Quick Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

It's getting to be that time of year again...

Soup season!

I have to admit, In the past I wasn't much of a soup fan, but as time goes on, I realize just what a great meal soup is to have when the weather starts to turn cool.

I love that most recipes make enough food for a couple of meals...

I love that soup freezes so well...

I love that most soups are pretty healthy and diet friendly...well, most soups that aren't cream based that is.  At least that's what I thought...until THIS soup entered my life.




There is no heavy cream in this soup.  What there is is low-fat milk, transformed into a white sauce that thickens the soup just right and gives it that creamy texture that makes you feel all snuggly and warm and comforted inside.  Ya, I love that a bowl of warm soup can do that too!

This recipe is adapted from a recipe found on Allrecipes, that a fellow Allstar stumbled across and couldn't say enough good things about.  I have to say, I totally agree with her opinions and I, too, am singing it's praises.

I did make a few adjustments from the original recipe to suit my families taste, but I was pretty happy with the resulting product and I don't think I would make it any other way.  This ended up being a "use what you have" recipe for me, so I used three different kinds of potatoes...yukon gold, russet, and baby reds.  I peeled the yukon golds and the russets, but left the skin on the baby reds.  You can use whatever kind of potato you like..  I served this soup with Cheddar and Chive Sour Cream Scones, (I will share the recipe for those soon!) and it made the perfect fall weeknight meal. 

Quick Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

adapted from Allrecipes

Printable Recipe

Servings - 8   Serving size - 1/8th of recipe or approx. 1 1/2 cup   Points Plus per Serving - 5 Points+

Calories - 174.2,   Total Fat - 7.1g,   Carb. - 20.5g,   Protein - 7.3g,   Fiber - 2.7g

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups peeled, diced potatoes (your choice of variety of potatoes) 

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced onion

1 cup sliced carrots

1 tsp dried thyme

6 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth

3/4 cup extra-lean (5% fat) smoked ham, diced

4 TBS unsalted butter

4 TBS all purpose flour

2 cups 1% milk (heated in microwave until just warm)

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven or stock pan, heat the 1 tsp. olive oil until the pan and oil are slightly hot.  Add in the celery, onion, and carrots.  Cook on med heat until the vegetables begin to soften and the onion become translucent.  (About 5 -6 minutes)
2. To the pan, add the thyme and the potatoes.  Stir and let cook for about 1 minute, then add in the chicken broth and ham.  Allow the soup to come to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, and simmer until the potatoes and vegetables are soft.  
3. In a medium sized pan, melt the butter.  Once melted, over med heat, whisk in the flour.  Cook and stir the flour/butter mixture for 1 minute, then slowly add the  warm milk, continuing to whisk until it is smooth.  Continue stirring over med heat until the mixture is thickened.  
4. Add the milk mixture to the soup and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to your liking.  

Note:  if you cut the potatoes and the vegetables very small, you can reduce the overall cooking time

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Creamy and satisfying.  You could leave out the ham, if you like, for a meatless version and shave a few more calories off the finished dish.  If you like a little thicker soup, you can mash up some of the potatoes in the soup to thicken it.   

It's a rainy Monday here today.  Not too cool, but it does "look" like a soup day to me!  I honestly cannot believe that September is almost over.  Where does time go?  Soon it will be time to put all the patio furniture away and get the yard all ready for winter.  But I think we still have a couple of good weeks ahead of us to enjoy!