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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm. All opinions expressed are my own.
I am making this without the ham and subbing it with chicken. Sounds soooo good! 🙂
What did I do wrong?? Mine burned all on the bottom of my pan…soo sad since soup looks amazing.
Laura, unfortunately, it is really difficult for me to troubleshoot what exactly went wrong in your kitchen. Your heat may have been set too high, causing the bottom of the pan to burn.
Could it be the flour that burned? Mine wasn’t thicking up so I added more flour. I noticed I had a thick brown, stuck on layer at the bottom, and I’m guessing it’s the flour.
It may have been the flour. Just be sure to stir occasionally to prevent that burning bottom layer.
Made this tonight for the family, slightly healthified (subbed in some cauliflower in place of some potato and some chicken broth in place of some milk, halved the butter). Still was very creamy and rich. We really enjoyed it!
Made this chowder this evening, but mine turned out way too sweet, probably bc my ingredients began on the sweeter side (i think my ham may have been honey cured?) or something. Anyway, I added about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to balance it out and it ended up DELICIOUS! Still sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Thought I’d leave the tip in case anyone else has the same problem. Thanks for a great recipe!
My soup wasn’t all that sweet but I still want to take your suggestion and add in that balsamic vinegar – sounds amazing!
Your photos look like you added some green onion on top as well as the fresh thyme. Am I seeing it correctly?
I used chives and fresh thyme as a garnish.
Made this recipe on my day off today instead of braving the -20 weather we are having in MN, and I am SO HAPPY I did! I might brave the cold so I can bring some to my parents tonight for dinner!
I just made this soup, and it is delicious! I didn’t have any fresh time though so I used 1tsp of powdered thyme instead. 10/10 would make again.
Is there anyway to do this in the crockpot if I precook most of it on the stove? I can’t use my dutch on our new stove top 🙁
Unfortunately, I have never tried this recipe in the crockpot. You can still use a stockpot or large pot if you cannot use your Dutch oven.
I managed just fine. 🙂 thank you. I did take the suggestion of a previous poster about microwaving the potatoes and NO GOOD, they were way to soft, next time I’ll throw them in with the onion and garlic and get a nice crust. I did add some sage and Rosemary as well as a few chopped carrots though and it was yummy! I may do the same recipe next year when I get turkey left overs
Aw, this looks scrumptious!! <3
Have you ever tried canning this? Just curious. I have been looking for different hearty soups to can for the hubs to take to work for lunch.
Haven’t tried the canning method yet!
I made with tonight and it is awesome. Totally going to make this again and put in my favorites book. I didn’t have any ham, so I picked up cubed ham and it worked out fine. Next time I’ll double the recipe to have some for the rest of the week. 🙂 Thanks
Made this for dinner tonight, but I put it in a bread bowl with bacon, cheese & a little green onion on top. Oh It was so good.
That bread bowl sounds amazing! Will definitely have to serve it one of those next time!
Great recipe. Yummy on a snowy winter night! We’ll definitely make this again.
This is definitely snowy winter food to keep you nice and cozy!
I made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! I ran out of milk and only had 2.5 cups and added Chicken broth and still was amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you had a chance to make this. This chowder is one of my favorites!
This looks delicious, going to try it tonight. I love soups and chowders in the winter, especially with crusty bread on the side.
Crusty bread is definitely a must with chowders!
Although this recipe it quite delicious… it has taken over 45 minutes for the potatoes (which i diced and cubed extremely small) to become tender I highly highly recommend cooking the potatoes in the microwave for a little bit to soften them up.
Crystal, it really depends on how you want your potatoes cooked. I like my potatoes with a little bit of a bite so 12-15 minutes is sufficient for that kind of texture.
I agree with Crystal my potatoes have been cooking for at least 30 minutes and are still hard. 12-15 minutes they could barely even be poked through with spoon. Love the recipe, the potato time should be change though =)
Shan, as I mentioned to Crystal, it really depends on how you want your potatoes cooked and the thickness of your potatoes. The smaller your potatoes, the quicker they will be cooked throughout.
I agree about dicing and then microwaving the potatoes (with a Tablespoon or two of water) ahead of time. The soup base was ready long before the potatoes were done and I was having to stir it too often so it wouldn’t scorch on the bottom of the pan.
Great recipe though and I will definitely make it again with that one little modification.
Ellen, it really depends on the size of your potato chunks – the smaller the potatoes, the faster they will cook through. Throwing them in the microwave is just another step that’s really not needed!
Wow … we had a fridge full of ham that I did not know what to do with …. this was perfect!
It’s the perfect use of leftovers!
Hello,
We are looking for ideas for our leftover ham bone. We are leaning towards the potato-corn chowder and Not using the bone. Can we freeze the soup for another day? Thanks,
CG
I would advise against freezing chowders as the consistency may change quite a bit.
Made this today – excellent! Thanks!
Gosh this looks insanely good!