It's still soup season... so let's make some ham and vegetable soup.
This soup makes good use of leftover ham from a holiday meal – such as New Year’s Day. When you’ve had enough leftovers and ham sandwiches, give it a try!
You can easily adjust the vegetables in this recipe to suit your preference. If you don’t like one of the vegetables used, substitute your favorite. This soup is also good leftover and freezes well, although there is usually not much left for the freezer!
RECIPE: New Year's Ham and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 1 small head of cabbage, diced (See Note 1)
- 5 stalks celery, diced
- 5 large carrots, diced
- 5 medium potatoes, diced
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3-4 cups ham, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 4 large ears of fresh corn (See Note 2)
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (See Note 3)
- 3/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- 3 32-ounce cartons of chicken bone broth
- 2 packets of sodium-free chicken bouillon (See Note 4)
- 4 ounces cream cheese (Optional- See Note 5)
- 1 cup cream (Optional- See Note 5)
Instructions:
1. Add the sweet onion, cabbage, celery, carrots, potatoes, fresh garlic, and butter to a heavy soup pot and cook on medium-low for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are just starting to soften. Stir frequently to not burn the vegetables.
2. Add the ham, corn, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, chicken bone broth, and chicken bouillon to the soup pot. Simmer on low, stirring often until the vegetables are cooked through. Taste for seasoning.
3. Optional: To finish, put the cream cheese and cream in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds- or just as long as it takes to be able to whisk them together to make a smooth mixture. Then add this mixture to the soup and stir well.
4. Keep the soup warm on low after adding the cream mixture- serve and enjoy!
Notes from the Happy To Be Here kitchen:
1. One small head of cabbage may sound like a lot of cabbage, but it cooks down a lot. Make sure to core the cabbage before dicing it.
2. I like to use fresh corn, lightly grilled and cut off the cob. If you don’t have fresh corn, frozen will work too!
3. Only 1/2 teaspoon of salt is initially added to the recipe in an effort to not over salt the soup, as the ham will be salty. You may choose to not add salt until you have tasted the soup after it has simmered and then adjust the salt level to your taste.
4. I like the Herb Ox brand of sodium-free bouillon. Each packet is 4 grams. You may choose to substitute your favorite sodium-free bouillon in an equivalent amount.
5. The soup is very tasty (and healthier!) without the cream cheese mixture- so taste it and then decide if you’d like to add some decadent creaminess to finish this soup.
Let me know how you like this soup down below!
If you’re looking for another soup that would be perfect for a chilly fall or winter day, check out this chicken and wild rice soup.
Pin the image below to come back to this recipe later!
