for the share.
Thanks, Melanie! I’m so glad you loved it. It’s a huge hit at my house too. Would you mind sharing how long you cooked it in the Instant Pot? I know a lot of people will want to know and I’ve only made mine on the stove.
Did you just throw everything into the instant pot? How long?
Hi Bethany,
That’s a great question! This is a guess but I’m thinking 12-13 minutes on manual/high would be good. I would cut down on the broth to 2 cups (you can always add more at the end) and hold off on adding the ham and kale until after the 12-13 minutes of cooking and blending. Then turn the IP to sauté and add the kale and ham to finish plus additional broth as needed. Hope this helps. If you give it a try let us know how it turns out!