This creamy slow cooker ham and potato soup is the perfect comfort food, and you can prepare it with only 10 minutes of effort. Use leftover roasted ham and a variety of vegetables from your fridge to prepare this easy meal in no time.
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This easy soup with ham and potatoes is the best leftover ham soup, and it's incredibly simple to make. It's creamy and filling, and one of my favorite hands-off recipes for lazy days.
Why you'll love it
- Really easy potato soup recipe
- Perfect for using up leftover ham and vegetables
- Customize the recipe to suit your preferences
- Loved by kids and adults
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Ingredients
Potatoes: Use raw potatoes, drained canned potatoes, or even leftover boiled potatoes. I tend to use Maris Piper potatoes, but you can use any type that you have available or a combination of different types.
Ham: This recipe is perfect for using up leftover holiday ham, but any ham is fine to use. You can also use diced canned ham, or even ham slices or deli meat. This is also a great dish to use leftover gammon from your roast dinner.
Carrots: A few diced carrots add both flavor and color to the dish. You can use fresh carrots, or frozen cubed or sliced carrots.
Celery: Celery is an optional ingredient, but adds a lot of flavor to the soup. Don't worry if you're not a fan of celery; the soup doesn't taste like it at all.
Cream: Double cream or heavy cream makes the soup extra thick, creamy, and filling. Use creme fraiche for a lighter version of the soup, or sour cream if you prefer.
Chicken broth: Chicken stock, beef broth, or vegetable stock all work well. This is the main liquid part of the soup, and using broth or stock adds more flavor compared to simply using water. As an alternative, you can use water and bouillon powder or a stock cube.
Seasoning: Salt, pepper, bay leaves, rosemary, parsley, cumin, nutmeg, and thyme is a fantastic flavor combination that suits this easy potato soup well. You can easily omit, substitute, or add any seasoning as you wish. See the Variations section below for some tasty alternatives.
Instructions
You can find full instructions + ingredient measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this page
One: Peel and dice the potatoes and carrots. Dice the celery, ham, and onion. Add the ingredients to a slow cooker.
Two: Then, add the seasoning and chicken stock. Stir to combine the ingredients. Cover with a lid, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
Three: Add the double cream to the soup. Use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to mash some of the ingredients and potatoes. This will thicken the soup. You can mash everything completely, or leave as many chunks as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Top tips
- If you have time, allow the soup to cook on low setting for 8 hours. This will make the potatoes really soft, and allows the soup to really develop its flavors.
- Leave the lid on the Crockpot while the soup cooks.
- Add, omit or substitute any ingredients and seasoning as you like.
Serving suggestions
Crockpot ham and potato soup is best served as a comforting main dish for lunch or dinner. It’s most popularly served on cold days in winter and fall, but I think it’s perfect for all year round. It’s a great dish to use up any leftover vegetables and meat, and as it’s quite filling, you can serve it as it is, on its own.
If you would like to serve it with side dishes, I recommend serving it with dinner rolls, some nice crusty bread, garlic bread, or some savory crackers. You can also serve it with delicious toppings like toasted nuts, crispy bacon pieces, fresh herbs like parsley or chives, roasted corn, or a swirl of a flavorful vinaigrette.
I also quite like to serve this easy ham potato soup with vegetable side dishes to add more veggies to the meal. For example, it pairs nicely with roasted broccoli, air fried carrots, and sauteed spinach.
Variations
Other vegetables: Feel free to add any other vegetables that you like. For example, try adding diced bell peppers, frozen or canned corn, diced zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and more.
Other seasonings: You can also substitute a myth or add any seasoning that you like. Some spices, like paprika and garlic powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper, along with dried herbs like oregano, Italian seasoning, dill, chives, and fennel, can add a lot of flavor to the soup.
Add protein: Crispy bacon pieces, shredded chicken and other meat, cooked ground beef, white beans, chickpeas, smoked sausage or any other leftover pieces of meat can be added to the soup. This is a great way to use up leftover meat and other proteins and makes the soup a lot more filling.
Add cheese: Make the soup cheesy by adding shredded cheddar cheese or cream cheese.
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Equipment
To make this recipe, you will need a slow cooker that is large enough to fit the ingredients. I tend to use a free quote or a 5 quart crockpot, however, you can use a smaller slow cooker if you reduce the quantities to make a small batch. If you want to make a double or triple batch, you will also need a larger crockpot.
Additionally, you will need a sharp knife and a cutting board to prepare the ingredients. I also like to use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the end, however you can also use a wooden spoon, an immersion blender, or a spatula.
Storage
store any leftover slow cooked ham and potato soup in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months. The soup tastes best when warm, so you can reheat it in a microwave, on the stove, or in a slow cooker before serving it.
Soups that contain cream tend to separate when thawed. If you want to freeze this soup, I recommend that you omit the cream. You can then freeze the soup, and after you thaw it and reheat it, you can then add the cream. This also allows you to adjust the amount of cream added to suit your preferences. You can also make the soup without cream, or add any alternative there are products that you have available, for example, crème fraîche, oat milk or whole milk, or sour cream.
It’s incredibly easy to multiply this recipe to make a big batch of potato soup with ham. This is a perfect hands-off – that allows you to prepare several meals at the same time. Make a big batch, and serve it for dinner one day, lunch the next day, and then freeze more down for a future meal. Preparing meals this way will save you a lot of time, and ensure that you always have a frozen home-cooked meal available in your freezer whenever you need it.
Frequently asked questions
You can thicken potato soup by adding cornstarch mixed with water, or by mashing the potato chunks.
If it feels watery, you can either thicken the soup by adding cornstarch slurry, by mashing the potato chunks, or by adding mashed potatoes. You can also make it thicker and creamier by adding a thick dairy product like cheese, cream, or sour cream.
You can slowly reheat soup in the slow cooker by cooking it on high for between 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how much soup you want to reheat.
You might also like these recipes
- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup
- Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup
- Potato and Carrot Soup
- Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
- Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 2 ribs celery
- 1 cup heavy cream (double cream)
- 2 cups diced ham
- 3 cups chicken stock
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- salt (to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon rosemary
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon parsley
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potatoes and carrots. Dice the celery, ham, and onion. Add the ingredients to a slow cooker.1 pound potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 ribs celery, 2 cups diced ham
- Then, add the seasoning and chicken stock. Stir to combine the ingredients.¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, 2 bay leaves, ½ teaspoon rosemary, ½ teaspoon thyme, ½ teaspoon parsley, 3 cups chicken stock
- Cover with a lid, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Add the double cream to the soup. Use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to mash some of the ingredients and potatoes. This will thicken the soup. You can mash everything completely, or leave as many chunks as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.salt, 1 cup heavy cream
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. If you want to freeze the soup, I recommend omitting the cream. You can add the heavy cream when you want to thaw and reheat the soup.
- Feel free to adjust the seasoning and vegetables to taste.
- Substitute the heavy cream with cream cheese, whole milk, sour cream or creme fraiche if you prefer.
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