By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
Serves 2
54 cal · 70 min
Country Ham Potlikker
Recipe GLPR5dd7e974dfd74d
A traditional African-inspired broth made by simmering country ham or smoked ham hock with garlic and red pepper flakes. This richly flavored, savory stock is strained and reserved for use as a cooking liquid or base in soups and vegetable dishes. The resulting potlikker captures the essence of slow-cooked comfort food.
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Ingredients
1 1½-oz. piece country ham or one 12-oz. smoked ham hock
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¾ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 quart water
Directions
Place the country ham or ham hock, chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 1 hour. During cooking, skim any foam or impurities that rise to the surface with a spoon.
Pour the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium heatproof bowl, discarding all solids including the ham meat and vegetable matter.
Reserve the strained potlikker for serving or using in other dishes. If desired, set the cooked ham aside for another use.
Comments
Country ham and potlikker is a Southern staple that works beautifully in Charlotte, where every major chain stocks country ham year-round, and garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes are pantry basics. At roughly $8–12 per serving depending on the quality of ham chosen, it's not cheap, but the cost is honest for a meat-driven dish and the stated 70 minutes is accurate for simmering the broth properly. This is genuinely effortless cooking—drop ham and aromatics into water and leave it alone—and the real payoff is the liquor itself, which reheats perfectly and tastes better the next day. The only minor friction is that servings of 2 means a solo eater gets a lot of leftovers or a couple must commit to two nights of the same dish, though that's a feature for most who love it.
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