Ham and Potato Soup is a cool weather staple around here and it’s easy to make in the crock pot and perfect for any leftover baked ham! A simple and delicious soup loaded with potatoes, sweet carrots and tender ham cooks in the slow cooker all day so dinner is ready when you are.

This easy slow cooker ham and potato soup is perfect served alongside our favorite 30 Minute Dinner Rolls with a fresh Kale Salad!

ham and potato soup and herbs

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Few things are as comforting as a delicious and creamy soup on a cold winter day!  Even better is coming home to dinner after a busy day of work or errands!

I truly love potato soup, it’s so comforting!  One of my very best friends made this delicious Ham and Potato soup for me for lunch one day!  It was a chilly day and this warmed me from the inside out! (Thanks Dee, you’re the best)!

Since then, I’ve made this soup so many times.  It’s always delicious and never lasts long around here!  This is one of those soups that is fabulous the first day just as amazing leftover… (and any time I can cook once, eat twice is a good thing around here)!

Technically you could consider this delicious soup a potato chowder as it is a thick creamy soup that is generally chunky.  Regardless of what you call it, it’s absolutely delicious! While chowders often contain fish (like seafood chowder), they can contain a variety of vegetables or meat and still be considered a chowder (like Slow Cooker Corn Chowder)!

Ham and Potato Soup ingredients in pot

How To Thicken Potato Soup

One thing I particularly love about this soup is that it uses potatoes to thicken it without adding in a lot of heavy cream and butter.  While the flavor and texture are rich and creamy, it’s not loaded up with fat and calories!

If you are trying to curb your dairy or fat intake, you can thicken this ham potato soup recipe (or other potato soup recipes) with mashed up potatoes and carrots right before it is served. This will make it slightly creamy but with just enough rustic chunkiness and not too rich. Simply scoop out a couple cups of potatoes and carrots and gently mash, then return to the Crock Pot. Adjust for flavor with salt and pepper and let everyone dig in!

If you’d like it even thicker, you can also add in a few potato flakes to reach desired thickness. If you’d prefer, you can also create a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water), stir it in and let it simmer in the crock pot 15 minutes on high.

Ham and Potato Soup top view

I most often use leftovers from my fave Crock Pot Ham or a ham bone to make this soup but if you don’t have leftovers, it works perfectly with diced ham steaks from the grocery store too! If you’d like to make this into a cheesy ham and potato soup, stir in a handful of cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese just before serving.  Remember that dairy can curdle at high temperatures so when you don’t want to cook it too long in the slow cooker. Once you add the milk and sour cream (and cheeses if you add any), you just want to make sure everything is heated through.

Can You Freeze Potato Soup with Ham?

Most creamy soups and chowders can be easily frozen, including this ham and potato soup recipe. All you have to do is put leftover soup in the fridge overnight to make sure it is completely cooled. Then, pour into a plastic freezer bag and lay flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, simply stack them up and you have a grab-and-go meal for another busy day!

More Slow Cooker Soups You’ll Love

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ham and potato soup and herbs
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Easy Crock Pot Ham and Potato Soup

Easy Ham and Potato Soup in the Crock Pot is a simple and delicious soup loaded with potatoes, sweet carrots and tender ham. Ham and Potato soup cooks in the slow cooker all day so dinner is ready when you are!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 20 minutes
Servings 12 servings
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Ingredients  

  • 7 cups diced potatoes diced
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 large carrot chopped
  • 2 to 3 cups diced ham
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • black pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Add diced potatoes, onion, carrot, ham, thyme, parsley, pepper & broth to a crock pot.
  • Cook on low 7 hours, or high 3 hours.
  • Remove 2-3 cups of the potatoes/carrots and mash, then return the mashed mixture to the crock pot.
  • Add milk and sour cream. Stir and cook an additional 15 minutes. Add pepper to taste. Makes twelve 1-cup servings.
4.98 from 82 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 177 | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 339mg | Potassium: 727mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 935IU | Vitamin C: 15.3mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 4.5mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Soup
Cuisine American

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ham and potato soup with text and parsley

Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup in a bowl with a slow cooker in the background

Ham and Potato Soup with writing and toppings

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About the author

Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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Comments

  1. 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?

  2. Just made it tonight and it was soo good. My guests and picky kids loved it! Will definately make again and again!

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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!

    1. 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

  8. 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!

  9. 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

    1. 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.

    1. 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).

  10. 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!

    1. 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.