This article explores a delicious and easy-to-make keto ham soup recipe, perfect for using leftover ham and enjoying a comforting, low-carb meal. This creamy, cheesy soup is packed with flavor and tender vegetables, making it a family-friendly option for any time of year.
Why You'll Love This Keto Ham Soup
This creamy Ham and Cabbage Soup is rich and cheesy, packed with tender cabbage and diced ham. It’s a perfect way to use up leftover ham. The tender cabbage, creamy broth, and salty ham all work together to make a satisfying bowl of soup. You can use leftover ham or a pack of cubed ham from the grocery store. This recipe is ridiculously easy. Seriously, if you can chop vegetables and stir things in a pot, you can make this soup. The flavor combo is pure comfort food magic. Salty ham meets sweet, tender cabbage in a rich, cheesy broth. It’s the ultimate leftover transformer. Got ham that’s been sitting in your fridge for three days? This keto ham soup recipe is a real family-friendly recipe! The ultimate in keto soup recipe.
Is Ham Keto-Friendly?
This is a tricky question, because it depends on how the ham was made. Pure, unglazed ham is keto-friendly. You can even have glazed ham on keto, as long as the glaze was made with keto-friendly ingredients. Just be careful with the ingredients in the ham.
Key Ingredients for Keto Ham Soup
- Veggies: Diced onion and celery, plenty of chopped cabbage, and some minced garlic are essential for flavor and texture. You can use your veggies of choice for this soup. Some great options include zucchini, squash, broccoli, mushrooms, leeks, and spinach.
- Diced Ham: This is a great recipe for using up leftover ham! Just dice it up into smaller pieces for the soup. Any smoked ham will do. Make sure to avoid honey ham or maple ham varieties because of the added sugars. You can often purchase precooked ham already chopped at the grocery store in near the sandwich meats.
- Chicken Stock: This will make up the base of the soup. If you prefer, you can sub bone broth instead.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: This recipe uses heavy whipping cream to give it the iconic creaminess that people love. If you need to make a dairy-free version, then use canned coconut cream instead of whipping cream.
- Cream Cheese: Heat the cream cheese and heavy cream together in the microwave until the cheese is soft and everything stirs together easily. This prevents any lumpy disasters.
- Hemp Seeds: Hemp seeds add amazing flavour and texture to the soup. They replace the split peas of a traditional pea and ham soup and add a lot of extra plant-based protein.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Slow Cooker Method
- Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker; cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Cook until the ham is soft and tender.
- Remove the ham hock from the soup. Separate the meat from the hock and discard the fat and bone. Shred the ham and reserve.
- Discard the bay leaves and puree the soup (puree until smooth or slightly chunky, whichever you prefer). Adjust the seasoning to taste (see notes).
- Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Top with shredded ham and garnish with extra hemp seeds and fresh parsley.
Instant Pot Method
- Place all the ingredients into the pot. Set to Pressure Cook/High Heat/35 minutes. When finished allow natural release for 10 minutes before triggering quick release.
- Remove the ham hock from the soup. Separate the meat from the hock and discard the fat and bone. Shred the ham and reserve.
- Discard the bay leaves and puree the soup (puree until smooth or slightly chunky, whichever you prefer). Adjust the seasoning to taste (see notes).
- Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Top with shredded ham and garnish with extra hemp seeds and fresh parsley.
Stove Top Method
- Heat some butter in your Dutch oven (or whatever big pot you have) over medium heat.
- Toss in the diced onion and celery and let them get soft and fragrant - about 5 minutes. Stir in your diced ham and let it warm through, then add the chopped cabbage.
- Add the ham, chicken stock, cabbage, and chicken bouillon to the pot and stir well to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Heat the cream and cream cheese in the microwave until the cheese is soft and the mixture easily stirs together. Keep stirring over low heat until everything is melted and creamy.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. You may add additional seasoning, if desired.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Keto Ham Soup
- Dice the cabbage fairly small: Be sure to dice up the cabbage fairly small so that it’s easy to eat.
- Prevent lumpy soup: Heat the cream cheese and heavy cream together in the microwave until the cheese is soft and everything stirs together easily. This prevents any lumpy disasters.
- Fresh Herbs: Another thing that helps this soup stand out is the use of fresh herbs instead of dried. As the fresh herbs cook in the soup, they will slowly infuse the broth with their aromatics and flavor.
- Cut veggies evenly: Cut all of the veggies into similar sizes when possible, so that they cook at the same rate.
Serving Suggestions
This is a filling and comforting soup.
- I suggest serving it with your favorite salad. My family loves the copycat Olive Garden salad.
- You can also pair it with some Keto Spicy Green Beans with Caramelized Pecans.
- For some veggies, add some garlic butter zucchini and squash.
- What goes great with soup? Bread of course! You must also try out some of our keto bread recipes.
Variations and Substitutions
- Dairy-Free: For a dairy-free version, use a plant-based milk such as soy milk that has more of a neutral flavor. Another option is to use canned coconut cream instead of whipping cream.
- Vegetarian: For a vegetarian alternative, omit the ham hock and bacon. A simple swap to vegetable stock will keep it completely vegetarian.
- Protein: Try this soup with shredded chicken, smoked sausage, ground beef or turkey, or extra lean ground meat. If you prefer a vegetarian version, you leave the animal protein out and use beans, for example. Or, you can keep the soup as it is and just add beans, making a ham and cabbage soup with beans.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
- Make-ahead magic: You can prep all the vegetables ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. Dice the onion and celery.
- Fridge life: This keeps beautifully for 3-4 days in the fridge, covered.
- Reheating tips: Warm it gently on the stove or in the microwave.
- Freezer situation: Cream-based soups can get a little weird when thawed. The flavor is still good, but the texture might separate a bit. If you want to freeze this dish, it's best to freeze it before you add the cream to the base.
- Storing Ham Bones: I prefer to freeze them until I’m ready to use them in soup. Store your ham bones in a freezer-safe bag.
The Versatility of Keto Ham Soup
The soup itself is very versatile. In the image above you will notice a green vegetable not in this recipe. It is the choko (or chayote). You can easily make my ham and cabbage soup ahead of time and reheat it when it's time for dinner.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
A Note on Nutritional Information
The nutritional information for this recipe is calculated as a courtesy and is an approximate only. This info is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate, since the nutrition content of recipes can vary based on ingredient brand or source, portion sizes, recipe changes/variations, and other factors. Please note that health-focused and diet information provided on easyanddelish.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
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