Creamy Ham and Potato Soup without dairy? Oh yes, it’s a thing. 
And it’s a thing you need in your life
Really, you do because it’s like a big warm hug in a bowl. Chock-full of veggies and big chunks of the most dreamy uncured, no sugar ham, it’s exactly what you need to ward off the winter chill and fill your belly right now.
I seriously can’t get enough of this soup right now – and neither can my 5-year-old. She asks for it everyday. I don’t blame her. I’m pretty keen on it for breakfast right now.
Whole30-friendly in addition to being utterly delicious?
leaf lard for it’s very delicate flavor that lets the vegetables and ham be the star of the dish. If you prefer something more assertive and a little on the wild side, I’d recommend checking out the wild boar lard from Fatworks as well. It’s pleasantly assertive and like leaf lard, it’s a minimally processed traditional fat with a higher smoke point making it ideal for frying or sauteeing. And starting big pots of dreamy soup.
Enough chatter, eh? Let’s all make soup. Calling in sick to work to make soup, that’s legit right?!
Okay, the voice of reason says it’s probably not but thankfully this is a great recipe for either making ahead and rewarming (or freezing if you like to be really prepared and on it) or you can pre-chop all the vegetables and ham and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to actually make the soup – thus saving yourself 20 minutes of prep time with this last option.
You could even toss it all in the slow cooker (minus the ham and kale) and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours then proceed with the recipe as written. It’s totally your call.
But let’s all make a pact to make soup happen this week, ok?
- 1 Tbsp. cooking fat of choice (we recommend Fatworks Leaf Lard or Wild Boar Lard)
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 large leek, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 cups red potatoes, skin-on, ½-inch dice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 8 oz. cooked ham, ¼-inch dice
- 2 cups kale, tightly packed, torn into small pieces (about ½ bunch)
- ½ tsp. sea salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper or to taste
- Red pepper flakes, optional
- Place a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid over medium heat. Add fat and when melted, add onion, carrot, celery and leeks. Saute for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions start to soften.
- Add garlic, stir and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add potatoes, broth and thyme. Bring soup just to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender - about 30 minutes, depending on how large they are and how vigorous the simmer.
- When vegetables are tender, insert an immersion blender into the soup on one side of the pot and process until creamy. Stir to mix the part you just pureed into the other half of the soup (you can also remove ½ of the soup and process it in a blender or food processor then return it to the pan).
- Add diced ham and kale continue to heat until ham is warm and kale is wilted. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Serve.
What’s your favorite soup and why? We’d love to hear about it – share in the comments below!
Pin now to make later!
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My newly paleo family ate this up tonight. Delicious. Perfect for the cold weather we’ve been having in Seattle. Thank you!
Wow! That’s incredible! Thanks for sharing – glad we could help you serve up something your family loves and to help ward off that PNW chill.
Another Seattle-lite here! Made this recipe this week for a group of people and it was a hit! The only change I made was to leave out the Kale, but that was only because I forgot to include it in my grocery order. Can’t wait to make it again!
Hi Charity,
Seattle + Soup must be a thing right now with all the cold, wet weather. So glad you loved it!
What type of ham do you use for this recipe so that it is Whole30 compliant? What stores carry it?
Hi Laura –
I use Pederson’s Natural Farms Spiral Sliced Ham which can be ordered online at The Simple Grocer.
You can learn more about Simple Grocers here (plus get a discount on your first order – everything they sell is Whole30-compliant and all orders ship free in the U.S.)
You can also look for a Whole30-compliant deli ham and ask to have it sliced thick (so you can then cube it). You may need to use less salt in the recipe if you ham is really salty.
Hope that helps!
I have a huge bag of russet potatoes to use up – do you think they could work in this soup?
Hi Annahita,
You can definitely use Russet potatoes. You may want to peel them (or at least half of them) since their peels are tougher than those of red potatoes. I often use a mix of both if that’s what I’ve got on hand and it always turns out great. I just prefer red potatoes for the fact that they don’t need peeling, they’re pretty in soup and it’s what we grow in our garden every summer. Yukon golds will also work, too.
Enjoy!
I just made this dish (in my Instant Pot) and it is phenomenal! I highly recommend :). Thanks for the share.
Thanks, Melanie! I’m so glad you loved it. It’s a huge hit at my house too. Would you mind sharing how long you cooked it in the Instant Pot? I know a lot of people will want to know and I’ve only made mine on the stove.
Did you just throw everything into the instant pot? How long?
Hi Bethany,
That’s a great question! This is a guess but I’m thinking 12-13 minutes on manual/high would be good. I would cut down on the broth to 2 cups (you can always add more at the end) and hold off on adding the ham and kale until after the 12-13 minutes of cooking and blending. Then turn the IP to sauté and add the kale and ham to finish plus additional broth as needed. Hope this helps. If you give it a try let us know how it turns out!
Excellent recipe! This was so good and filling!
Thanks, Becca! I’m so happy to hear you loved it. It’s one of my favorite soups – making it this weekend!
Who else blended up the ham with everything… 😀 Great recipe tho!
Whoops! I’ve done that before with chicken soup when I was in a hurry…oh well, still tastes good and you have slightly less chewing to do 😉
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This is such a wonderful soup — eating it right now! The red pepper flakes are a welcome addition. Thank you for the great recipe!
Oh yes! The red pepper flakes add so much deliciousness and kick to this recipe! Thanks for the nice comment, Melissa! 🙂
is there a different meat that might work in place of the ham for this recipe? I looked at simplegrocer, but I don’t need to buy 6 items (their minimum).
Sausage tastes great in this recipe too!
This was delicious! I made it exactly like the recipe called for. Everyone, even my skeptical husband, loved it!
Yes! Thanks for sharing – we love to hear when our recipes impress skeptical husbands!
Is it possible to make this with ghee instead of another fat?
Yes, ghee would work great in this recipe! 🙂
Thanks for posting this. We had leftover ham from Easter Sunday, plus potatoes & kale in our CSA delivery today. I prepped the chopping this morning and can’t wait to try it tonight.
A perfect recipe to use up leftover ham. Hope you enjoy it!
a whole leak or a one leaf?
A whole leek – the white part and light green part only. You can discard (or compost) the leaves.