Pork

Country Ham & Potatoes

Smoky ham and soft potatoes in one pot. A whole dinner, no sides needed.

Prep 8 min LOW 6–7 hours HIGH 3–4 hours Serves 6

Country Ham & Potatoes, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

This is a use-what-you-have dish. It came out of kitchens where there was leftover ham and a bag of potatoes, and it's still one of the most satisfying ways to turn both into dinner.

The ham is already cooked and already salty, which changes how you approach it — you're not cooking the meat so much as letting the potatoes absorb everything the ham gives off.

It's also the cheapest recipe in this book by a wide margin, and one of the fastest to put together.

Why you'll love it

Uses up leftover ham.

The classic post-holiday problem, solved.

Complete meal in one pot.

Meat and potatoes, done. Green beans if you feel like it.

Cheapest dinner here.

Diced ham and potatoes cost almost nothing.

No shredding, no fuss.

Everything is already in bite-size pieces.

What's already in the packet

OnionPork bouillonGarlicSmoked paprikaBlack pepperThymeBrown sugar powder

Smoked paprika and thyme against a pork base, with just enough sugar to balance the salt from the ham.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 6–7 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 3–4 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 140°F

The ham is already cooked. You're only heating it through.

You'll Need

2 lbs Ham (pick one below)
2 cups Water or chicken broth
1 packet Cook SLO Country Ham & Potatoes
2 lbs Potatoes, cut in chunks

Pick your pork

2 lbs

Diced cooked ham

2 lbs

Ham steak, cut in chunks

1 + 1 lb

Ham hock plus diced ham

Roasts and chops 145°F, ground pork and ham 160°F

Add vegetables

Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)Green beans (fresh or frozen)Sliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Canned cornCabbage wedgesCanned navy beans

Sliced onion (fresh or frozen) and sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) at the start, on the bottom; cabbage wedges at the start; green beans (fresh or frozen) in the last hour; canned navy beans at the start, or the last hour if you want them whole; canned corn in the last thirty minutes.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)Sliced carrots (fresh or frozen)	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, to soften into the sauce	Cabbage wedges	These break down and give their flavour to the pot. Right for a gravy or a fajita, wrong if you want them to hold their shape.
Last hour	Green beans (fresh or frozen)	Any longer and green beans go grey, squash turns to water, and pineapple falls apart.
Canned beans, drained and rinsed	Canned navy beans	At the start for chili and stews, where they take on the seasoning and a few break down to thicken the pot. In the last hour if you want them whole.
Canned corn and hominy, drained	Canned corn	Last 30 minutes. Fully cooked already, so anything longer turns it to mush.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: sliced onion (fresh or frozen), sliced carrots (fresh or frozen), cabbage wedges and canned navy beans. These need the full cook anyway.

Add green beans (fresh or frozen) and canned corn when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Beans — use canned

Every recipe in this book that uses beans uses canned beans. Drain and rinse them, and they are ready to go. Do not substitute dry beans.

Canned beans are fully cooked during canning, so they are safe and they only need warming through. Dry red kidney beans are a different matter: raw, they contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinin, and the FDA is explicit that a slow cooker does not get hot enough to destroy it. The toxin needs boiling at 212°F for at least ten minutes, and a crock pot on LOW often reaches only about 167°F — hot enough to soften the bean, not hot enough to make it safe. As few as four or five undercooked kidney beans can cause severe vomiting within a few hours. Canned beans have none of this problem.

Canned beans	Drain and rinse	Rinsing removes the starchy canning liquid, which otherwise clouds a soup and dulls the flavour.
When to add them	Start, or the last hour	At the start for chili and stews — they take on the seasoning and a few break down, which thickens the pot. In the last hour if you want them to hold their shape.
Canned baked or refried beans	Last 30 minutes	Already sweetened or seasoned. Added early they scorch against the crock wall.
Dry beans of any kind	Not in this book	If you want the savings, cook them fully on the stove first — soak five hours, drain, boil thirty minutes in fresh water — then use them in place of canned. Two cups cooked equals roughly one 15-ounce can.

One 15-ounce can drained gives about one and a half cups of beans. Most recipes here want one or two cans.

A can of navy or great northern beans in the last hour makes this ham and beans, which is how a lot of Southern kitchens serve it. Drain and rinse. Not to be confused with the green beans in the list above — those are a vegetable and go in at the same point, but the warning below applies only to the canned navy beans. Taste before adding any salt — the ham is already salty and beans soak up seasoned liquid.

Corn

Canned corn	Last 30 minutes	Drain first. It is fully cooked already, so it only needs heating — added early it goes to mush.
Canned fire-roasted corn	Last 30 minutes	Same timing. Worth seeking out for the smoky note, especially in chili and anything southwest.
Canned hominy	Last 30 minutes	Drain and rinse. Bigger and chewier than corn, and what turns a pork stew into posole.

Pasta and noodles

**In the pot.** A cup of dry egg noodles in the last twenty-five minutes, with an extra cup of unsalted broth. Watch the salt — the ham is already salty and pasta absorbs seasoned liquid. **Or separately.** Cook the noodles on the stove and combine, which keeps more broth in the pot.

Tonight's Plan

1
Put the potatoes in the crock pot first.
They cook slowest, so they belong on the bottom.
2
Add the ham on top of the potatoes.
It's already cooked, so it just needs to warm through and give off flavor.
3
Pour in the water or broth, then sprinkle the whole packet over everything.
Use unsalted or low-sodium broth if you have it.
4
Stir once and put the lid on.
One gentle stir to distribute the seasoning.

Vegetables

Stir gently so the potatoes stay in pieces.

Aggressive stirring turns this into mashed potatoes with ham in it.

Spoon into bowls with plenty of the broth.

The broth is half the dish.

Stirring

Leave the lid on

Nothing in this one settles or scorches, and there is plenty of liquid moving. Every lift of the lid drops the temperature ten to fifteen degrees and costs about twenty minutes. There is nothing to check.

Swaps and add-ins

Add a ham hock.

One hock alongside the diced ham. It adds a depth you can't get any other way.

Add cabbage.

Wedges in the last hour. Very traditional and it soaks up the broth.

Make it a chowder.

Add two cups of milk in the last 30 minutes and mash a few potatoes to thicken.

Add green beans.

Fresh or frozen, in the last hour. The classic country combination.

Tips for success

Taste before you add any salt. Ham is already heavily salted. This is the recipe most likely to end up too salty.
Use unsalted broth if you can. Or just use water. The ham brings plenty of seasoning.
Cut potatoes uniformly. Mixed sizes means some fall apart while others are still firm.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

A splash of apple cider vinegar.

Salty and starchy needs acid. Two teaspoons over the pot brightens everything.

Fresh cracked pepper.

Generously. This dish leans salty and savory, and pepper adds a third dimension.

Chopped fresh parsley or green onion.

Colour and freshness against a very beige bowl.

Serve it over

In bowls with cornbreadWith green beansWith biscuitsWith a vinegar-dressed slaw

Tomorrow night

Ham and potato chowder.

Add milk, mash some potatoes, simmer until thick.

Breakfast hash.

Fried crisp in a skillet with an egg on top.

Ham and potato casserole.

Topped with cheddar and breadcrumbs, baked 25 minutes.

Loaded potato soup.

Blend half of it, stir back in, top with cheese and green onion.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days

Freezer

Not ideal. Potatoes go grainy after freezing.

Reheating

Stove or microwave. A skillet crisps it up nicely.

Questions people ask

Recipe card