Creamy Ham and Sweet Potato Soup

My mom mentioned to me she made a “Ham and Potato Soup” and had substituted sweet potatoes for the potatoes and had really liked it! I decided to give it a try. I combined a few different recipe to come up with this one. If you would like to see either of the original recipes, the links are here and here. My husband and I were thrilled with the end result. I hope that you can enjoy it as well! It is a great way to use up leftover ham.

Creamy Ham and Sweet Potato Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup celery (optional–I didn’t have any at the time, but think it would be a nice addition to the soup)
2 cups chopped, cooked ham
1 giant sweet potato or 2-3 medium sweet potatoes (4-5 cups chopped into 1/2″ cubes)
2 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock
2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. salt (if your chicken stock or broth is already salted, you will need to reduce this amount–mine was not salted)
1/2 tsp.  black pepper
1/4 cup arrowroot*
2 cups almond milk*
1/4 cup butter*

Directions:

1. Combine onion, celery, ham, sweet potatoes, chicken stock, water, salt & pepper in a large pot. (Remember to reduce the amount of salt if you are using chicken stock/broth that is already salted.)

2. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to low or medium/low to keep soup at a low simmer. Cook until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together the arrowroot and part of the almond milk (about 1/2 a cup) in a medium saucepan until smooth. Add the rest of the almond milk and butter and bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute to thicken.

4. Add the thickened milk mixture to the soup (after the sweet potatoes are tender) and stir until well incorporated.

Enjoy!

*For a dairy-free or starch-free option, substitute a can of full-fat coconut milk for the arrowroot/almond milk/butter mixture. Just pour the coconut milk directly into the soup and warm until heated through.

Jennifer Maltby is a food blogger for The Unrefined Kitchen. She has been happily married to her husband for 6 years. They have one two-year old daughter and a baby on the way. Jennifer loves being in the kitchen and especially loves baking. Due to multiple health issues, she changed her diet in April 2011 and saw significant, positive changes. Parting from the average American diet was a bit of a challenge, but Jennifer found that using some creativity could turn this diet into something that could be very tasty. She started the website The Unrefined Kitchen to be a tool and resource for others trying to change their diet in a similar way. The Unrefined Kitchen is grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and dairy-free (almost, we like butter!).