It snowed again. Yep. Not on Easter (and April Fool’s Day) but the day before. It was like a cruel joke, and it put me right into comfort mode. Anyway, here’s some of that comfort, Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder. It’s wrap up in a throw with your big fuzzy socks and eat from a mug comfort!

Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder

There’s hardly anything to the recipe, so I thought it would be a fun one to show the kids. They were over to help with the eating of the marvelous Honey Glazed Cajun Spiced Ham I made the other day. Well, we were all talking and I looked down and realized the Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder was done and I hadn’t even done any instruction! Next time!

Good to Know About Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder:

When I say easy, this really is super simple to make. The only hard part is peeling and dicing the potatoes and that one little ol’ onion!

Make sure to use red potatoes so the soup doesn’t get all starchy. Cutting them in a smaller dice & cooking them in salted water helps to keep this soup from being too bland, which is important as the flavors of the soup (or Chowder as I call it) are pretty simple. It’s just the potatoes, milk, cheese & ham.

If you want, you can add a little extra sumpin sumpin to this chowder. Maybe a little garlic can be tossed in as the onion finishes, or a little broccoli or corn can go in before the cheese to heat through. I’d suggest if you use anything frozen, make sure it’s thawed and drained so it won’t water down the soup. That’s far easier than cooking fresh veggies for scratch, just to keep with the easy factor.

Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder

Save a little time & money when making Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder:

The best way to save a little on this soup is to make it from leftover ham. Leftover ham, if you’ve found your ham at a great price, is going to be one of the best budget foods there is. I do love love love me some leftover ham! As a matter of fact, I love it so much that I have an ever-growing post with recipes for leftover ham. I call it 12 Days of Ham because I thought I’d start with a dozen ways, kind of a play on 12 Days of Christmas, when so often, Ham is made. Well, I couldn’t stop at a dozen! I think I’m well over 50 recipes now!

If you’re a milk drinker, you know that’s another item that is less expensive at some stores than others. I’d recommend Aldi for both the milk and cheese unless you find that cheese on a great special. My gosh, we ran out when the kids were here & ran in when I stopped for gas for a gallon of milk! $4.99!! And it’s around $2.50 at Aldi & $2.79 at one of our groceries.

If you’re talking basic cheese, it’s always a good idea to watch your coupon sites for deals. They will alert you to great deals at the store whether coupons are involved or not. At our store, we often have little coupon booklets that give you a great price if you buy more than one package. If you buy more than you’ll use right away, freeze it. It will get crumbly but surprise! It’s still great in soups and casseroles.

Both potatoes and onions are usually a better deal in larger packages. Watch the sales, especially on potatoes and especially around holidays. Aldi has great pricing on both, but do check any bags closely, whether from the store or especially Aldi to make sure all are sound. If either is in plastic, remove it, place in a plain old brown paper bag so the air can circulate. Never store onions and potatoes close together and they will keep longer.

Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder

Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder

Print Recipe

Easy Cheesy Ham & Potato Chowder is a simple, down-home bowl of comfort! If you like having a little leftover soup in the fridge, you might want to double this recipe.

• Author: mollie kirby
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Soups
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 to 5 medium red potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ dice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3–1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces shredded cheese or other favorite cheese or combo
• 1–1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham, diced
• salt & pepper to taste
• Minced chives or green onion

Instructions

Place potatoes and salt in a large saucepan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a good simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, 6 to 10 minutes or so. Drain in colander.

In the still hot pan, heat butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking for about two more minutes.

Add the milk, bit by bit, whisking constantly. Stir in milk and cook until thickened, whisking often. Dip a spoon in the mixture & run a finger over the back of the spoon. The line should remain distinct when it’s thick enough.

Turn off heat and add cheese in small handfuls, stirring after each. Add ham and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with green onion or chive.

Notes

Any good melting cheese works well in this soup. We liked a combo of diced Velveeta & Sharp Cheddar.

Change up this soup by adding, before the cheese, to heat through:

• 1 1/2 cups frozen, thawed & drained chopped broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups cooked frozen and thawed or canned and drained corn
• For more depth of flavor, add chopped garlic right after sauteeing the onion.

Keywords: Bargain Meal of the Week, cheddar, Cheese, chowder, Ham, leftover ham, milk, potato chowder, Potatoes, Soup

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I’ll be posting this marvelous soup at Fiesta Friday #217, hosted by Angie and Abbey @ Three Cats and a Girl. There are already a number of gorgeous posts & more will be added through the weekend! Have yourself a happy holiday!

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