This creamy potato soup uses a leftover ham bone to create a tasty broth!
Does your family make a ham for the holidays? My grandma always made the juiciest and most delicious salty ham, which I crave at every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Her secret? An old seasoned cast iron ham pot that we term Grandma Fann’s Ham Pan, and the whole family knows about it. 🙂
I was lucky enough to have it handed down to me and honestly, making the perfect ham is as easy as putting it in the pan and into the oven. Amazingly moist ham, perfect every time. Too bad I can’t carve it as well as she did!
The question though is what to do with the leftover ham bone? I clean most of the meat off the best that I can but I hate to waste it. I stumbled upon a potato and bacon soup recipe one time and thought I’d make my own version using a ham bone. It is so delicious and my kids ask for it every time we make a ham. It is not hard and uses up not only the ham but some of the other ingredients you probably already have leftover such as celery, carrots, and onions!
To start, boil the ham bone in a medium pot with water and bay leaves for about 30 minutes. This will flavor the water making an amazingly tasty ham broth, but will also loosen up any extra pieces of meat you can use later.
After half an hour, remove the bone and set aside on a cutting board. Remove bay leaves (discard), and any large pieces of ham that have come off while the bone was boiling (keep these to add to the soup later). Keep the remaining water set aside as your soup stock.
While the bone is simmering, begin the soup in a Dutch oven or large pot. Add chopped bacon to the pot and cook until slightly crisp, removing with a slotted spoon and leaving the bacon grease. In that pot, now add carrots, onion, and celery, and cook until slightly tender.
Is there anything that smells as good as this “Holy Trinity” cooking in bacon grease? I kind of want it in candle version.
Once tender, add chopped potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper (not too much salt, the ham is already pretty salty), parsley, and lemon juice for acidity. Stir and cook about 3 minutes to combine. *Note: I used russet potatoes but red potatoes could also work. Yukon Gold might be too tender in this soup.
Next add reserved ham broth, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are just fork tender but not mushy.
While this simmers, remove the remaining meat from the cooled ham bone, chop into small pieces and set aside. Discard the bone.
Once the potatoes are ready, you will begin to puree the soup using an immersion blender. It is a super handy tool that makes quick non-messy work of soups, smoothies, sauces, and even the occasional cocktail (wink). This version even comes with a whisk and milk frother attachment!
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If you don’t have an immersion blender you can puree the soup in batches in a regular blender. Do not over fill the blender with the hot soup, it can cause the lid to blow off when you turn it on and spray hot liquid all over.
We like to have some of the potato and carrot chunks in the soup so I only puree about 2/3 of the pot. You can do more or less depending on your preference! Don’t skip this step though, pureeing is what gives this soup the creamy texture without having to use dairy.
Once you have gotten the consistency you prefer, add in the cubed ham pieces and stir. The soup is done!
Top with bacon and chopped green onions or chives. If you aren’t dairy free, my kids like to add shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream (like a loaded baked potato).
If you like this soup, I suggest you try this Butternut Squash Soup. It is perfect for these crisp fall days. Enjoy!
Ham and Potato Soup
Equipment
- Immersion blender or regular blender
Ingredients
For the stock
- 1 ham bone, carved of most meat
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cups filtered water
For the soup
- ½ package bacon, chopped
- 1 small yellow or white onion
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- pinch salt and pepper
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, about ½ a small lemon
- ½ cup cream or non-dairy milk of choice, like cashew milk or oat milk (if desired)
- green onions and shredded cheese for topping, if desired
Instructions
To make the broth:
- Add the ham bone, water, and bay leaves to a medium pot.
- Turn to medium high heat and once it begins to boil, put on the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Reserve the water for the soup and move the ham to a cutting board.
- Remove remaining meat from ham bone once it has cooled, and set aside. Discard ham bone.
To make the soup:
- While the ham bone is simmering, begin your soup in a large pot or Dutch oven. Turn on the burner and add chopped bacon, cooking until it is slightly crispy.
- Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Using bacon grease in the pot, add the gorgeous medley of carrots, celery, and onions. Cook until slightly tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper, parsley, potatoes, lemon juice, and garlic, and cook about 3 more minutes to combine.
- Pour reserved ham bone water into the pot and bring to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are slightly tender.
- Using an immersion blender, begin to puree the soup until it is at the consistency you prefer. We like to see some of the potato and carrot chunks remaining so I only puree about half of the soup.
- If you don't have an immersion blender you can use a regular blender, just do this in batches because the soup is hot! The blending is what makes it creamy, but here is where you can add ½ cup of either cream, half and half, or any non-dairy version you prefer. I added ½ cup of oat milk for extra creaminess.
- Add the chopped ham pieces to the soup and stir to combine. You're done! Top with the chopped bacon, and feel free to add shredded cheese or sour cream (if you aren't avoiding dairy), and sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Cheers!
