Ham and Potato Chowder
A creamy and comforting chowder that comes together in 30 minutes.
My husband has been on the quest for the perfect clam chowder for most of his adult life and I feel a little left out. See, I’m not the biggest clam chowder fan, so I haven’t been partaking on this tasting journey. And while I do very much like chowder in general (especially when it has the attributes of being creamy and full of potatoes), it’s just not something you find on a menu as often. The solution? Make your own! And make it with ham. This is quite possibly the chowder of my dreams and I hope it’s yours too.
Chowder seems like it’s going to be a soup that takes a while to make, maybe because it’s hearty, but in actuality this one only takes thirty minutes. And you don’t need a ton of stuff to make it either. You’ll need the regulars like onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and then some chicken broth, bacon, potatoes, diced ham, and corn and then a touch of heavy cream to round it all out at the end.
You’ll cook the bacon down first and remove it from the pot to hang out while you cook the rest of the soup. (I like the bacon to stay nice and crisp so it goes in at the end.) The ever lovely trinity of onions, celery, and carrot softens in that fat and then flour goes in to thicken things up before you add the broth and bring it to a simmer.
After that, you really just need to simmer the potatoes, corn, and ham until those potatoes are tender, which should only take about fifteen minutes. It’s an easy soup, but it’s an irresistible one! It’s plenty creamy, with a thick enough broth to fill you up, but the sweet corn keeps things from feeling too heavy.
Ham and Potato Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
- 2 cups cooked ham, diced
- 1 lb potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Add onion, celery, and carrot to the pot and cook until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in broth, scraping up any browned on bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in cream, corn, ham, potatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes.
- Stir in bacon, reserving some to top bowls, if desired, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Salt and Lavender.