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Ham and Lentil Soup

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Ham and Lentil Soup

[social_warfare]

I always like cooking ham and I often find myself thinking that my favorite part is the leftovers; especially that ham bone. Ham bones can be used to either make a nice ham stock or you can just throw the bone right into any number of tasty soups and it adds a ton of flavour as simmers away. This time I was thinking that I don’t use lentils often enough and that a ham and lentil soup would be really nice. I don’t normally use a recipe for these kinds of soups as they are so easy. After I have decided on the primary ingredients I normally go for the standard onion, carrot and celery combo along with some stock. From there I add a few herbs, fresh or preserved and I like to finish the soups off with a green vegetable, in this case I went with some spinach. The soup is really easy to make and once you are done with all of the chopping you can relax while it simmers and draws out all of the flavours. The ham and lentil soup turned out great! It was nice and tasty and I really enjoyed the texture of the lentils in the soup. I will need to experiment some more with lentil soups.

[social_warfare]
Ham and Lentil Soup

Ham and Lentil Soup

Prep Time:10 minutes Cook Time:1 hour 15 minutes Total Time:1 hour 25 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 1 carrot (chopped)
  • 2 stalks celery (chopped)
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 4 cups ham broth or chicken broth or chicken stock
  • 1 cup dry lentils
  • 2 cups ham (diced)
  • 1 ham bone (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 bunch spinach (rinsed and trimmed)
directions
  1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan.
  2. Add the onions, carrot and celery and saute until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, a few minutes.
  4. Add the stock, lentils, ham, ham bone, oregano, bay leaf and thyme and simmer, covered on low heat for an hour.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in the spinach.
Slow Cooker: Optionally implement steps 1-3, place everything except the spinach in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-10 hours or high for 2-4 hours before adding the spinach.
[social_warfare]
Similar Recipes:
Ham and Bean Soup
Ham and Chickpea Soup
Hoppin’ John
Split Pea Soup
Creole Split Pea Soup
Maple, Bourbon Ham and Baked Bean Soup
Lemony Lentil Soup

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Tasty! Will have to remember to make this in the near future. Cooked a batch of pork ‘n’ beans recently, so I’ve od-ed on the combination for the time being.

    Reply

  13. We’re feeling a little all “hammed” out here from the big Easter dinner and all the leftovers, but this soup looks SO good. And there’s still more ham, the perfect kind for cutting little chunks.

    Reply

  15. Kevin, that looks great! I’ll have to make it for just me, as bf does not eat piggies, but! I think it would be pretty in pink with red lentils, too. Yum.

    Reply

  16. well, now I know what to do with the ham bone left over from your gingersnap crusted ham post (fantastic, by the way) I served for Easter…

    Reply

  24. Looks great!You could also try adding to your standard stock and veggies,some olive oil,tomato paste,1 tsp sugar,oregano,and a WHOLE head of peeled,UNchopped garlic!!!

    Reply

  33. wow…with the ham, this soup must be SO flavorful! I’ve been looking for lentil recipes, so thanks for this! now, to find me a ham bone…

    Reply

  35. Well, Kevin, you must be Peh-sychic.
    I’d been craving Lentil soup all week long, and here’s your timely, not to mention, delicious rendition of a wonderful soup.

    Reply

  43. Ooooh your lentil soup looks so good. I used to make split pea soups with smoked turkey too. The smoked turkey gives the same result as the ham. Your soup is reminding me that it’s about time for me to make mine again 🙂

    Christina

    Reply

  44. This soup looks absolutely delicious! And couldn’t be better timing – i have some ham that needs to be used up, and what a great way to do it!

    Reply

  50. Hey Kevin, i made your soup on the weekend and it was just as delicious as it looked in your picture! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply

  53. I like soups in winter, warming nourishing and usually make my own.
    This one looks little thick and my kids like thick one too. It would be healthy too for them.

    Reply

  63. Ok – I'm trying it this evening with the leftover ham bone from Christmas! No ham meat, no stock, but I do have the rest of the ingredients…. can't wait! Yum!

    Reply

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