Corn Chowder with Ham and Sweet Potatoes
I love the way the salty ham in this soup compliments the sweet potatoes. I also love how it’s loaded with veggies. And it’s perfectly creamy. I’ll always go for a comforting creamy soup on a cold winter day. There’s just something about comfort food that seems so fitting on these drab, cold and snowless days (I think if it’s going to be cold there should at least be some beautiful white sparkly snow right?). And if you stir in some dark greens like kale or spinach, it becomes a super soup! Lately for me it’s been all about that easy Chicken Pot Pie but now I’ll have to add this Sweet Potato Ham and Corn Chowder into the mix.
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Soup
Olive oil Fresh veggies including yellow onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper, garlic and sweet potatoes Garlic cloves Low-sodium chicken broth Dried basil, thyme, and smoked paprika Salt and freshly ground black pepper Unsalted butter, diced into 1-Tbsp pieces All-purpose flour Whole milk or heavy cream Ham (or bacon) Frozen corn Sharp cheddar cheese Fresh parsley
Scroll below for full printable recipe.
How to Make Sweet Potato Corn Chowder
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add in onions, carrots and celery and saute 4 minutes. Add in bell pepper and garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Add in chicken broth, sweet potatoes, basil and thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste (don’t add too much salt as you’ll be adding salty ham and cheese later on). Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sweet potatoes and vegetables are tender, about 15 – 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add in flour and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Pour in milk into flour mixture, stir constantly and bring mixture to a light boil, remove from heat. Stir ham and corn into soup (once veggies are tender) and heat through, about 2 minutes. Stir milk mixture into soup. Stir in cheddar and parsley. Serve warm.
Are They Yams or Are They Sweet Potatoes?
In some countries you may find the sweet potatoes labeled as yams. Most varieties will work here – just skip the purple or white sweet potatoes. Here in the U.S. they should be labeled as “sweet potatoes.” I used the Red Garnet Variety.
What Kind of Ham Should I Use?
Then for the ham I just used a center cut bone-in ham steak (of course trimming excess fat and discarding the bone). But leftover holiday ham would work here as well – as long as it’s not coated in a sweet glaze. Here you want a smoked ham flavor not a sweet ham, you already get enough sweet from those sweet potatoes.
Then grab a loaf of fresh wheat bread or some crackers while your at the grocery store too, because soup is always better when you’ve got something for dunking. And finish the meal off with some Christmas cookies – I’d say go for the Chocolate Crinkle Cookies or the Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies. We all need a splurge sometimes.
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