This slow cooker ham and potato soup is a cool weather staple around here and it’s easy to make.
This is a simple, quick, and creamy potato soup loaded with sweet carrots and tender ham cooks—it’s so easy that it practically cooks itself.
Few things are as comforting as coming home to dinner after a busy day of work or errands!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights For Ham & Potato Soup
- Flavor: This slow cooker ham and potato soup is creamy with a homestyle flavor and a slight tang from the sour cream.
- Consistency: This recipe is a soup, and while it’s thicker than many soups, it’s not as thick as a chowder. It can be thickened according to the notes below.
- Difficulty: Super easy! This is a great soup for beginners.
- Recommended tools: To save prep time, I use this chopper for the carrots and onions. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools.
- Flavor booster: If you have a ham bone from leftover baked ham, add it to the slow cooker for extra flavor.
- Leftovers: This soup tastes just as good leftover as it does the day you made it-perfect for lunches all week.
- Serving suggestions: Pair it with 30 Minute Dinner Rolls or crusty bread.
Ham for Soup
Use leftovers if you have them from either baked ham or Crock Pot Ham. If you’ve got a ham bone, add that as well.
If you don’t have leftovers, ham steaks are an inexpensive option.
How To Thicken Potato Soup
This slow cooker ham and potato soup recipe is not quite as thick as a potato chowder but easy to thicken. I use the vegetables in the soup to thicken it without adding a lot of heavy cream or butter.
- Mash veggies – Remove two to three cups of potatoes and carrots and mash them before adding them back to the soup Crock Pot.
- Option: Potato flakes – If you’d like to thicken it further, add some potato flakes which are great to have on hand for thickening all kinds of things!
- Option: Cornstarch – You can also create a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water), stir it in, and let it simmer in the crock pot for 15 minutes on high.
Leftovers and Freezing
Store leftover soup in the fridge for up to four days. This Ham and Potato soup recipe freezes well. Cool it completely, transfer it to freezer bags or an airtight container, and freeze for up to four months.
Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave or stovetop.
More Slow Cooker Recipes You'll Love
Did you enjoy this Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds potatoes about 7 cups diced
- 2 to 3 cups diced ham
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup milk or cream
- ½ cup sour cream
- potato flakes for thickening, optional*
Instructions
- If using russet or baking potatoes, peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into ¾-inch pieces.
- In a 6qt slow cooker, add potatoes, ham, onion, carrot, ham, parsley, thyme and salt and pepper. Pour the broth overtop.
- Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 3 hours or until the potatoes are tender.
- Transfer 2 to 3 cups of the potatoes and carrots to a bowl. Mash them and return the mashed mixture to the slow cooker.
- Add the milk and sour cream. Stir and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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How many potatoes do you need to make 7 cups of diced? Or do you use frozen diced potatoes? And if so, does it matter if you out then in frozen or should they be thawed?
I use freshly peeled potatoes. You’ll need approximately 8 depending on the size.
Just made it tonight and it was soo good. My guests and picky kids loved it! Will definately make again and again!
I’m so glad your friends and family loved this soup! :)
I just made this soup today. It was good, but I wish I had only put in half a teaspoon of the thyme. I found the thyme to be overpowering. To be fair, I don’t ever use thyme in my food. I would make it again.
I’ve made this several times. I have altered it, using less chicken broth and adding a cream of chicken soup. I also use whole milk. These additions make it a bit richer.
That sounds delicious Adam! Thank you for sharing!
May we put this on our Pinterest page or do we need permission for that also? The Pinterest isn’t a “blog” but it may be considered a Social Media so I just wanted to check first. Thank you.
You are welcome to share to Pinterest. Thank you!
Sorry to say but this recipe was disappointing. I followed the recipe exactly and found the soup lacking flavor. I used garden grown carrots and leftover ham along with all of the other ingredients listed. The thyme was overwhelming. I’m a good cook, not a foodie but my family enjoys my cooking. They would never complain so they ate the soup politely. Sorry to leave an unfavorable review.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe, it’s one of our favorites.
I made this today and and I did use some leftover broth from when I had roasted a large ham. I used this broth plus some chicken broth and the flavour is phenomenal! A real hit and over the top hearty!
I’m so glad you loved it! The ham broth is a great idea!
Very tasty! Thanks!
I used hash browns instead of potatoes (I read on another post for same recipe), some stalks of celery and I added 3 garlic cloves, some all spice powder and cayenne pepper. I also made the broth as I didn’t have ready made. Great recipe
I would think that this would freeze well if you stopped right before adding the dairy.
I made this today. Was very good, and even grandchildren had 2 bowls. I added shredded cheese and made it thicker. Took longer than 3 hours on high. But good!
Cheddar would be great in this recipe.
It is in the crock pit now! I hope 3 hours is enough for carrots to Cook! Can’t wait to eat it tonight
as i was reviewing this receipe, it doesn’t say if the parsley is fresh, or dry, and for the thyme, also doesn’t say, if fresh, ground, or dried leaves, can you please let me know which one you used
I used dried in this recipe.
What kind of ham do you recommend using?
Thanks!
I usually use leftover baked ham in this recipe but I’ve made it with any kind of ham purchased from the grocery and cubed. I do cut off any skin on the outside before making it.
Hello! Just wondering if you have ever froze this soup?
I haven’t tried freezing this recipe.
I plan on making this but I was wondering has any one added peas to it?
I haven’t but flavor wise I think it’d be delicious! Please keep in mind that in step 3 you mash/blend some of the potato mixture so the green peas will likely change the appearance (the color might be unusual).
Hello, I made this soup today and the flavor was great. But my dairy separated from the broth. It settled in the bottom of the crock pot, and it looked curdled when stirred up. This is the second time in as many weeks I’ve struck out when adding dairy to my soup base. I used daisy light sour cream and 2% milk. I followed the instructions in the recipe. Even though the soup tastes good, it did not look appetizing. I know I did something wrong. My crock pot was on high at the time I added the dairy. Just curious for feedback. Thanks!
Was your dairy in the slow cooker longer than 15 minutes? (High temperatures can sometimes cause diary to curdle). Once you add the milk and sour cream, you just want to make sure everything is heated through.
It is possible that your slow cooker may run a little hotter, in this case you might like to add the dairy at the very end and just keep an eye on it (maybe check it after 7-10 minutes or so). For this recipe you mainly just want to make sure it’s heated through once the milk and sour cream are added.
Delicious! I substituted the milk and sour cream for milk.
I love easy recipes I can cook and freeze for another day. Since I’ll be cooking just for one person.
Did you freeze it? If so, how did it turn out when reheating?
This is REALLY good !!! YAY ! so glad i made it !
O-M-G!! This was absolutely deeeeelicious!!!! Thank you for sharing!!