Leslie's Ham Lentil Soup Recipe

Dear Leslie, bless your heart! I didn't have a ham bone, but was looking for a way to use up some ham that had been in the freezer, and decided to try your recipe with the slight modification of using 3 cups of chopped ham instead of the ham bone. I've always been a little scared of making lentil soup, I don't know why, I guess I always wondered if I could get full bodied, rich tasting soup instead of the thin stuff. This was perfect, perfect, perfect!! It's sitting on the stove now, cooling, and once it's cool enough, I'll probably refrigerate it overnight, and it will probably be even better! I actually let it simmer for 30+ minutes -- only because I love simmering soup on the stove and letting the aroma fill the house! If anyone is thinking of leaving out the marjoram, DON'T DO IT! It is the perfect flavoring for ham soups. Also be sure to skim off any of the foam that's created by simmering. Next time I'll use a ham bone, but even so, I now know there's a lentil soup out there that I can make (and freeze!) with just the ham. Thank you Leslie!

excellent recipe! I made the broth from a ham bone. I put the bone, an onion cut in half, 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, tbsp apple cider vinegar and half tbsp salt in my instant pot (can use crock pot) and filled with water. Put instant pot on manual for 120 minutes and went to bed. After the 120 min was up, it switched to warm for about 10 hours. I strained the broth, put back in instant pot for 30 minutes with ham, lentils, onions, celery, marjoram, carrots. It was amazing!!

Hearty cold weather soup. I roasted the veggies including a peeled cubed sweet potato which added a touch of sweetness and starchiness. I also added garlic, smoked paprika, can of diced tomatoes, and about a teaspoon of diced chili peppers for a little spice. In addition to the ham, I added two andouille sausages. An optional dollop of sour cream added creaminess. With the extras, this easily makes 12 servings.

The broth was to die for! Such great flavor! I used homemade chicken broth that I keep in the freezer. I added more broth/liquid than was called for so mine was more soupy than porridge. I used the exact ingredients but at different times. I put the ham bone in the chicken stock added an onion, celery & bay leaf. I let that simmer for about 2 hours. Strained the broth... took out everything . Reheated the broth & added in celery, onion, carrots & lentils & let that simmer for about 45 minutes until lentils were soft. Cut the ham off the bone & added it into the soup. Everyone loved it!

This was delicious with a bit of a modification. I skipped the salty boullion and instead made my own broth with the ham bone, a carrot, an onion, the listed seasonings and a small splash of white wine vinegar. I simmered for 3-4 hours then strained the broth. I picked the ham off the bone, added everything else following the recipe. Yum!

I added 1/8 tsp of white pepper, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp of thyme. I cooked it for an hour longer. Is delicious and will be "asked" to make it again. Thanks!

I've made this several times and it is a fantastic way to use the leftover ham bone from that holiday spiral ham. I reserve the drippings from the original ham cooking event and set them aside for several days waiting to make this soup. I leave the bone in longer and experiment with other veggies and different colors of lentil.

I liked this soup! I doubled the recipe and used a ham shank but also added a chopped ham steak since there wasn't much meat on the shank. One red and one green bell pepper gave it nice color. Added a few extra carrots too. Sautéed the veggies in a little olive oil and added a little garlic. I had a problem with the lentils not being "done" enough, even after simmering for an hour. Maybe it's that I didn't let the stock come to an actual boil when I added them? I returned the soup to a boil and that seemed to do the trick.

Saute onion & carrots in olive oil with chopped garlic & deglaze with 1/4 cup of white wine. Also added lemon pepper.

Delicious soup. The only real difference I made was to roast my cut vegetables in the oven as others suggested and simmer the bone with marjoram and bay leaves for a few hours before starting the rest of the pot. As a result, I had a really delicious broth and omitted the bouillon. This was my first time using lentils and I will definitely make this soup again!

I just finished making this soup and it tastes delicious! I used more than 8 cups of water, enough to almost cover the ham. There wasn't a lot of meat left on the bone so I first sauteed bacon then used the fat to saute all the vegetables before adding them to the soup. I substituted bok choy for the celery since that's what I had on hand. i

Easy recipe and good use of leftover ham but seemed a bit bland…did add salt and pepper which helped somewhat

This was a great recipe. I did the cooking order differently. I sautéed the pep/onion/carrot/celery until soft. Then added the bouillon and water, subbing about 1/3 C white wine. Added lentils, bay leaf (whole), minced garlic, s&p. Simmered for 20 minutes. Added chunks of spiral ham as I didnt have a ham bone. Just before serving I added about 2T of ACV. *chefs kiss* it's really, really good!!

I loved this. I dissolved the better than boullion in boiling water and then put everything in the crock pot for 8 hours. I did add pepper and garlic. Great recipe.

A tasty, filling soup

Quick, easy, and tastes like magic.

I sauteed some of the veggies 1st and added garlic. Also, added pepper to taste.

Just like mom used to make but with out the green pepper (which I omitted.) Wonderful way to make the most out of a holiday ham!

I followed the recipe without any changes. A great way to use up the leftover Christmas ham. Hearty and flavorful.

Delicious soup! I made the mistake of puréing the lentils and vegetables with my immersion blender—that made it an unappetizing color! Added a little cream just because.