Community Pick
Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup
"Comfort soup at its finest! I usually make this to use up leftover ham. This is easy to adapt with other ingredients. I don't put celery in mine. I have added garlic sometimes as well."
photo by alenafoodphoto
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 3 1⁄2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (I keep mine with the peel)
- 1⁄3 cup celery, diced
- 1⁄3 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 1 -2 cup ham, diced and cooked
- 3 1⁄4 3 1/4 cups chicken broth or 3 1/4 cups ham stock
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (omit if using chicken broth)
- salt (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
directions
- Combine potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, ham, and water/broth in stockpot and bring to boil.
- Then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt (if using), and pepper.
- In separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly until thick.
- Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form and all milk is added. Turn up to medium heat. Continue to stir until thick (4-5 minutes).
- Add in cheese and stir until melted.
- Stir the cheese mixture into the stockpot and cook until heated through. (I also will break up some of the potatoes for thickness. It gets thicker as it cools and next day).
Questions & Replies
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What can I use to replace the carrots
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How much water do I put in? -
Does anyone know what the serving size is in cups? -
Can I make ahead and freeze this recipe -
Does this freeze well?
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Reviews
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My kids aren't done eating this and I must rate it. I have the most picky 5 and 9 year old children in existence. My 5 year old had a second helping and my 9 year old is finishing his. They both like it. It was super easy. I made with homemade chicken stock as I had some I needed to use up. I also added some carrots as I had some already diced. It is very good. I think it will replace my usual potato soup. -
I made this for dinner tonight. It was wonderful! I doubled the recipe as I have hungry people in my house. I'm also using this for my soupswap on Thursday! I too did not peel the potatoes, used 2 Cups onion and celery, and did not thicken it with anything. I mashed the soup with a potato masher about 5 times to break some potatoes up before adding the ham, which I added after the potatoes were soft. Instead of milk I used nonfat half and half. As I write this I am craving more...that's how good it is! -
I have used the same potato soup recipe for years but now I have a NEW one! This soup is delicious. I add diced carrots and followed another reviewers suggestion and added a little bacon. Excellent!! -
WOWOWOW Love this soup. I made a couple of slight changes....Started with 1/2 lb pepper cracked amish bacon and the 1 1/2 cups left over ham cooking in pot with a bit of olive oil. After the bacon sweated a bit - I took the ham / bacon mixture out. I then added all of the veggies (plus lots of extra of each) and got the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Added the water and followed the recipe....except used whole milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2 and used 2 C light cheese. I ended up needing about 3/4 C more milk b/c of all of the veggies. The soup was still quite thick and excellent. YUM. Thanks UPDATE: just made this again - added a ham hock to the broth as the potatoes cooked - and the flavor is great. Added a couple carrots to the veg too! Used the immersion blender to puree a bit as well. Sooooo goood! -
This is amazing soup. Used all the leftover ham from Easter dinner. My husband had 3 bowls and told me to definitely keep this recipe. Will be making again, that's for sure!
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Tweaks
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Growing up potato soup wasn't potato soup without some chopped bacon sauteed first in the pot, so I added a little bacon with my diced ham and onion, sauteed them then continued and added the rest, minus the carrots. -
Knocked this one out this afternoon when I discovered a bunch of leftover ham in freezer. No doubt this is a winner as-is. That said, my tweaks (based on a double-ish batch...no way the original quantities cover a couple hungry teenagers): -5-6c diced potatoes...reserve 1-1.5c to cook up separately and add via ricer for thickness -7-8c chix broth (i.e. whatever was in the freezer from the last time I cooked down a bird) -we're not celery people -1-2c fresh chopped mushrooms (half a pack of baby bellas left over from my crockpot pheasant adventure last night) -3-4c ham -1TB coarse cracked pepper -6TB butter -2/3c flour split 50/50 for the roux and later thickening direct to the soup -3-3.5c cheese (I like the idea of something sharper for taste as another cook noted...but I'm happy to use whatever is on hand) -half an onion, diced. next time I'm going to cut the pepper 50/50 with cayenne now that I see ChowhoundPC's tweak in that direction...just for fun. No changes to process. Yum! Son better get home from his baseball game quick... -
I added a cup of frozen peas and it was delicious. It just seemed like a natural compliment to the ham, cheese and potatoes. Don't get me wrong the soup is perfection with or without peas. It's an excellent recipe.
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Great, savoury soup! Made 1/2 recipe, skipped the celery, skimped on the cheese a bit since I was using strong, old Gouda; used bouillion cubes instead of granules - substitution charts say 1 ts of granules equals 1 bouillion cube, and this was certainly not true for me! I used 2 cubes for 1/2 recipe, and I think 1 cube plus a sprinkling of salt would be just right; and I like my salt, I assure you! 1/2 recipe also made more like 3 servings for me. Still, the soup turned out simply delectable: smooth, chunky, savoury, creamy - all tasty things in one! Thank you for a lovely recipe SweetsLady - this will be repeated!
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To add a little heat to the soup, I add about a 1/4 of a teaspoon of dried crushed red pepper. If you're adventures add 1/2 a teaspoon.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
SweetsLady
United States
I am married to a military man for?25 years. We've lived in Illinois, Kansas, Japan, North Carolina, New Mexico, Spain, and Washington state. I grew up a military brat, too, and have lived in Kentucky, Florida, Maine, Germany, Holland, and South Carolina. I am now a SAHM of 2 children. I love to make and try new recipes. My mom was the one that primarily taught me how to cook and then I have taught myself to cook various other things via trial and error. I love sharing with others how to cook and ideas. :) I am an active part of our church - teaching SONday school, singing in choir, etc. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is my Rock and Salvation. I praise God for all that He has done for me. I love to meet new friends and enjoy talking about cooking, kids, etc. So feel free to drop me a Zmail! :)
