Cheesy Ham & Tortellini Soup made with chicken broth, cheese tortellini, ham and cheddar cheese. Easy ham soup recipe that is perfect for cold winter nights!
Making this Cheesy Ham and Tortellini soup is so easy, with some simple prep work you can have a delicious homemade soup cooking in no time! Give this ham soup a try as the weather cools down and you feel like a nice bowl of comforting stew.
Check out these other great ham soup recipes- SLOW COOKER HAM & BEAN SOUP and HURST 15 BEAN SOUP. These soups are great for cold weather & when you want a heartier soup in your bowls!
CHEESY HAM AND TORTELLINI SOUP
One of our favorite things to do with leftover holiday hams is to turn that meat into soup (amongst other recipes like HAM & CHEESE BREAKFAST CASSEROLE). Hams are often pretty large so even with all of us eating, there are plenty of leftovers for meals, making it one of our favorite ways to stretch the budget. Adding cheese tortellini to the soup makes it so filling! This soup is also loaded with ham and healthy veggies like carrots, onions and corn. Add some cheese to make the soup even more delicious.
WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS TASTY SOUP RECIPE
You were needed more convincing to give this tortellini and ham soup recipe a try, here are our top reasons why we love it and think you will too.
- It’s easy to make. While there is some prep work involved, this soup is really more of a simmering soup. Meaning that you can relax as it cooks, and come back to a meal that is ready to eat.
- It goes well with just about anything. We like to serve this soup with some hard crusty bread like EASY NO KNEAD ARTISAN BREAD, but you could serve it with some sliced French bread or HOMEMADE CORNBREAD if desired!
- Even the leftovers taste great! How many times can you say that about a recipe? This soup gets even better as the flavors have longer to meld together. Eating leftovers for lunch the next day is always a welcome treat.
Ingredients in Cheesy Ham & Tortellini Soup
Bacon – You will need to cook about 8 bacon strips. I like to add a few extras since we love bacon! The veggies in the soup are cooked in the bacon drippings, and it adds tons of flavor. If you choose to cook bacon in the oven or you want to use pre-cooked bacon or bacon bits, you can use some butter or olive oil to cook the veggies in.
Onion – You will need about ½ of a yellow onion diced. I always have a stockpile of frozen onions in my freezer – it’s one of my favorite cooking hacks! They can usually be found in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery store.
Carrots– The recipe calls for 1 cup carrots, diced. I like to dice them pretty small, but you can just slice them up if you like bigger pieces of carrot in your soup.
Flour – Just a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour will thicken up the soup.
Milk – You will need 3 cups of milk. Whole milk works best, but you can use whatever milk you have on hand and it will work fine too.
Chicken broth – 2 cups of chicken broth adds just the right amount of liquid and flavor to the soup.
Ham – You need 2 cups of fully cooked and diced ham. You can cut up leftover ham if you have some, or you can purchase diced ham to save time.
Corn – Add a 12 ounce bag of frozen corn to the soup.
Black pepper – Just 1/4 teaspoon of pepper adds the right amount of seasoning to the recipe.
Cheese tortellini – Use a 20 ounce bag of refrigerated cheese tortellini. This tortellini is so fresh and cooks in just a couple of minutes. You can use dry cheese tortellini, but it will take much longer to cook.
Cheddar cheese – Add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese to add some creaminess and flavor to the ham soup. You can add a little more on top just before serving as well!
How to make Cheesy Ham and Tortellini Soup
Cook bacon in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium high heat until crispy.
Remove bacon from pot and set aside.
Cook onions and carrots in the bacon drippings until tender.
Add flour to onions and carrots and stir.
Gradually add whole milk and chicken broth, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to medium and add ham, corn, and black pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add tortellini and shredded cheddar cheese and cook until noodles are tender. Stir occasionally.
Serve warm topped with crispy bacon, enjoy!
Cheesy Ham & Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 8 bacon strips cooked and diced
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups ham fully cooked and diced
- 1 12oz bag frozen corn
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 20oz bag of cheese tortellini
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cook bacon in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium high heat until crispy.
- Remove bacon from pot and set aside.
- Cook onions and carrots in the bacon drippings until tender.
- Add flour to onions and carrots and stir.
- Gradually add whole milk and chicken broth, stirring frequently.
- Reduce heat to medium and add ham, corn, and black pepper. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Add tortellini and shredded cheddar cheese and cook until noodles are tender. Stir occasionally.
- Serve warm topped with crispy bacon, enjoy!
Nutrition
📫 Save this recipe! Send it to your email! 📩
I consent to receiving emails from this site.
CROCKPOT INSTRUCTIONS
If you want to make this soup in the crockpot, that is a great idea too! Start by soaking the beans overnight per the instruction above. Once you are ready to make the soup, add all of the ingredients into your crockpot, except for the cheese and tortellini. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
At this point, you have two options:
- Cook the tortellini in some boiling water and then add to the soup along with the cheese.
- Add the uncooked tortellini and cheese to the soup and cook on high in the crockpot for about 20 minutes or until noodles are tender. Every crockpot heats differently, so it make take a little shorter or longer for the noodles to cook. The refrigerated cheese tortellini only takes a couple of minutes to cook in boiling water, but if you are using boxed tortellini, it will take quite a bit longer.
This is a great option for a busy weeknight meal, you can get it started in the morning and come home to a delicious meal later on.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER HAM SOUP
This soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. The soup can easily be reheated on the stove or in the microwave.
IT’S SOUP AND STEW SEASON. TRY MORE SOUP RECIPES HERE:
- CREAMY TOMATO SOUP WITH TORTELLINI
- OLIVE GARDEN CHICKEN GNOCCHI SOUP
- THREE CHEESE SOUP
- TORTILLA SOUP WITH BLACK BEANS
- CHICKEN ALFREDO SOUP
- ZUCCHINI SAUSAGE SOUP
- COPYCAT CHICK-FIL-A CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
- EASY PUMPKIN SOUP
- PASTA FAGIOLI RECIPE
- LASAGNA SOUP
- SLOW COOKER FRENCH ONION SOUP
- CHEESY BROCCOLI POTATO SOUP
Cheesy Ham & Tortellini Soup made with chicken broth, cheese tortellini, ham and cheddar cheese. Easy ham soup recipe that is perfect for cold winter nights!
Leave a Reply