The Best Ham and Lentil Soup Recipe (You'll Ever Eat!)
This Lentil Soup with Ham Recipe is a simple, comforting, healthy and mostly-hands-off recipe. It features hearty lentils, vegetables and fall-apart-tender ham. You can let it simmer away on the stovetop, or make it in 30 minutes in a pressure cooker.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp avocado or other oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp concentrated chicken bouillon or replace 2 quarts of the water with chicken broth
- 2 cups yellow split lentils (substitutes: green split peas or split black lentils)
- 1 ham bone plus leftover meat (Substitutes: 1 bone-in ham steak or 1 smoked turkey leg)
- 10 cups water 10 cups
- 1 cup peeled and chopped carrot
- ½ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley plus more to garnish
Instructions
Stovetop Method
- Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery and salt; cook until soft (about 6 minutes).
- Stir in bouillon concentrate to coat veggies. Stir in lentils, then add water, ham bone and remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook about 2 hours, or until ham is falling off the bone.
- Remove bones and discard. Use two forks to shred the ham; stir it back into the soup. Sprinkle with more parsley, if desired.
Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow instructions for stovetop, using saute setting on your pressure cooker for first steps. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes.