This Ham and Corn Chowder is wonderful comfort food! A creamy soup broth, soft potato, juicy sweet corn and pops of golden brown ham is utterly irresistible and will warm your soul. Imagine coming home to this!
It’s Saturday 27 December, 2 days after Christmas, so I bet there are millions (billions??) of households around the world having ham for lunch. Sure, you could throw together a ham sandwich with fresh bread (yay, shops are open today!), or a frittata using other leftovers from your Christmas Day feast.
Or you could do something a little different and make this chowder. 🙂
“You could make yet another grilled ham and cheese sandwich to use up all that leftover ham…..or you could make this hearty, creamy soup!”
I’m a firm believer that for a soup to be a meal, it needs to be gutsy. And this soup is off the charts when it comes to oomph factor. It’s thick and chunky, creamy (without cream!!) and is one of those soups that is perfect for filling out even more with the addition of more vegetables (frozen diced vegetables are great!) or other leftover meats (think leftover turkey and chicken!).
I bet you thought it was bacon when you first saw the photo! Nope, not a shred of bacon in sight. Honestly, when you fry up the ham and cook it nice and crispy like you would with bacon, it will make you wonder why you don’t cook with ham more often. All the flavour but so much healthier!
To finish things off, I have a rather sad announcement to make…..I have run out of leftover Christmas ham!!! I felt a bit of a pang when I used up the last scraps for this recipe because it seems to signify the end of Christmas….and having to wait another 363 days until the next one.
Soup Dippers
Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread • Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread • Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls
For those of you who are lucky enough to still have a stash of Christmas Ham, here are some more suggestions for things you can make with it!
MORE THINGS TO MAKE WITH LEFTOVER HAM
Croque Madame Toastie Cups (Muffin Tin) – the best grilled ham and cheese you will ever have….
Ham and Cheese French Toastie Roll Ups – French Toast you can eat with your fingers!
No Washing Up Egg, Ham and Cheese Bread Bowls – yes, you read that right, there is no washing up at all!
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Ham and Corn Chowder with Potato
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups ham , roughly chopped (Note 1)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 small onion , diced (or half large onion) (yellow, brown or white)
- 2 potatoes , peeled and diced into 8mm / 1/3" cubes (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (or drained canned corn)
- 5 tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk (I use low fat but full fat will work too)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried thyme), plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Do not let the onion brown.
- Add the flour and whisk until mixed through the butter. Pour 1 cup of milk in and whisk until it starts to thicken (around 1 1/2 minutes), then pour the remaining cup of milk in. Whisk until it thickens - around 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock, and 1 1/2 cups of water and whisk until combined.
- Increase heat to medium high and add the potatoes into the soup. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes (Note 3), whisking fairly regularly to ensure the soup doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. The soup will thicken as it cooks. Use the remaining 1/2 cup of water if the soup gets too thick before the potato has finished cooking.
- Just before the potato has finished cooking, add the corn in (just to heat it through).
- While the potato is cooking, heat olive oil in a small fry pan over high heat. Add the ham and sauté for 1 - 2 minutes until nicely browned. Remove fry pan from the heat and set aside. (Note 4)
- When the potato is cooked (tender but still holding its shape), remove the soup from the stove and stir through most of the thyme and ham (reserve a bit for garnish).
- If the soup is too thick for your liking, use water (or milk) to get the soup to your desired consistency. Add the salt and 5 grinds of black pepper, then do a taste test and adjust the saltiness if required.
- Serve, garnished with remaining thyme leaves and ham.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
So happy I stumbled across your blog. We made your chowder tonight with leftover Christmas ham and loved it! Glad I doubled the recipe. Thanks for sharing – it was just perfect on this cold night in Tennessee. Can’t wait to try your Croque Madame Toastie Cups next. 5 Stars!
Thanks Tina! I’m so glad you enjoyed the chowder!! I must admit, I had it for lunch AND dinner the day I made it!! Thank you for your lovely comment!
I just saw this chowder recipe on Facebook and it looked wonderful so I had to go back and look at the recipe. Had so much ham leftover from Christmas dinner so I just made this and it is fantastic! I had everything I needed right here in the pantry, fridge & freezer and even though it’s almost January in New England (USA) my thyme is still growing in a sheltered spot so I had the fresh thyme to add. Thank you for publishing this wonderful recipe. Now I’m freezing the leftover ham so I can make this again when our group of friends has “soup night” in Feb or Mar. This will be a regular on my meals list now.
Thank you for your WONDERFUL comment Cyn!! I am so glad you enjoyed it! I had it for lunch and dinner the day I made it, I couldn’t stop!! 🙂
Never saw a soup disappear so fast!
Greatest compliment I’ve had to date!! 🙂
What a brilliant way to use leftover ham! I may go out and by a ham just so I can make this dish! I can’t believe there’s no cream in this soup! It look thick, luscious, and velvety! Another fantastic post and phenomenal pictures as always!
Thanks Kathleen!! I think I’m going to be going out to get ham to make this again too in the very near future….I am currently obsessed with this!
I just discovered your blog and love it!! Gorgeous pictures… And you make me feel sorry I don’t have any leftover ham this year since we didn’t have ham but tenderloin this time (nothing left either…:) But I might just buy myself some ham to make this chowder.
Thanks for your kind words Simone!! Yes, I often get ham especially to make this 🙂 SO worth it!
so glad I made this! I think I made a mistake by buying small pieces of ham without any sweetness to them. I think the leftover ham would have been much more flavorful…but I didnt have any! I added a little nutmeg and a packet of sugar to add a little sweetness. Next time I will be using the real thing! I did take a photo though bc it was sooo pretty and three people have already asked me for your recipe! Yum!
Hi Stacey – so glad you enjoyed it! Store bought ham works fine with this, just be sure to get the thick cut type and dice it yourself (rather than the shaved ham which is too thin). Or of course, you can use bacon!
Man I wish I checked out this a few days ago! I had some dental problems for a week and can only eat soup and smoothies. I’d cook this dish every single day if I read this post earlier! I like having soup for a meal and I agree, really need it to be rich in flavor and have a lot of goodies in it 🙂
Oh no! I am sorry to hear about your dental problems…..If we lived closer, I would have sent this soup to you!
I definitely agree that soup for a meal needs to be bold – this looks fantastic! Unfortunately the chicken we had for Christmas dinner is long gone, but I’ll keep this recipe in mind for the next time I’ve got leftovers to use up. Why do leftovers have to disappear so quickly?!
I know!! At the time I groan thinking “This is going to take DAYS to get through!” then when I finish, I get so sad!!
I just klove chowder. Its a soup that always fits the bill. Love those ham and cheese roll ups too.
Thanks Tania!! 🙂
Oh, yum – Nagi – just love this – pity no ham at the moment:)
So glad you approve Rachel!! 😉 I usually make this with bacon to be honest, but it was so good with ham!! 🙂
Yes! I have virtually half a ham in my fridge in desperate need of something yummy to put it in. I think this would be more than worthy! Thanks for the great idea, Nagi … and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too Helen!! And YES this is a great way to use alot of ham 🙂 Half a ham?? Jeez!! That is ALOT!!
This blows clam chowder out of the water. Yum! Thanks for the creative ways to use up Christmas ham ~ the post Christmas days may be the yummiest yet!
I agree Sarah!! The post Christmas leftovers is always one of my favourite parts about Christmas!
We had ham for lunch. I cooked a ham on the 23rd for the oldies and another one for Christmas lunch. Tonight John said, “Can we have a steak?”
It’s back to ham tomorrow! I think this chowder would be perfect for my leftover ham. I was going to go with a chef salad with ham and hard boiled eggs or a ham, pea and macaroni salad but yours sounds better now.
Oooh….macaroni salad…..make that and share it so I can have the recipe!! 🙂
I always end up drooling big time when I come to visit your blog Nagi. You make it all look so amazingly irresistible! Just look at this ham chowder, I am not a big chowder fan but I sure want to dig in and gobble up the whole content of the pot. =)
Thanks Helene! I’m pretty picky when it comes to Chowder 🙂 I find most to be far too creamy and rich, but because this is made without cream, I love it! 🙂