There’s nothing more comforting than a piping hot bowl of Lentil Soup with Ham. A delicious way to use leftover ham from the holidays, transformed into this hearty soup recipe that’s packed with vegetables and protein.
Why You’ll Love Our Lentil Soup With Ham Recipe
Of course we make this lentil soup with ham with our leftover ham from Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we love it so much we find ourselves grabbing ham at the deli counter just so we can make a pot.
- Great Use Of Leftovers: Instead of throwing away a leftover ham bone, use it to make soup recipes like this lentil soup, or a hearty split pea and ham soup.
- One Pot Meal: Since you have your protein, vegetables and carbs all in one bowl, you don’t need to serve anything else with this soup for a complete meal.
- Affordable Recipe: Lentils are very inexpensive, and since you’re using a leftover ham bone, you’re getting another entire meal for very little money.
- Easy To Freeze: Lentil soup will keep very well in the refrigerator, as these legumes won’t absorb liquid or change texture. Because of this, lentil soup is excellent for meal prepping and leftovers.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Scroll to the bottom of the post to the recipe card for a complete list of ingredients and instructions.
- Ham: If you don’t have leftover ham, get a ham steak or thick slices of ham from the deli counter.
- Onions/Carrots/Celery: The aromatics of this soup recipe. Can also swap out shallots for the onions.
- Fresh Thyme: We love the bolder flavor of fresh thyme dried thyme will also work.
- Garlic: Fresh is best.
- Dry Red Wine: A pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon or a red blend will work nicely.
- Dried Lentils: Found by the dried beans at your grocery store.
- Crushed Tomatoes: You can also use whole tomatoes and break them down.
- Beef Broth: The flavor of beef broth works best, but you can swap out chicken or vegetable broth as well.
- Cumin: Cumin adds a delicious, smoky flavor to this lentil soup that we absolutely love. You can leave it out if you don’t like the flavor.
- Bay Leaves: If you have them, we love the flavor but not a key ingredient if you don’t.
How To Make
Aromatics, fresh herbs and dry red wine are the base of this soup recipe. Take some time to really cook down the vegetables and reduce the wine for the best flavor.
- Start by cooking down your aromatics. Carrots, onion and celery for this lentil soup recipe, followed by a good amount of chopped garlic and fresh thyme.
- Once the vegetables have softened, pour in your favorite dry red wine to deglaze the pot.
- After you have deglazed the pot, stir in the dried lentils and leftover ham. I like adding the ham at this step because it adds flavor to the broth as it cooks. Some lentil soup recipes call for adding the ham at the end, but I feel like you’re missing out on all that ham flavor!
- Add beef broth and water to the pot, stir and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the soup for 40-45 minutes until the lentils are nice and tender. Adjust the seasonings in the soup at this point if needed.
Do I Have To Use The Red Wine?
When you add wine or any kind of alcohol to deglaze a pan, it not only works wonderfully but it adds a ton of flavor to whatever you’re making. However, if you really don’t want to cook with wine or alcohol, you can always use beef broth or water to deglaze your pot.
Or if you’re just not a red wine drinker, you still can grab a decent, inexpensive bottle to cook with – as long as it’s not cooking wine. Use the rest to make a delicious Beef Stew or many other recipes that use red wine as an ingredient.
How To Serve
Like you see here in these pictures, we love serving this soup recipe with lots of grated parmesan cheese and extra fresh thyme and black pepper.
We like to slice and toast good, crusty bread like a French baguette or ciabatta bread. Slather the bread with lots of salty butter and you’ve got edible utensils for eating this lentil soup with ham.
Variations
You can add different vegetables to this soup like spinach, chopped broccoli and even small bits of potato. Instead of wine you can use a the same amount of tomato sauce for flavor and color.
Instead of ham try shredded chicken or turkey, or browned Italian sausage. Soup recipe like this are a great way to “clean out the fridge” because you can pretty much add whatever you like.
Can You Freeze Lentil Soup?
Yes, lentil soup freezes perfectly. Since there’s no pasta in this soup recipe, all you have are the lentils, ham and vegetables, all which are ideal for freezing. We often make a double batch of this soup and then freeze it in small portions to pull out for an easy meal.
Looking For More Delicious Soup Recipes?
- Split Pea Soup with Ham (Another delicious leftover ham recipe, uses the ham bone too!)
- Beef Barley Soup
- Creamy Sausage & Peppers Soup
- Homemade Turkey Soup
- Clam Chowder Recipe
- Slow Cooker Pasta Fagioli (with more ham!)
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Lentil Soup with Ham
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeThere’s nothing more comforting than a piping hot bowl of Lentil Soup with Ham! A delicious way to use a leftover ham bone from the holidays. A hearty soup recipe that’s packed with vegetables and protein!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 16 ounce bag dry lentils, rinsed
- 2 cups cooked, diced ham
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin (start with 1 and then you can season with more at the end)
- 2 bay leaves
- Grated parmesan cheese and fresh black pepper for garnish
Instructions
- Add the oil to a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, salt, pepper and thyme, and then cook for 5-7 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute more.
- Pour in the wine to deglaze, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the wine reduce for a minute or two until it’s just about evaporated, then add the lentils and ham to the pot, stirring to combine the ingredients.
- Next add the crushed tomatoes, beef broth, water, cumin and bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 35-40 minutes until the lentils are soft. Stir the soup occasionally while simmering.
- Remove the bay leaves, taste and adjust the seasonings if needed and serve.
Recipe Notes
Store: Store leftover soup in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freeze: Freeze the soup in freezer bags or containers for up to 3 months.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
