Okra Soup is the ultimate Southern comfort food made with hearty ingredients. This soup can stand alone, and is sure to fill you up. Try now!
This easy Soup Recipe makes a delicious lunch or cozy dinner enjoyed with your favorite sides. Try Asparagus Soup and Vegetable Soup for more nourishing and warming meals.
Why You’ll Love This Soup?
- It’s rich in fiber and full of protein.
- It’s easy to make this Southern flavored soup in under 2 hours.
Sabrina’s Okra Soup Recipe
This soup is the perfect way to enjoy okra. Okra is a fiber and protein-rich vegetable that’s commonly used in Southern, African, and Caribbean cuisine. With a deep, grassy, lightly sweet flavor, it’s an excellent ingredient for adding to recipes like soup.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 pound cooked ham , roughly chopped
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme , removed from sprigs
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup sweet yellow corn , frozen or fresh
- 2 carrots , chopped
- 4 yukon potatoes , chopped
- 3 stalks celery , sliced
- 3 cups okra , cut into 1/2" slices
- 2 cup lima beans , drained and rinsed
- 8 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- To a large pot add the half the vegetable oil on medium-high heat.
- Add in the ham and sear it until lightly browned on all sides, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the ham from the pan, add in remaining vegetable oil.
- Add the onion, salt, black pepper and thyme, stirring to coat and cook for 5-6 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add in the garlic, stir to coat and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the tomato paste, stir well and cook for 20-30 seconds.
- Add in the corn, carrots, potatoes, celery, lima beans, okra, cooked ham and chicken broth.
- Stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
- Cook, covered for 75-90 minutes.
- Taste for seasoning, if needed add more salt and pepper.
- Serve in bowl with crackers or crusty bread.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
Because the soup recipe calls for a variety of vegetables and other ingredients, you can easily adjust or swap them out based on what you have on hand. Taste test before serving and add additional salt and pepper and other seasonings according to flavor preference.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This recipe is easy to make with simple steps for a filling pot of soup with ham, tender potatoes, okra, and other tasty vegetables. It’s the perfect cozy meal that will fill you up and keep you coming back for seconds.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegetable Oil: Divide the cooking oil into two portions, first to cook the ham, and then to cook the onions. The oil adds flavor and helps to brown the ingredients in this recipe.
- 1 pound Cooked Ham: Roughly chop cooked ham to add to the recipe. Okra Soup is an excellent dinner to make when you have leftover ham to use up.
- 1 Yellow Onion: Dice 1 medium onion and cook in oil. The cooked onion will soften and become aromatic, adding a savory flavor base to the entire soup recipe.
- 2 Cloves Garlic Minced: Add fresh garlic cloves to the onion mixture to enhance the rich, buttery flavor of the recipe.
- Seasonings: Season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and 1 tablespoon fresh thyme. Remove the thyme leaves from the sprigs before adding them to the recipe.
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste: Add tomato paste for concentrated, tangy tomato flavor to enrich the flavorful soup base.
- Vegetables: Fill out the soup recipe with colorful, flavorful, and delicious vegetables like 1 cup of sweet corn, 2 chopped carrots, 4 diced Yukon gold potatoes, 3 sliced celery stalks, 2 cups of lima beans, and 3 cups of sliced okra. Okra offers the soup recipe a unique, rich, lightly grassy flavor.
- 8 cups Chicken Broth: Use chicken broth or chicken stock as the base liquid ingredient to simmer the soup ingredients in.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Large pot: Cook your soup in a large soup pot that you have a lid for. A Dutch oven or another deep, heavy-bottomed pot will work well.
- Wooden spoon: Use a silicone or wooden spoon to sear the ham on all sides and stir all of the soup ingredients together.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, this is an excellent recipe for meal prepping. Try making the soup 3-4 days in advance and storing it in the fridge to enjoy later. You can divide the soup into jars or serving-sized containers for pre-made servings, perfect for a packed lunch to reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Cooking Tips & Tricks
Although this recipe calls for cooked ham, you’ll still want to sear the pieces in cooking oil. This browns the ham to make it more crispy and enhances the flavor before adding it to the soup.
Serving Ideas
- You can pair this delicious Southern style soup with more comforting Southern dishes like Honey Cornbread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Southern Baked Beans, or Green Beans and Ham.
- A soup and salad or a soup and a sandwich combo is a classic cafe-style lunch that you can make for yourself. Serve Okra Soup with a Grilled Cheese, Grilled Vegetable or Ham Sandwich. For a salad combo, try a Cobb Salad or freshly tossed garden salad.
How to Store
- Store: If you have any leftover, you can keep it fresh to enjoy later. Let the soup cool, then transfer the recipe to an airtight container to keep fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat: You can reheat the soup recipe in 30-second increments in the microwave or add the leftovers to a soup pot and heat it on the stovetop over medium-low heat until lightly bubbling.
- Freeze: You can also freeze this soup. Pour cooled soup into a gallon-sized freezer bag or another freezer-safe container to keep frozen for up to 3 months. Let frozen soup thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating on the stovetop.
Instant Pot Method
- To make this soup using your instant pot, start by setting the instant pot to sauté mode and cook the ham and onion in oil just like you would in the original recipe.
- Then, add the other soup ingredients to the instant pot and stir.
- Turn the instant pot to high pressure and cook for 6 minutes.
- Manually release pressure and wait for the pressure release before opening the pot.
- Turn to sauté mode and simmer for an additional 5 minutes to cook down the soup broth. This faster version is excellent for busy weeknights.
Frequent Questions
There are different versions of Okra Soup from multiple regions, including West Africa, where it’s called Okro soup. However, this version with flavorful ham comes from the American South.
Scientifically speaking, okra is a fruit. However, due to its flavor and the way it’s used, it’s typically thought of as a vegetable in cooking.
Variations
- Vegetables: There are so many delicious veggies that you can try adding to the okra mixture. Diced red peppers and green peppers make a tasty addition. You could also add collard greens, chili peppers, or green beans.
- Seasonings: Adjust your soup’s flavor profile by adding seasonings like smoked paprika, ground ginger, onion powder, or bay leaf.
- Broth: You can make a flavorful soup base with different kinds of broth. Instead of chicken broth, try this recipe with beef broth, turkey broth, fish stock, or vegetable broth. If you leave out the ham and use vegetable broth, you can make this wonderful recipe vegetarian and vegan-friendly.
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I love this recipe!
Thank you Air and thanks for the five star review!