If you love wild rice soup, then you are going to LOVE this version of it made with ham! This Instant Pot recipe for ham and wild rice soup is a must-make for anyone looking to use up leftover ham. In fact, you may want to make ham just to make this recipe because it is fantastic.
Who else gets excited about using up a leftover ham bone? Anyone? Every year, I get SO excited and spend probably hours dreaming up ways to use up the ham bone (I’m a food blogger after all) and you guys, THIS rich and creamy ham soup is my favorite recipe to date! It’s absolutely drool-worthy delicious! Really, look up “drool-worthy delicious” in the dictionary and you will find THIS SOUP. And well, maybe my whole blog 😉 (I’m such a child, I know).
Even if you make the juiciest and most flavorful ham ever, chances are you and your family won’t be able to finish said ham. Earlier this week I shared my recipe for heating ham in an Instant Pot and I highly recommend you make my recipe for ham as it is delicious! Also, you will most definitely need a ham bone – DO NOT MAKE THIS SOUP WITHOUT THE BONE! The ham bone is full of magic flavor and this soup will not be the same without it! Okay, hopefully that didn’t come across as angry shouting. I worry about that with the internet sometimes. In one of my previous jobs, we had to write in all-caps all the time and sometimes I’d forget to make the switch when chatting with friends on Gchat while at work. My friends probably thought I was either excited or angry all the time, lol. Or well, since they’re my friends they probably just thought I was being goofy.
OH oh oh! Did I mention that this recipe is gluten-free AND can be dairy-free too?! Yes, it’s true. I know that gluten-free and dairy-free wild rice soup is practically unheard of, especially if you find it in restaurants. But my friends, this soup is both of those things AND it’s so good that you won’t even notice! I use potatoes to make a roux instead of flour! I blend cooked potatoes with coconut milk (you can use heavy cream or whole milk if you want to) and the result is a thick and creamy sauce that makes this soup so rich and velvety.
Everything about this soup is perfection: creamy sauce, tender smoky ham and slightly chewy, nutty wild rice.
I use cultivated wild rice in this recipe – I buy mine from Trader Joe’s, but if you can get your hands on hand harvested wild rice then please know that I am jealous.
One thing you should definitely know about this soup is that it makes A LOT of soup. Like 10 cups worth. But trust me, you’ll want it all!
This really is the best leftover ham soup – absolutely perfect for the holiday season. You can serve it with some biscuits (try my 4-ingredient coconut flour biscuits) or if you’re not gluten-free then enjoy it with some crusty bread. Make sure to come back and tell me how much you loved this recipe!
For more Leftover Ham Recipes, you might like:
- Ham and Red Lentil Soup
- Spicy Ham and Potato Breakfast Hash
- French Garbure Soup
- Cantonese Ham and Lotus Root Soup
Need to make a ham first? Here’s my recipe for ham with a spiced honey glaze (instant pot).
Instant Pot Creamy Ham and Wild Rice Soup (Gluten-free, Dairy-free)
Instant Pot Creamy Ham and Wild Rice Soup (Gluten-free, Dairy-free)
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 1 meaty ham bone
- 2 cups diced cooked ham
- 1 ½ cups uncooked wild rice I get mine from Trader Joe's
- 1 onion diced
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 Serrano pepper minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme plus extra for garnish
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 medium russet potatoes leave whole and unpeeled
Add Later:
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or heavy cream/milk
- Parsley garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the wild rice and drain.
- Add all of the ingredients to the pot except for the potatoes and coconut milk. Mix well.
- Place the whole unpeeled potatoes on top of the soup in the pot.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 30 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- Remove the whole potatoes and place them into a blender along with the coconut milk. Pour this mixture back into the pot and mix well.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
- This makes A LOT of soup (10 cups) which makes it the perfect thing to serve a large group! Use the leftover ham bone from your holiday celebrations to make this soup for your family and any guests!
Kathy says
I see where a couple people already asked about making this recipe without an instant pot but neither one was answered.
Can you make this in a crockpot instead? It would be nice to have this information….
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Kathy, I haven’t tried making this other than in the IP, but hopefully another reader who experiments can chime in!
Alex says
delicious! I added a little kale at the end for some greenery. So good!
My Heart Beets says
Alex, I’m so glad you liked it! Love that you added kale – thanks for sharing!
Jo says
Can I use ham hock instead of the bone or ham?
Michelle Hendrickson says
Can I make this without an instant pot?
Lauren says
Hi! How do you do this recipe without an Instantpot?
Cain Thurman says
Made last night and it was fantastic. No salt in the Recipe but that is probably a good thing because I am not supposed to have anyways. I did add mushrooms because I like them so much. I took some in for lunch today and it was even better. Will definitely make again. Thanks Ashley for the great recipe and I can’t wait to try something else tonight with more of the leftover ham.
My Heart Beets says
Cain, that’s so great to hear! Love that you added mushrooms, yum! Thank you for letting me know how the soup turned out for you 🙂
Pam says
Made this today. Modified a few things (for my Kiddo!) it is a HUGE hit!!! Used Ripple milk instead of Coconut milk and omitted the Serrano pepper. This soup is EASY and DELICIOUS!!! Also sliced Avocado on mine. LOVED IT!!
My Heart Beets says
Pam, I’m so happy to hear that you made and liked this soup! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 Love that you added sliced avocado to this!
Janice Frahm says
I don’t have a ham bone, but really want to make this recipe. Will it really turn out awful without it?
My Heart Beets says
Janice, I haven’t tried it without the ham bone but I will say the bone adds a ton of flavor. If you’re not going to use the bone maybe try using chicken broth instead of water to add some flavor. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Janice Frahm says
I used chicken broth and it ended up being wonderful. I did add a little more spice at the very end, but overall was very impressed. Definitely enjoyed it!
My Heart Beets says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Gayna Dupont says
I made this tonight in my new instant pot. You aren’t exaggerating when you say it makes A LOT! It is delicious. What do you think about freezing some of it?
My Heart Beets says
Gayna, ah well I’m a bit late to reply to this but lol yes I’d say freeze it! Or give some to your neighbors 😉
Maryanne Matis says
OMG, so good. This came out so delicious. I started with a frozen ham bone so maybe that’s why it took a little longer. It took about 2 hours and 20 minutes total. I will definitely make this again.
My Heart Beets says
Maryanne, I’m so glad you liked it!! 🙂 And good to know about the frozen ham bone – thanks for sharing!
CHRistine says
Two things! If my ham and hambone are frozen, should I adjust the time? And i was thinking of substituting gulber for the wild rice- have you ever substituted or left that out? I only have instant rice and could add that after cooking also.
My Heart Beets says
Christine, I think a frozen hambone will be fine with this recipe. I haven’t tried without wild rice and truthfully I am not sure what gulber is so I can’t say… let me know what you think of it!
Susan C Martin says
I think gulber is bulger
Tia says
So delicious, thank you for the recipe! Made it for dinner tonight and my whole family loved this soup! I was hesitant about the coconut milk, as some of my kids don’t like coconut flavor, but we couldn’t taste coconut at all—just rich, creamy broth. What a great dairy-free way to make a cream soup!
My Heart Beets says
Tia, I’m so happy to hear that your whole family loved the soup! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you all 🙂
Kate Kinard says
I want to make this for a small dinner party tomorrow. Do you have any recommendations for appetizers please?
Kate Kinard says
this was delicious! We loved it
My Heart Beets says
Kate, so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Marji says
This was fabulous! Terrific combination of flavors from the ham, vegetables, spices and peppers. I used heavy cream though will try the coconut milk next time. Our local Honeybaked Ham store had buy one, get one free hambones due to it being after the holidays, so this was a great value as well as delicious.
My Heart Beets says
Marji, so happy to hear that!! Thanks for letting me know how the soup turned out for you 🙂
Kelly says
Do you peel the potatoes?
My Heart Beets says
up to you 🙂 I’ve tried it both ways and it’s good either way!
Karen says
We are making this recipe this week and it is our first time making a soup with a ham bone. Do we trim a lot of meat from it? Do we take the bone out at the end? Thank you for your help. Your ham recipe is the first meal we made in the instant pot-big success, thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Karen, you can keep as much meat as you’d like on the bone – it will all fall off the bone and go into the soup when it’s done. At the end, you can remove the bone 🙂 Let me know how this turns out for you 🙂