Vegetable Soup with Ham
Vegetable Soup with Ham is a hearty, comforting dish brimming with fresh vegetables, leftover ham, tender pasta, and aromatic herbs, all simmered in a savory broth. This soup recipe can easily be customized to suit your taste buds!
Leftover Ham Soup
You know we’ve just celebrated a holiday when leftover ham soup hits the table. I mean, what else should we do with all of the leftovers from the biggest meals of the year? Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. One can only eat so much turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, pretzel salad, and dinner rolls – right?
I know it’s not just me when I say that leftovers are the best party of holiday meals. But we love turning them into other delicious meals like Turkey Rice Soup, Cheesy Potato Pancakes, Ham and Gruyere Quiche, and Leftover Turkey Rice Casserole.
Why This Recipe Works:
- A GREAT USE OF LEFTOVER HAM – Got leftover ham? Make this yummy soup. If not, just buy thick cut ham at the grocery store and make it anyway!
- LOADED WITH VEGGIES – We use a combo of fresh veggies, including onions, carrots, celery, yellow potatoes, garlic, and zucchini. You could also add others like mushrooms, green beans, peas, or corn. Make it your own!
- FULL OF FLAVOR – The combo of the salty ham, nutrient rich veggies, pasta of your choice, and seasonings make this a repeat recipe here. You’ll love the texture and flavor.
What You’ll Need:
- Ham Bone – We always save the ham bone from our holiday feast. You can freeze it too along with some leftover ham.
- Olive Oil
- Veggies – Any combo of veggies works well. Just use your favorites!
- Seasonings – We went pretty heavy on the seasonings for flavor but add and subtract as you like.
- Broth – While we used lower-sodium chicken broth, you could add some beef broth or a combo of broth and water.
- Leftover Ham – The leftover ham is the star of the show in this delicious soup.
- Pasta – Any type of pasta works. We used bucatini and broke it into smaller pieces.
How to make Vegetable Soup with Ham:
Step 1
Cook ham bone. Place a ham bone (if you have one) in a stock pot. Cover with chicken broth (or use a combo of broth and water). Simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.
Remove the ham bone to a cutting board. Cut any visible ham off of the bone and discard bone. Then strain the broth and set aside.
Step 2
Sauté veggies. Heat the stockpot to medium-high heat. Add olive oil and the chopped veggies – onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes. (Wait until later to add the zucchini.) Cook veggies until slightly softened. Add seasonings (oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt, and pepper) and the minced garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes.
Step 3
Add broth. Then add the reserved broth plus more (you’ll need 8-10 cups total) and the bay leaves. Bring to a rolling simmer. The potatoes should be close to fork tender.
Step 4
Add ham and pasta. Add the leftover ham (from the ham bone plus the four cups) and pasta to the pot and continue to cook until pasta is just tender (aka al dente).
Step 5
Add zucchini. Add the chopped zucchini to the soup and cook for just a few minutes. Zucchini cooks very quickly so don’t cook it very long.
Step 6
Serve. Serve ham and vegetable soup with extra black pepper and crackers or crusty bread.
Storing and Freezing Ham Soup:
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can also add it to meal prep containers for easy lunches throughout the week.
- Freeze leftover soup in freezer bags after squeezing the air out of the bags. Lay flat in your freezer. The soup should freeze well for 2-3 months but the zucchini may get a bit mushy.
What to serve with Ham Soup:
- BREAD – Our favorite bread for soup is our Chewy French Bread. We also enjoy our Multigrain Bread Recipe and Garlic Sourdough Bread.
- SALAD – Make a side salad and add one of our favorite salad dressings. Try our Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette, Creamy Italian Dressing, or Light Honey Mustard Dressing.
- COOKIES? Enjoy our Maple Cinnamon Cookies, Oatmeal Craisin Cookies, or Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies!
Recipe FAQs:
Classic choices include carrots, celery, onions, and garlic for a flavorful base. We also added potatoes and zucchini but spinach, peas, or green beans can also be included for extra texture and nutrients.
Leftover ham works wonderfully in soup, as the extra simmering time helps the flavors meld with the vegetables and broth.
We use thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes (for heat – optional), onion powder, salt, and pepper. Bay leaves adds additional depth of flavor. Since ham is salty, add salt sparingly, tasting as you go to get the right balance.
Other Delicious Soup Recipes:
Soup is literally my chilly weather love language! We have so many delicious recipes to choose from and these are a few of our favorites.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Vegetable Soup with Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion – chopped
- 2 cups carrots – chopped
- 1 cup celery – chopped
- 2 cups yellow potatoes – chopped
- 1 teaspoon each dried thyme, dried oregano, dried red pepper flakes, onion powder
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
- 4 cloves garlic – minced
- 8-10 cups lower sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups leftover ham – chopped
- 6 oz. pasta – I used bucatini and broke them into pieces
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Cook ham bone. Place a ham bone (if you have one) in a stock pot. Cover with chicken broth (or use a combo of broth and water). Simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.Remove the ham bone to a cutting board. Cut any visible ham off of the bone and discard bone. Then strain the broth and set aside.
- Sauté veggies. Heat the stockpot to medium-high heat. Add olive oil and the chopped veggies – onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes. (Wait until later to add the zucchini.) Cook veggies until slightly softened. Add seasonings (oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt, and pepper) and the minced garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes.Use salt sparingly because the ham is salty.
- Add broth. Then add the reserved broth plus more (you'll need 8-10 cups total) and the bay leaves. Bring to a rolling simmer. The potatoes should be close to fork tender.
- Add ham and pasta. Add the leftover ham (from the ham bone plus the four cups) and pasta to the pot and continue to cook until pasta is just tender (aka al dente).
- Add zucchini. Add the chopped zucchini to the soup and cook for just a few minutes. Zucchini cooks very quickly so don't cook it very long.
- Add zucchini. Add the chopped zucchini to the soup and cook for just a few minutes. Zucchini cooks very quickly so don't cook it very long.
- Serve. Serve ham and vegetable soup with extra black pepper and crackers or crusty bread.
Notes
- If you don’t have a ham bone, just skip it and use thick cut ham.
- We use a combo of fresh veggies, including onions, carrots, celery, yellow potatoes, garlic, and zucchini. You could also add others like mushrooms, green beans, peas, or corn.
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container for 3-4 days. You can also add it to meal prep containers for easy lunches throughout the week.
- Freeze leftover soup in freezer bags after squeezing the air out of the bags. Lay flat in your freezer. The soup should freeze well for 2-3 months but the zucchini may get a bit mushy.
Awesome recipe and an excellent use for leftover ham. Well done!