Easy Ham Potato Chowder
The secret ingredient to this speedy, easy ham and potato chowder recipe? Hint: you love them, and they are in the freezer section of your supermarket. Soup’s on!
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❤️ Why we love this recipe
Okay, I’m going to own up to something right here in the first sentence of this post: this creamy, comforting, hearty chowder is made with Tater Tots.
There, I said it. Tater Tots. Yes, there are also things like ham, and corn, and milk and chicken broth and sometimes scallions, but for me the wonder of this speedy ready in minutes soup is the Tater Tot part.
Please still love me. Please trust me. Please keep reading. 😅
Here’s how it works, and if you ponder it long enough it all makes sense. A potato chowder involves, well, potatoes.
And usually soups involving potatoes involve scrubbing the potatoes, and then peeling the potatoes, and then cutting the potatoes into teeny chunks, and then cooking the potatoes until they are tender.
And while I’m totally up for doing that kind of a thing on a lazy Sunday, on a hectic weekday I want my potato chowder with a lot less potato complication.
This is where the Tater Tots enter the picture. Tater Tots are basically little nuggets of, yep, potatoes that have been scrubbed, peeled, cut into teeny chunks and cooked.
They have the added advantage of being prepared with a little bit of flour and seasoning on the inside (which helps thicken the chowder) and fried on the outside (which adds a little something something to the flavor).
🌽 Ingredients you need
📝 Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Tater Tots: Look for these potato nuggets in the freezer section near the french fries.
- Ham: You can use leftover ham, a ham steak, or ask your deli counter to slice you up a one inch slice of ham.
- Corn: Either fresh or thawed frozen corn will work.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Put some milk and chicken broth in a pot and bring it to a simmer.
STEP 2: Now add a generous amount of Tots (either frozen or thawed – either way will work!) and cover the pot. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring it now and then to break the Tots up as they fall apart into little teeny chunks.
STEP 3: Meantime, cut up a cooked ham steak into cubes, and cut the kernels off a couple of ears of corn (or if it’s not corn season and/or if you are super-tired on this particular day, you can totally use frozen corn).
When the chowder has transformed from Tots floating in milk to honest-to-goodness chowder, stir the ham and corn in and simmer for another couple of minutes until everything is heated through.
STEP 4: Now ladle your beautiful chowder into bowls and serve it up!
And we can totally keep the whole Tater Tot thing between us.
🤔 Recipe FAQs
They are waiting for you right by the french fries in your freezer section. Any brand will do.
Spread a dishtowel out on your counter (this is to catch the runaway kernels that like to bounce away), put a shallow bowl on the cloth and firmly hold the top of the ear of corn in one hand in the center of the bowl – it doesn’t matter which end. Use a paring knife in a zig-zag motion to cut the kernels off in strips until you have gotten all the kernels off.
It can! As with most soups, it is even better the next day when the flavors have had a chance to blend. Store it in the fridge and reheat it over medium low heat.
Pop your question in the Comments section under the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
🥣 Equipment we used for this recipe
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
- Large Pot: We have a lot of these but this is our fave!
- Paring Knife: This all-purpose knife is perfect for cutting off those tender kernels of corn.
- Potato Masher: We go back and forth between this masher and our potato ricer, but both will do the trick! The masher is better if you haven’t peeled the potatoes.
- Strainer: This classic version is just right for these potatoes and your favorite pasta recipe (one of ours is pasta with egg sauce!)
🍽️ What to serve with this recipe
This soup is a meal on its own, but you can also serve it up with a ham sandwich on the side…or maybe a cream cheese biscuit? Or some cheesy spoonbread.
And for dessert, let’s have some cheesecake brownies!
😍 Other soup recipes we love!
⭐️ We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Ham Potato Chowder
The secret ingredient to this speedy minute ham and potato chowder recipe? Hint: you love them, and they are in the freezer section of your supermarket.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 hearty servings 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk (whole milk works best)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups frozen Tater Tots
- One 8 ounce cooked ham steak, cut into cubes
- Kernels from 2 ears of corn, or 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 scallions. sliced
Instructions
- Put milk and broth into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Add Tater Tots and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the Tots.
- When Tots are broken down, stir in ham and corn. Simmer for another few minutes until everything is heated through.
- Ladle into bowls, garnish with chopped scallions and serve!
Notes
- Tater Tots: Look for these potato nuggets in the freezer section near the french fries.
- Ham: You can use leftover ham, a ham steak, or ask your deli counter to slice you up a one inch slice of ham.
- Corn: Either fresh or thawed frozen corn will work.