Potato Ham Chowder
A warm and filling chowder that’s incredibly creamy and rich, perfect for those chilly winter nights!

I hope you’re not getting tired of all these soup recipes I’ve been posting lately. I promise you, once the new year hits, it’ll be salad/quinoa galore here at Damn Delicious but until then, let’s talk soup.




Now I don’t know about you guys but chowders are one of my favorite kind of soups. They’re so incredibly creamy and rich, perfect for those chilly nights sitting in front of a fireplace and slurping on a bowl of soup. Now I don’t actually have a fireplace but a girl can dream, right?

No, but really, this soup is a wonderful way to use up your leftover Christmas ham but if you don’t have a giant 16-lb ham nearby, you can always use a ham steak as well. And don’t forget that crisp crumbled bacon for that added smokiness. After all, bacon is always needed as a garnish, right?

Potato Ham Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 slices Jones Dairy Farm Sliced Bacon, diced
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 ½ cups milk, or more, as needed
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 7-ounce package Jones Dairy Ham Steak, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in corn and thyme until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.* Stir in ham, salt and pepper, to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with bacon, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm. All opinions expressed are my own.
Tried this potato soup for my first time; it was delicious. Didnt have corn, and not able to use onions (husband allergic) so I added sliced anaheim peppers, and peas. I will certainly make this again with the corn too. Thank you for this recipe
This looks delicious and a great way to use my leftover ham this week!
On another note – I found your recipe through a wild-goose chase. I saw a pin on pinterest with your photos, and it looked so good. I clicked to discover it was one of those recipe collecting sites, with a bogus source link. I did a Google image search and found your recipe. It may not bother you that others are taking your content, but if it does, you might want to watermark your photos to make it clear where the content originated. I HATE pinning stuff that doesn’t point back to the original post/content, so I always try to find that and pin from the original site. Here is the link where your recipe is located in case you want to look into it: http://recipeknead.com/potato-ham-chowder/. Anyway, just thought you might like to know.
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Made it two days in a row since my family loved it! Used leftover Christmas ham and added some garlic salt.
Instead of ham , my mom used to put a can of tuna, drained, so good and satisfying.
I have been adding diced ham to my potato soup for years. Diced Polish Kielbasa is also great to use. i saute the ham and/or kielbasa until nicely browned to add a deep flavor to the soup.
Soups on the stove as I type, It smells wonderful and tastes great too. I’m looking forward to it being done so I can ladle into bowls for hungry people who will be obliged to ooh and ahh at my version of your soup. I am using leftover baked ham from the holidays and added a chopped serrano from the garden. Thanks for the recipe, seems like the perfect base for many cream soups!
Delicious! I added a pinch of sage and Rosemary. Also used half milk and half water, more potatoes…made a family size pot! Thanks
Hi there! I used this link for a post about using leftover ham. All credit to you and your picture. Thank you so much!
http://myeffingcookbook.com/2014/12/play-ham/
What size roughly should the potatoes be? Or about how many oz/lbs? Thanks.
I would aim for about 1 pound total.
We are celebrating fall here in PA and winter is fast approaching. This was the ideal chowder to make for dinner tonight. Very easy and super tasty! I was low on regular milk, so I had to make up for it with half and half I had in the fridge. Ummmm yummm! Topped it off with some garlic croutons and we had a hardy, delicious dinner for the evening.
I have leftover ham juice from my ham – can I use that in place of some of the milk? Or in addition to the milk (I was going to almost double this recipe anyway as I have a lot of leftover ham and potatoes)
Either option sounds great – adding in more or substituting a bit for the milk.
I made this tonight! I didn’t have corn, but I added some carrots and broccoli. So so good!
What a great tasting soup. My family loved it, so I will be making this again. After adding white whole wheat flour, I didn’t find that my soup really thickened. Hopefully will thicken a little more next time I make it but even without the thickness, we all still loved it.
I just love this soup!! I have made it a few times the only thing I add into it is some chicken bouillon cubes helps give it a little extra flavor served with fresh bread equals yummy!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Tried and tested today. Awesome soup, and it doesn’t get much easier than that! Thx for a great recipe.
This was a HUGE hit with my family. I added shredded smoked gruyere cheese to it, and omg it was delicious. Outstanding recipe!!!!
Omg, just made this today and it was awesome!
Wouldn’t change a thing!!!
I made it without the bacon and added a little celery with the potatoes. Topped with green onion. Delicious! Served with crunchy Italian bread.
Just recently discovered your site…..excellent recipes Thank you
I am making this tonight with some BLT’s .. It looks really yummy . Will let you know how it goes 🙂