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:
Mudhita says
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Didn’t have chicken stock, so it was all milk and water but still delicious. Added sriracha for some added heat for my bowl and mmm, mmm, mmm delicious. Notice the repetition there? 🙂 Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Nagi says
BA HA HA!!! I use that word MANY times every day!!! Thank you for your wonderful message, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Jane says
It was super delicious. It made about 6 servings for us but I was a little liberal with my potato proportions. Also, I added carrots with the potatoes. And when the chowder was getting thick, I used the sweet water from the canned corn to thin it out. And I used a mix of thyme and oregano, because I didn’t have just thyme. All additions only added more flavor and depth. Thanks for the recipe, it goes in my recipe book.
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jane!Thank you! And very honoured to make it into your book 🙂 ?
Ramona says
I thought the chowder was good but I believe it would work better after you saute the onion and garlic add about 1/2 a cup of chicken broth to that pan and put your potatoes and any other vegetables that you want to add and simmer until tender so then you don’t have to watch them in the milk so It doesn’t scald! Worked much better for me and I also added a little cheddar cheese. Thanks for the recipe it hit the spot and was nice to have a smaller amount of chowder for just me and my husband and for his lunch at work.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks for the tips Ramona! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Terri Flannery says
This soup was a HIT with my family….I topped it off with diced ham and shredded cheddar cheese…..oh so good
Nagi | RecipeTin says
WOO HOO!! SO GLAD you enjoyed it Terri, thank you for letting me know! N x
Nicole says
OMG Nagi! This soup was amazing! I froze some leftover Christmas ham and didn’t want to make any boring sandwiches…found this recipe and the entire family was devouring it. My husband is a picky eater and he loved this soup. Another awesome recipe! Keep it up!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
YEE HAA!!! SO GLAD you enjoyed it Nicole!!! 🙂
Marti says
Made this last night following exact recipe (minus having leftover ham… I just just used the pre-cooked ham steaks from our local shop), and it was awesome! Love how thick and creamy it came out. Next time I will def add in bacon, because.. well.. bacon. 🙂
Thanks for another goodie !
Nagi | RecipeTin says
I’m so glad you loved it Marti!!! As for bacon? Yes. Yes yes!
Peggy Baldwin says
I made this last night, a year after you published it. Someone on Facebook mentioned they had made ham chowder, and I thought yum! So, I Google it and liked the looks of you recipe more than any other one I saw. Most of the other ones had bacon and ham, which I think is overkill.
We loved this soup! I will make it over and over again! My husband and I both think this recipe makes 4 servings, and since doubled the recipe, we have more for later this week and 2 meals in the freezer. Yay! I served it with a spinach salad and garlic bread. Thanks, Nagi! I have signed up to receive email from you. Your blog was today’s happy discovery!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Peggy, and that you discovered me!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂 And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
David Smith says
Want to make big pot of your ham potato corn chowder for about 10-12 people
What would the recipe be
Made this for wife and I and we loved it
Thanks David
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi David! I would triple the recipe 🙂 in a VERY large pot!!
catarina says
Hi, looks amazing and I really wanna make it !
Is there anything I could use instead of milk?
Thank you !
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Catarina! You need milk to get the creamy texture of this soup. Do you have a dietary requirement? Can you use dairy-free forms of milk? I think soy milk would work for this. I wouldn’t recommend almond – far too rich!
catarina says
Hi yes dairy free would be the idea! I’ll try with the soy milk!
Thank you very much 🙂
Melanie @ Carmel Moments says
I love your photos so much! We’re huge soup fans in our house. This looks amazing and I definitely need to take up some tips from your on these gorgeous shots.
Pinned.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thank you Melanie, you are far too kind! I’m a huge soup fan too….I definitely have it at least once a week, EVEN in the middle of summer which is right now in Sydney! 🙂
Susan Wallo says
HAM POTATO AND CORN CHOWDER. Finally, my left over ham put to good use. Added fresh garden onion. purple onion, poblano pepper, can of cream of mushrooms, 1/2 orange bell pepper, added water two cans of corn plus water, two cans milk, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, garlic 3 cloves, powder garlic. My family loves. Wonder for a snow day.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thank you for coming back to share your thoughts! I am so glad you enjoyed it and I love the additions you made!! 🙂
Kevin | keviniscooking says
What the what? I just posted a similar recipe! I see your ladle scoop shots and am envious. I’ll be learning quite a bit from you, but keeping it original. Thanks for all your help Nagi and the FBC group. Have a great weekend!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thanks Kevin!! Popping over to check out YOUR version 🙂
Jeanette says
AMAZING! Made this last night. I simmered my leftover Christmas ham bone that I put in the freezer and used the resulting stock in place of the chicken broth. What an awesome chowder!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Ooh, that would have been AMAZING using the ham bone for extra flavour! Thanks Jeanette, I’m so glad you enjoyed this! 🙂
Stuart Hooper says
Just tried this one out, and I have to say we loved it. I’ll definately be making this one again. I made it with really crispy bacon and it was lovely,. next time i’ll be using more bacon. Thanks for putting this one up. I love your site, so many great recipes
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Thank you Stuart! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, bacon is brilliant with this 🙂
Judi says
My husband is allergic to onions and garlic and that family. Do you know of anything that could be sauteed to substitute here? It looks so good,i want to try it
Thanks
Judi
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Judi! Are shallots / scallions in that family? If not, then you could just slice the white / light green part and sauté that instead. The flavour is very similar to onions + a touch of garlic. Another option is to add finely chopped garlic chives – just sauté them quickly in the butter. Garlic chives are a herb that have a garlic oniony flavour!
Raquel says
I am making this as we speak but have no tyme, can I use dried parsley?
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Hi Raquel – parsley will be fine! The thyme adds a subtle flavour, so you can definitely replace it with any other herb you want or even leave it out 🙂
Shinee says
Oh yeah, I love me some chowder, especially with some potatoes! Will have to make this deliciousness this winter. 🙂
Nagi | RecipeTin says
It’s summer here and I made it ANYWAY!! I love it that much! Actually, it was unusually cool on the day I made it 🙂
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Okay, everything on this page is making my mouth water!! And this chowder looks amazing – my kind of comforting soup.
I sent a link to a friend of mine to the Croque Madame Toastie Cups and she made them for her whole family – they were a hit!!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Oh wow, thanks Marissa!! This is totally my kind of comfort soup too 🙂
Tina says
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!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
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!
Cyn says
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.
Nagi | RecipeTin says
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!! 🙂
Cyn says
Never saw a soup disappear so fast!
Nagi | RecipeTin says
Greatest compliment I’ve had to date!! 🙂