A best ever recipe for Ham and Bean Soup! An all-time favourite recipe for leftover ham, so hearty and delicious.
Leftovers have to be the best thing about baking a delicious ham, because now you can make a savoury soup! Ham and Bean soup is awesome for lunch, yet so hearty if makes a great dish for dinner.
The challenge I have with blogging a soup recipe is that I never seem to make it the same way twice and I usually do not measure anything. It's always just a little of this and that and what ever I have on hand. I didn't have any split peas to make split pea soup, but I did have navy beans. I actually prefer beans as they are firmer and don't get mushy. While making this recipe I did measure everything so I could pass on this awesome recipe, but some great adaptations could be a variety of vegetables and beans, or different herbs and spices. Experiment!
Ham and Bean Soup
An exceptional recipe for Ham and Bean soup. Family favourite!
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone I leave meat on the bone while it cooks
- 4 cups leftover ham
- 2 cups dry navy beans
- 2 cups celery chopped
- 2 cups carrots chopped
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dry
- ¼ cup fresh parsley or 1 tbsp. dry
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 8-9 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for sautéing vegetables
Instructions
- Prepare dried beans by soaking them in cold water for 8-10 hours, then drain and rinse. (I do this the night before).
- In large pan heat oil and sauté celery, carrots, onions and garlic until tender.
- Add chicken stock, ham bone and ham. Transfer to larger pot if necessary.
- Add beans, parsley, thyme and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 2-3 hours.
- Chop up large pieces of ham before serving
Notes
This recipe also work well in a slow cooker 6-8 hours on low.
Nutrition
Calories: 378kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 26gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 976mgPotassium: 1017mgFiber: 11gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 4520IUVitamin C: 6.3mgCalcium: 95mgIron: 3.5mg
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I love soup and here are more of my favorite soup recipes to try!
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Kirsten
Hi. I can't wait to try this recipe, it looks delicious. I have one question. How do your veggies turn out? I like mine, especially carrots, to be on the firmer side. I can't do mushy veggies. Should I cook for the time recommended or go more/less?
Laureen King
The veggies are soft, but they do add flavour to the soup as it is cooking. Reducing the cooking time would not cook the beans sufficiently. You can always add extra fresh carrots the last hour of cooking for ones that are less soft.
Christina
I was wondering if It’s possible to
Use canned beans? I. Have a lot of
Canned beans that i need to use up!
Also i would love if you shared the
Recipe to the biscuit shown with the
Soup! Looks so tasty!
Thanks! Happy new year!
Laureen King
Happy New Year to you Christina. Yes you can used canned beans, the cooking time would be reduced to about 1 hour or less. You don't want to beans to become mush. The biscuit is actually just toasted garlic bread.
Pat
This really is the best recipe for Ham and Bean Soup! So glad I tried it and it now is the only recipe I'll be using for bean soup in the future. My husband loved it! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Laureen King
Thank you Pat, so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Laureen King
Thank you Rose for taking the time to comment.
Cliff
Hi Maureen, a really good soup. I followed the recipe with 2 differences. First, I sauted the veggies in bacon grease and used a small amount of liquid smoke. A nice mild Smokey flavor with a subtle bacon flavor.
Cliff
Sorry Laureen, the irritating spell check decided your new name was Maureen. My phone apologizes.
Laureen King
lol, I know spell checks is so irritating some times.
Laureen King
Some great adaptations Cliff!
Brian
It’s on the stove right now...... my wife thinks I’m Superman aka cooking talents....that too ! Wish me luck...
Laureen King
Awesome Brian, hope you enjoy the soup!
Mary
I don’t understand. Cooking with ham bone, don’t you have to strain the soup at the end? Is there not fat or oil build up after simmering? Thanks!
Laureen King
Hi Mary, the ham bone adds great flavour to the soup. It is removed when soup has finished cooking. Using the ham bone and leftover ham, which I always cut most of the fat off, doesn't cause excess fat. If you find fat build up, you can always skim it off.
Lora
HAM N BEAN SOUP ALMOST READY. CANT WAIT FOR DINNER MAKN CRESCENTS W GARLIC N HERB CHEESE SPREAD. AS A DIPPER FOR SOUP.
Mary Kay
Made this soup today and am very happy how it turned out. I didn’t have a hambone but did add some really good ham. Perfect, hearty soup on a chilly February day in Michigan. YUM!!
Laureen King
Thank you Mary Kay, nothing beats a great soup on those cold winter days.
Sherri
Very good. I didn't have dry beans so I used canned. Just added towards the end to heat through. I also added a cubed sweet potato for some more thickening. Broth had a wonderful taste and nice that it wasn't a heavy soup.
Jeanne
Does this freeze well? Thank you; looks good!
Laureen King
Yes it freezes well. Beans may not be as firm, but still very tasty.
Sam Muldoon
Terrific real world recipe. Only difference when I made it was that I used 2 meaty ham hocks. I removed the meat from the bones and added that to the finished soup. This is a solid recipe that can/should be passed on to your friends.
Laureen King
Thanks Sam, the more ham the better I say!
Becky
This soup can be made using turkey ham too. You don't get the exact depth of flavor as with the ham bone, but not everyone can have ham, and it still tastes delicious.
Laureen King
That sounds great Becky, thanks.
Laureen King
Hi Trish, did you use fresh thyme or dried?
Betsy
When I was a child, my mom made this every Monday. She did the laundry on Monday and this was something she could make and still run downstairs and do the laundry in the Maytag wringer washer, rinsing in the laundry tub, put the wet clothes in a basket, run upstairs and out to the side yard to the clothes line to hang the clothes out to dry. I guess it would be called a solar dryer these days:) I'm a vegetarian now, but will make this for my sweetie, who is not:) I don't know what you did with the picture, but when I saw it, I could smell and taste my mom's ham and bean soup. That was over 60 years ago. Such a good memory. Thanks for the recipe and smiles from the past. I can hardly wait to make this! I miss my mom:(
Laureen King
What a lovely story Betsy. I feel very touched that my recipe would bring back such happy memories. I have so very many memories as well cooking and baking with my Mom and Grandma. My Grandma passed over 25 years ago and my Mom has very advanced dementia now.
Mary
How do you prepare your ham?
Laureen King
Hi Mary, my favourite is using a crockpot. I have made this soup with leftovers from this recipe and it added some great extra flavour. https://www.artandthekitchen.com/slow-cooker-maple-and-beer-braised-ham/
Ernest Contreras
you have some great dishes here I am a chef of over forty years now retired and my time is taken by blogging and scanning the internet for a site like yours, your photos very are good, soups are my favorite pass time I enjoy being creative, I just wanted to say how I enjoyed your recipes and your bean soup stopped me on my tracks, it is without a doubt my favorite, Thanks, I subscribed hope to get more nice recipes.
Chef Ernie
Tess
This recipe is delicious! I served it last night and there wasn’t much left. Everyone loved it! It’s definitely a recipe to use again in the future!
Laureen King
thank you so much Tess, this is one of my family's favourite soups.
Penny
Have you tried freezing any of the Ham and Bean soup? It looks and sounds so good, but there are only two of us.
Laureen King
Hi Penny, yes this soup freezes very well.
Penny
Thanks for the response Laureen. It is simmering on the stove right now. I can't wait to try it!
Penny
Hi Laureen,
I had to come back to tell you....I froze the leftover soup and we had some for lunch today. I think it was almost better after freezing it!! This is definitely going to be in my regular soup rotation! Thank you!
Wanda
Delicious. We used chicken broth and vegetable broth. Thanks for the recipe. Whole family loved it.
Wanda
Delicious. We used chicken broth and vegetable broth. Thanks for the recipe. Whole family loved it.
Laureen King
thank you so much Wanda.
Sheri Thompson
A beautiful as well as amazing ham soup. I had ham leftovers and am serving it along with cornbread for a bunch of ppl this sunday!!!!! tks for the receipe and i love the pictures so i can see how it should look.
Laureen King
Thank you Sheri, cornbread sounds great to serve with this soup!
Robinn Poole
How much is one serving? 1 cup?
Laureen King
yes Robinn, about 1 cup. Although I can never have just one serving lol.
Debbie McFadden
Can you use cans of great northern beans instead of dried beans? I wanted to try this recipe tonight and don't have time for the dried version. Thank you.
Laureen King
yes but cook time would about 1- 1:30 minutes.
Debbie McFadden
Thank you for the quick response. Can't wait to try it.
LAUREN CLEAR
This soup smelled so good all day as it cooked in the show cooker. I added 2 bay leaves and a cubed potato while cooking, too, since it just made the soup more yummy. It was delish. My husband and sister and myself loved it.
Laureen King
So awesome you and your family enjoyed the recipe. I just made a pot of this soup yesterday!