Soup is one of my favorite things to make. As soon as the weather turns a bit cool, I start making soup on a weekly basis. Most of the time I just use whatever I have on hand…which has it’s pros and cons. The pros: I’m able to use up random things in the fridge, it’s quick and easy. The Cons: when I make something amazing I can’t reproduce it because I usually don’t write down the ingredients/proportions!
Lucky for me I did write down the steps to making this savory, veggie filled, rich and Creamy Ham and Vegetable Soup which was inspired by left over sugar-free Pederson’s Farms ham and dairy-free mashed potatoes.
The veggies I used are some of our favorites…onions, leeks, kale and potatoes. While white potatoes are somewhat controversial in the Whole30/Paleo worlds, I enjoy them and include them in my diet. Learn more about potatoes and Paleo here.
This soup gets it’s salt content primarily from the ham, it’s richness from the full fat coconut milk, and it’s creaminess from the mashed potatoes. But don’t panic if you don’t have any Whole30 compliant mashed potatoes on hand, you can just add more diced potatoes to the soup…and use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree 1/2 of the soup BEFORE adding in the ham, coconut milk and kale!
I hope you enjoy this Creamy Ham and Vegetable Soup as much as I do!
- 1 Tbs coconut oil (or ghee)
- A few cloves of garlic, diced
- ½ a large white/yellow onion, diced
- White parts of a medium leek, sliced thin and washed thoroughly
- 6 cups of sugar-free vegetable broth (homemade or store bought)
- 2 large Yukon gold potatoes, skins on, diced
- 2 cups ham, diced (make sure it’s sugar-free)
- 1+ cups mashed potatoes (made with almond milk and ghee)
- 1 cup full fat, unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 small bunch kale, stems removed, chopped
- Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
- Heat a large pot on med/high heat.
- Add the coconut oil to the pot, then the garlic, onion and leeks.
- Saute till the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the broth and the diced potatoes and bring to a boil. Once at a boil turn the heat down to a simmer.
- When the potatoes are cooked (it will depend on how large you cut them), add the ham, mashed potatoes, coconut milk and kale.
- Simmer for about 10 mins and then taste. The soup may already be salty depending on how salty your ham was.
- Add more salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
- Serve and enjoy!!!