If you are looking for a way to use up that leftover spiral ham, this is the recipe for you! Combined with some common staple pantry items, this soup comes together quickly and easily for a delicious and hearty ham and potato soup. And bacon. Can’t forget the bacon.
If you are a meal planner like I am, you will want to add this recipe to your To-Do List for the weekend. A batch of this soup makes the perfect weekend lunch with lots of leftovers to enjoy during your busy week. Is your son or daughter heading off to hockey practice? Music lessons? Dance? No problem! Heat up some of this delicious soup! I also like to portion out the soup into individual containers for easy grab-and-go lunches during the week.
I usually have my pot of soup simmering on the stove while I prepare my vegetables for lunchboxes. Since I’m already peeling and chopping, this soup comes together with little effort. If you still have a lot of leftover ham even after making this soup, put the extra chopped ham in a freezer bag for your next batch of soup.
My mission every Sunday is to prepare as much as possible for the coming week. Weekdays are so busy and I know from experience, any extra effort I put in on the weekend helps during the week. It makes my insanity a little less insane. Or maybe it brings mayhem back down into the insane stratosphere.
A big batch of soup is always a lifesaver, especially when it tastes as good as this one. If you are reheating your soup on the stovetop, add a little extra milk to help thin it out.
Yield: 6-8 servings
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30
Ingredients:
- 1 package bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1 medium onion, finally diced
- 2 cups chopped ham (ham steak)
- 8 cups peeled and diced potatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 5 Tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
Cooking Instructions:
- In a large stockpot, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the cooked bacon from the pot and set aside. Drain most of the bacon grease from the pot, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pot.
- Add the chopped onion, celery and carrots to the hot bacon grease and cook until the onions are translucent. Make sure to scrape all those bacon bits from the bottom of the pot to help flavour the vegetables.
- Add the chopped ham and cubed potatoes to the pot with the broth. Add additional liquid if needed to make sure the potatoes are completely covered.
- Bring the soup to a simmer and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a separate saucepan, over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, sprinkle in the flour and whisk together to create a paste. Allow this mixture to cook for about 2 minutes, whisking constantly to prevent it from burning.
- Slowly add the milk in to the paste a few tablespoons at a time. When all the milk has been added, turn the heat down and allow the mixture to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, whisking often so the flour mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pot. The mixture will gradually thicken. Remove from heat once it reaches this stage.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, use a potato masher to crush the potatoes a bit, breaking up most of the chunks. Pour the thickened milk mixture into the potato mixture and stir to combine well. Keep the soup on the heat for a few extra minutes to ensure it is heated through.Serve immediately. Garnish with the crumbled bacon pieces and some chopped green onions.