Fire up the slow cooker to make some delicious ham and bean soup from that leftover ham bone. There is nothing much more traditional than this classic soup. Please enjoy one of the best soups you can make at home.
Introduction
Ham and bean soup has always been a personal favorite of mine. Combine that with what to do with the ham bone leftover from Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas dinner, and most of us need this recipe.
This easy ham and bean soup recipe is my version of traditional Senate Bean Soup. It is a simple soup made with navy beans, ham hocks, and onion. It is always on the menu in the dining room of the United States Senate. There are two versions, one using mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.
I combined about five recipes and methods, so there is no specific inspiration piece other than the Senate recipe. Instead of ham hocks, I'm using the ham bone with leftover ham, and other options are provided, including dry beans.
👨🍳How to make this recipe
- If using dry beans, presoak the beans.
- Prepare the ham bone by rinsing off any honey coating and trimming any large pieces of fat.
- Dice carrots, celery, and onion.
- If using precooked beans, drain and rinse to decrease the sodium.
- Add all the ingredients to a large crock pot. Work the ham to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook on low for a total of 8 hours with precooked beans or 10 hours if dry beans.
- Two hours before the end of cooking, pull out the ham bone. After it cools a bit, strip off the meat, and discard the bone and waste. Return the meat to the crock pot and finish cooking time.
- Serve hot or cool overnight in the refrigerator and skim off fat the following day.
Ingredients
🐖 Ham
The ham in the recipe is a huge variable. Start with a "meaty" bone. If you stripped it, you would have no meat.
All hams have a considerable amount of salt. Many hams have been coated with honey or other sweet products. Also, you have a large amount of fat, much of it on the surface.
All those things are a problem that could ruin your soup. So the preparation of the ham is critically essential.
Use running water to remove surface sugar. Scrape off any fat that you can. And be careful with adding any sodium.
What if I don't have a ham bone?
This recipe is designed around the ham bone since we use it for the meat and create a broth to make the soup. BUT, it is relatively easy to make it without a ham bone.
You can use about 2 cups of diced ham, and instead of water, use low-sodium chicken broth.
Beans
The beans are usually white beans like navy or great northern beans. The navy beans are smaller and more traditional for this soup. They are so common that this soup is frequently called "White Bean and Ham Soup."
Mixtures of various beans are sold like 15 bean mix to make 15 Bean Soup and an excellent substitute. Or use the beans you like.
Precooked vs. Dry beans: Either dry or precooked beans will work fine in this recipe. The cooking time will decrease by a few hours with precooked beans vs. dry beans.
If you use precooked beans, you will need 48 ounces. You should drain the beans and rinse them well to decrease added salt. Of course, use low sodium products.
This was a great recipe to start using dry beans. And if you're on a budget, it makes this soup very cheap, considering you were going to toss that ham bone.
The 1 pound of dry will equal approximately three cans or one 48 oz jar of pre-cooked beans.
How to use dry beans
You should not just add dry beans and cook, although you will find recipes that don't soak. But, not the wisest answer in my experience.
Generally, dry beans should be soaked before cooking. It was always done in the "good old days." An overnight soak was always done to decrease the gas associated with beans having a non-absorbed carbohydrate. It helps some.
There is a "quick-soak" method to prepare dry beans that may be more effective. Bring the beans to a boil for a few minutes, remove them from heat, and allow them to rest for an hour.
Also, picking through the beans for pebbles and rocks was important. We frequently found them 50 years ago but none since then.
❓FAQs
The best way is to add a finely diced potato halfway through cooking. You can also add ¼ to ½ cup of potato flakes near the end of cooking.
The second method is to remove about a cup of beans, run them through a blender and mix them back into the soup.
I do not suggest corn starch since it may gel some with cooling and change the texture later.
You can also create a roux with flour and butter and add the last hour of cooking.
None other than the onion in the traditional soup. I suggest carrot and celery since they made it more interesting taste-wise.
A diced potato added halfway through cooking will help thicken some. You can also add a half or a full cup of mashed potatoes near the end to thicken.
All ham soups have a lot of animal fats. By refrigerating, the fat will come to the top and be solid. It can be removed, and your soup will be healthier.
I love Cornbread Biscuits or Old Fashioned Cornbread with this soup.
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Good in the freezer for 3-4 months.
📖 Other Ham Recipes
Puerto Rican Chuletón Soup AKA Xmas Ham Bone Soup
Ham Bone Vegetable Soup – Crock Pot Edition
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
A nice meaty ham bone and some simple ingredients are needed. Dry beans are in the picture, but you may use 48 oz. of precooked navy or great northern beans.
Rinse 1 pound of navy or great northern dry beans. Pick through the beans for any stones or pebbles. Cover with water and allow to soak overnight. The quick-soak method is discussed in the post.
Under running water, rinse any coating off a meaty ham bone. Also, scrape off any surface fat that you can. Add to a larger crock pot.
Dice two medium carrots, two celery ribs, and one medium onion. Carrot and celery are options but recommended.
Add the beans, carrots, celery, and onion to the crock pot. Add ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and one bay leaf. Add 6 cups of water.
Cook on low for 8 hours total if using precooked beans and 10 hours for dry beans. Two hours before the end of cooking, remove the ham bone to a cutting board. Allow the bone to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then remove all meat from the bone. Discard bone and any fat and waste.
Place meat back into the cooker, stir well, and finish cooking. This is a good point to taste test for adding salt if needed.
If you have time, refrigerate overnight and scrape the fat off the top the next day before reheating.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry navy beans - or great northern; see note about precooked beans
- 1 ham bone - meaty
- 2 carrots - medium - diced - optional
- 2 ribs celery - - diced - optional
- 1 onion - medium - diced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf - optional
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- You may use one pound of dry beans or 48 oz. of pre-cooked beans.
- If using dry beans, rinse 1 pound of navy or great northern dry beans. Pick through the beans for any stones or pebbles. Cover with water and allow to soak overnight.
- Under running water, rinse any coating off a meaty ham bone. Also, scrape off any surface fat that you can. Add to a larger crock pot.
- Dice 2 medium carrots, two ribs celery, and one medium onion. Carrot and celery are options but recommended.
- Add the beans, carrots, celery, and onion to the crock pot. Add ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon pepper, and one bay leaf. Add 6 cups of water.
- Cook on low for 8 hours total if precooked beans and 10 hours for dry beans. Two hours before the end of cooking, remove ham bone to a cutting board. Allow the bone to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then remove all meat from the bone. Discard bone and any fat and waste.
- Place meat back into the cooker and finish cooking. This is a good point to taste test for adding salt if needed.
- If you have time, refrigerate overnight and scrape the fat off the top the next day before reheating.
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Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use a large crock pot of 6 quarts or above.
- Hambones (and hams) vary a lot. So this is like many recipes; these are guidelines and not rules.
- If yours is honey-coated or spiced heavily, you need to rinse as much of that off as possible. Also, scrape off surface fat.
- Most hams have LOTS of salt. Don't add any until you're sure you need it, and use low sodium products if possible.
- You can use pre-cooked navy or great northern beans. You will need 48 oz., and they should be drained and rinsed. Use low sodium is possible.
- Dried beans should have an overnight soak in water to decrease gas production.
- It is a good idea to cool this soup in the refrigerator and when cold, remove any fat on top.
- If you don't have a ham bone, you can still make this soup with about two cups of diced ham and use low-sodium chicken broth for the water.
- The total cooking time for the dry bean version is 10 hours and 8 hours using pre-cooked beans.
- Stores well refrigerated for 3-4 days. And will freeze well for 3-4 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published December 13, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Aliceyn says
Our “funny” family story... I was a young single mom, granddaughter of farmers, dating the son of San Francisco socialites. We were served a ham dinner during one of the holidays. (from the honey baked stores). I was helping clean the kitchen and GASPED when my future mother in law put the bone (with MOST of the meat) in the trash. She looked up and realized that as a single working mom barely able to feed my 2 children- what she had done. She said, “oh dear, I had heard you make soup from bones...do you want this?” That “bone” fed my children for a week, THEN I made the navy bean soup. 34 years later my husband still looks forward to ham bone soup. His mother is still shocked and possibly a little proud of all the things I can do and no one else they know can...
Jodie Knop says
DrDan
Thank you for this recipe. I am making it today (with the vegetables) It looks like the soup my husband’s Grandmother Millie always made, without the vegetables. She never used a recipe. He has wanted me to make this for a long time. It is a bland soup, but she had always put a bottle of ketchup, bottle of hot sauce, chopped purple onions, and brown sugar on the table. We would add what we wanted to our bowl. Can’t wait to eat!
Michel says
I'm making this one..after reading many recipes.! Going to add leftover mash yam (about one)..at the last hour of cooking time
DrDan says
Hi Michel,
Good touch with the yam. It should thicken some and add taste.
Dan
Cathrine Livingston says
I have made this soup twice in the past 5 days and followed the recipe as posted, except I used chicken stock instead of plain water in the crock pot. I did not have to add any seasoning at the end and the ham provided enough salt to the soup. I did mash some of the beans as suggested in the recipe. My husband said it was fantastic!! Will add this to my permanent recipe book.
DrDan says
Hi Cathrine,
Glad you like it. I have a ham coming this weekend and I think my wife is more excited for the soup.
Dan
Trudy says
I have been cooking for over 60 years. I have made all kinds of soups, cooking many meals teaches one a lot of things. One thing for sure, I no longer soak beans, it is a waste of time, leaches out the vitamins, and slows the cooking of a meal. The fastest, easiest, and most economical is to wash thoroghly, sorting if necessary, and placing in an appropriate size container e.g. Stainless Steel covered 2 quart or larger. Ratio of beans to water 1:2. 1 cup beans, 2 cups of clean, filtered water. Cook on HIGH for five minutes, let sit for an hour. The beans if cooked enough, when you draw out a teaspoon of cooked beans and blow on them will split and curl the shell. Never, ever add anything to the water, other than the beans. If the beans are old they will need more cooking time, and willnot split their shell when you blow on them. Then While all that was going on I was busy chopping the veggies. The onion, celery, carrots, and peeling fresh garlic to crush later into the soup. I saute the veggies in EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) or EV Coconut Oil. This brings out the flavor and seals in the vitamins in the vegetables. Here you can add precooked Acorn Squash, Sweet Potatoes, etc. Herbs of choice can go here as well. Potatoes added to the soup will serve as a thickener. Also, as the soup cooks, mash some of the Beans to thicken it as well with the back of a large spoon or a bean masher. This creates a smoother texture, besides thickening it. Add the sauteed veggies, cooked beans, meat (like Ham or even a smoked spicy summer sausage cutup); next, add the homemade soup stock, bay leaf, a little salt, black ground pepper. All these hints makes the soup quick, tasty, digestible, and easy to ladle up. I usually cook it on High four hours, and low for 4-6 hours. Your nose will tell you when it is ready. Add picante sauce, zucchini, kale, etc. if you wish to have more nutrious spicy, veggie soup. The length of cooking at 600 minutes is off-putting. Hours is more palatable. e.g. 6-10 hours
Donna says
I love this soup! I think it has great flavor exactly as it is written. I was thinking of using this recipe as a basis for split pea soup. Do you think it would work with split peas?
DrDan says
Hi Donna,
I have never made a split pea soup but it seems to me it would. I would need to investigate a number of other recipes to be sure but it makes a ham broth and seems to have about the right composition. I know mostly they use chicken broth but the ham would be better taste wise. I might be a great soup.
Dan
Sandra Cullen says
Started this recipe & have a time lapse between ending the 8 hr soaking of dry beans & actual time I will prepare crockpot due to having to make trip to grocery for veggies. Do soaked beans need to be refrigerated while awaiting crockpot? Is it ok to substitute a can of celery soup instead of celery rib since hate to purchase whole big bunch when only need one or two individual ribs?
DrDan says
Skip the celery if you want. Like all soups, use what you have. I like to refrigerate the beans during soaking although many don't. I see a water nutrient mixture that bacteria can grow in.
Joann Colan says
Rake through beans when they are DRY first before rinsing and cleaning with water. This way the beans won't stick together when combing for rocks, dirt clods, rotten or broken beans with skins off. I rinse and scrub several times to make sure they are clean before I cook.
Gillian says
Oh My!!! Made this soup today and boy was it delicious. As with every dish I usually make, I start with a basic recipe and make it my own but I always give credit where credit is due. So the only changes I made were to use homemade chicken stock, fresh thyme, fresh garlic and fresh parsley. I also added about a half cup to three quarter cup of finely diced butternut squash because I love it in most of my soups as a natural, slightly sweet, thickener. Plus its another sneaky veggie my kid wouldn't eat otherwise. I threw in a couple diced potatoes at the end along with a tsp or so of seasoned salt. I'm very close to saying that this is now my absolute favorite bean soup. Thanks for sharing.
Pauly P in NC says
Good think I like Celery in my soups!!
Are you sure there are to be TWO STALKS of celery as opposed to 2 RIBS?
I could not fit two stalks worth of celery in my 8 qt pot...I stopped at one stalk.
Admittedly, I did have a hefty ham bone, but....
Otherwise a wonderfully easy and delicious recipe...THANK YOU!!!
DrDan says
Hi Pauly,
You caught me on the computer. We appear to have a terminology difference. When I grew up we called a rib of celery a stalk and what you call a stalk a bunch. I did a fast Google https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/celery-question-8212-whats-a-rib-vs-stalk/
I think I will keep my present terminology.
Have a good holiday season.
Dan
Mark says
Ham bone is really cheap now. I might have to pick one up and give this one a try.
DrDan says
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the note. I have a Honey Baked in the mail now for the weekend. So I'm doing this next week.
Dan
Marsha says
Really good recipe! I followed your recipe and used the ingredients you suggested, using 4 carrots and 3 celery per my family's taste. Took 8 hours on low, after soaking the beans for about 8 hours. I actually kept the beans covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days before I cooked the soup today and they came out the very right consistency. I had to add more seasoning at the end but did not add any salt to this soup. Thank you! I will be trying more 😀
Robert says
My ex wife made very good bean soup using smoked turkey (I'm a heart patient) but she also made dumplings using Bisquick. She made her soup on the stove and added the dumplings just before serving. This also added some thinking to the soup. She also add carrots and onions.
DrDan says
Hi Robert,
Thanks for the note. I can see it now...
Dan
Jane Montello says
Made the bean soup and it turned out great. My mom (who has passed away and left no written instructions) used her leftover bean soup to make baked beans. I have been unable to find such a recipe on the internet. Do you have one? I am going to try to adapt various baked bean recipes using the leftover soup, but would love to get your take on it. Thank you. Your site is wonderful for cooking for 2.
DrDan says
Hi Jane, Thanks for the note. I have not heard of doing that. It seems like the liquid to bean ratio would be off but you could drain some. I guess I would drain the liquid, call the ham as bacon. then add the ketchup/BBQ sauce, onion and other things. Honestly, I have not found a baked bean recipe I really like. I find most of them way too sweet for my taste. The best I have had is at Marlowe's in Memphis but they don't publish their recipe.
Dan
Jennifer Szalach says
Delicious! My husband and I absolutely loved this recipe, we will definitely be making this again!
Tammy says
This is very good. I will never throw out a ham bone again.
DrDan says
Hi Tammy
I grew up never wasting anything so tossing the hambone is just wrong.
Thanks so much for the note.
Dan
Nancy says
Great recipe and similar to my own. I add a couple of small potatoes to absorb some of the salt. A jalapeño pepper also adds some great flavor and and little heat. I like my soup a little thicker and creamier, so I take about a half cup of soup, add a little milk and cornstarch and blend it together and return to soup to finish cooking. No salt is ever needed.