Ham and Potato Soup (Uses Leftover Holiday Ham)
30-Minute Ham and Potato Soup 🐷🥔 is quick, easy, and perfect for using up leftover holiday ham! It’s a flexible recipe so you can toss in extra veggies and herbs that you may have on hand. Simple, flavorful, and filling without being heavy.
Easy Ham and Potato Soup Recipe
- Do you have holiday ham to use from Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter and need some inspiration about what to make? This ham and potato soup is my go-to recipe, ready in 30 minutes, easy, and will take that extra ham off your hands.
- After the holidays I especially appreciate recipes that are lighter, yet still satisfying and comforting. And recipes that are quick and easy and this one checks all the boxes!
- Soups are such flexible recipes and for the veggies, I incorproated onions, carrots, and celery (a classic mirepoix) that I sautéed and seasoned with Italian seasoning before adding potatoes and green beans.
- The tender potatoes disintegrate a bit into the broth a bit to give the soup some body without adding cream or making it heavy. But of course you can add some if you’d like, top with Parmesan cheese, or doctor this flexible soup recipe up how you’d like.
Ingredients in Potato and Ham Soup Recipe
Vegetables: Onions, celery, carrots, and green beans that I had on hand from making Green Beans Almondine and Green Bean Casserole.
Potatoes: I used Russet potatoes because they’re less starchy so they fall apart a bit into the broth, which was my goal in order to give the soup some thickening without adding cream. You can use waxy potatoes like Yukon gold or red potatoes. I peeled mine but with waxier potatoes you may be able to skip peeling them.
Ham: You want to use previously cooked and cubed ham. It doesn’t matter if it’s a honey ham, smoked ham, a piece of ham from your grocery store deli counter that you cube, or other favorite ham. If you have a leftover ham bone, you can add it to the pot and it’ll add a stronger ham flavor to the soup.
Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper are the minimum but if you have fresh herbs from Thanksgiving cooking or Christmas entertaining in your fridge like thyme, oregano, or rosemary, they’re great.
Broth: Reduced sodium chicken broth is recommended. Ham is already pretty salty so reduced sodium broth helps temper the saltiness, and you can always add additional salt as needed.
Optional: Lemon juice for brightness which I love, garnishes including fresh parsley or other fresh herbs that you have on hand, green onions, shredded Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, or a splash of heavy cream.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Stovetop Ham and Potato Soup
- To a large Dutch oven or large pot, add olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and saute over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add the ham, potatoes, chicken broth, and simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the green beans and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, or until the potatoes and green beans are tender. Tip – Make sure to cut the potatoes quite small because they are going to be the item that takes the longest to fully cook through.
- Taste the soup and make any desired flavor adjustments including lemon juice and garnish with fresh herbs, or add Parm or cream if desired, add to a bowl and serve.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced small (or white onion)
- 2 stalks celery, diced small
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced small
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, or to taste (or fresh thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc. as desired)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 cups cooked ham, cubed (or a bit more if you have it to use. If you don’t have leftover ham, I suggest buying a piece from your grocer store’s deli counter and dicing it)
- 2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2-inch pieces (Yukon gold or red potatoes may be substituted if you prefer waxier potatoes that hold their shape, I don’t peel waxy potatoes)
- 8 cups reduced sodium chicken broth, (8 cups = 64 ounces; reduced sodium vegetable broth may be substituted)
- 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed into bite-sized pieces (I recommend fresh but frozen may be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional but recommended to brighten up the flavor
- Fresh herbs or grated Parmesan, optional for garnishing and to taste (fresh parsley, fresh thyme, fresh oregano, etc.)
- To a large Dutch oven, add the oil, onions, and saute the onions over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes; stir frequently.
- Add the carrots, celery, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the vegetables are becoming soft and tender; stir frequently.
- Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute; stir nearly continuously.
- Add the ham, potatoes, broth, and bring to a low boil. Boil gently for about 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost done; stir occassionally. Tip – The potatoes will be the item that holds up the soup from being done because they’ll take the longest to cook through. Make sure to keep the pieces no bigger than 1/2-inch dice.
- In the final approximately 5 minutes of simmering, add the green beans. Tip – Depending on how al dente you like your green beans, you may want to add them to the pot sooner, or just a couple minutes from the end.
- Optionally but recommended, add the lemon juice, optional herbs, and taste the soup. As necessary, make any necessary flavor adjustments.
- Flavoring Tips – If the soup tastes at all flat, boring, bland, or dull, it likely needs more salt so don’t be afraid to add it. In a pot of soup this size with the amount of simple root vegetables used, I add another ~2 teaspoons at the end. It also depends on how salty the ham is, how salty your broth is, and your overall preference for saltiness. Additionally, consider adding a bit more pepper, or any fresh herbs that you may have on hand. I also like to add a bit of red pepper flakes to soup because they don’t make it spicy, but rather just give extra flavor, but always season to your personal taste preferences.
- Optionally, if you want a creamier soup, 1/2 cup heavy cream (or a bit more) will do the trick. If you foresee yourself wanting to add heavy cream at the end, you may way to reduce the amount of broth by about 1/2 cup but it doesn’t matter too much if there’s a bit of extra broth. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is great as a garnish if you have it. Garnish as desired and serve.
Storage: Leftover soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months, noting that the texture of the vegetables will change a bit and get softer after being frozen and thawed.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 166cal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 21mg, Sodium: 693mg, Potassium: 568mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 148IU, Vitamin C: 13mg, Calcium: 34mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
