You’ve got a leftover ham bone so let’s make some soup. There is nothing much more classic then ham and white bean soup. Use up that holiday ham bone with this traditional soup.
Editor’s Note: Originally Published December 13, 2014. This is one of the most popular recipes on the site, but it needed a buff-up with re-edited pictures and cleaned up text along with an expanded discussion of options. Please enjoy this wonderful soup.
This is my take on 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 with one using mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.
I combined about five recipes and methods so no specific inspiration piece other than the Senate recipe. Most recipes use chicken broth for all or part of the liquid.
As pointed out to me by some commenters on Ham Bone Vegetable Soup – Crock Pot Edition cooking the ham bone like this is making your own ham broth. So chicken broth is not needed plus it saves on the sodium.
Some of the recipes suggested 8 hour cooking times on low even with non-soaked beans. It took the full 10 hours with the overnight soaked beans to be the right consistency.
Lastly, the amount of liquid varied from 6 cups to 12 cups. Many commenters thought the high end was just too much liquid. I suggest 6 cups. It did not completely cover the ham but was just right. They, like me, want a thicker bean soup.
Other Ham Bone Soup Options
Puerto Rican Chuletón Soup AKA Xmas Ham Bone Soup
Ham Bone Vegetable Soup – Crock Pot Edition
Pre-Week of Soup Recipes
Week of Soups Recipes
My Rating
A low five for us ham and bean soup lovers. A nice 4 for everybody else.
Pro Tips: Recipe notes on Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup
The Ham
The ham in the recipe is THE huge variable. Start with a “meaty” bone. If you stripped it, you would have no meat.
All hams have a huge amount of salt. Many of our hams have been covered 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 important.
Use running water to remove surface sugar. Scrape off any fat that you can. And be careful with the sodium.
The Beans
This was a great recipe to start using dry beans. And if you’re on a budget, it makes this soup extremely cheap considering you were going to toss that ham bone.
Can I use precooked beans?
This recipe will be fine with precooked beans if you don’t want to go the dried bean route. The 1 pound of dry will equal approximately three cans or one 48 oz jar of precooked beans.
You should drain the beans and rinse them well to decrease any added salt. Of course, use low sodium products and cooking time will decrease a few hours.
Why Soak Dry Beans?
About soaking dry beans. It was always done in the “good old days.” A nice overnight soak was always done. Also, picking through the beans for pebbles and rocks was important. We frequent found them.
You will find recipes that don’t soak. There is also a “rapid soak” method that involves bringing them to a boil for a few minutes then allowing to rest for an hour (Check Epicurious.com).
So does soaking the dry beans do anything?
The no-soak crowd apparently think soaking is a waste of time. Tradition says less gas and more even cooking.
Well, our friends at Cooks Illustrated in The Science of Good Cooking have done some testing and find that there is less gas.
Let me explain. There are some simple carbohydrates in beans that humans can not digest. But your intestinal bacteria can digest them which produce a lot of gas.
Soaking decreases these carbohydrates some but the rapid method even more. But neither method comes anywhere close to eliminating them. Now, don’t you feel smarter?
A Final Note on Salt:
So just as a reminder if you didn’t read all the above, most hams have LOTS of salt. Don’t add any until you’re sure you need it.
A veggie note:
The carrot and celery are an option, but I thought made it more interesting.
More Ideas on Leftover Ham
Old Fashion Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
A nice meaty ham bone and some simple ingredients are all that’s needed. Dry beans are in the picture but see the discussion above or the recipe card below for canned or jarred 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. See notes if using precooked beans.
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 stalks celery, and one medium onion. Carrot and celery are options but recommended.
Add the drained beans, carrots, celery and onion to the crock pot. Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and one bay leaf. Add 6 cups water.
Cook on low for 10 hours total but at about 8 hours 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. Note: Cooking time can be decreased a few hours if using precooked beans.
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Crock Pot Ham Bone 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 stalks celery - - diced - optional
- 1 onion - medium - diced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- 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. See notes if using precooked beans.
- 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 stalks celery, and one medium onion. Carrot and celery are options but recommended.
- Add the drained beans, carrots, celery and onion to the crock pot. Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and one bay leaf. Add 6 cups water.
- Cook on low for 10 hours total but at about 8 hours 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. Note: Cooking time can be decreased a few hours if using precooked beans.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Hambones (and hams) vary a lot. So this is like many recipes... guidelines and not rules.
- If yours is honey coated or spiced heavily, you need to rinse as much of that off as possible.
- Salt note: Most hams have LOTS of salt. Don't add any until you're sure you need it and use low sodium products if possible.
- Can I use precooked beans?
This recipe will be fine with precooked beans if you don't want to go the dried bean route. The 1 pound of dry beans will equal approximately three cans or one 48 oz jar of precooked beans. You should drain and rinse the beans. Please use low sodium beans if possible. And the cooking time will decrease a few hours. - If you seem to have a fatty ham, cook then refrigerate to cool then skim the fat.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
Originally Published December 13, 2014
Nutrition is always somewhat of a guess, but the fat here is so variable. This is my best guess.
Karen
I keep my recipe for this soup pretty simple. I prefer to use navy beans, don’t use chicken stock, carrots or celery. I use water, white onion and lots of ground black pepper with a meaty ham bone studded with whole cloves. This was my mother’s way of making it and I find it very tasty.
Trudy K Spicer
I like Navy beans and I use half chicken broth and water in my bean soup. It really gives the soup a great flavor
Sam
Try a bowl with a squirt of ketchup. Got that idea as kid from a neighbor who was a cook on a battleship in WWII.
DrDan
Hi Sam,
Welcome to the blog. Sorry for the delayed response, a bit of minor surgery.
I love old ideas like this. And it sounds tasty.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Carol
In the crock pot now and thinking about adding spinach at the end of cooking time. Thoughts?
DrDan
Hi Carol,
Welcome to the blog.
I see the spinach as a more “delicate” taste. I think the ham might just over power it. But it won’t hurt to try.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Carol
Thanks for the quick response. I tried a small handful in a sample bowl and just let the heat of the soup wilt it. Didn’t like the texture it added. I’ll leave well enough alone! Thanks for the great recipe.
Heather C
Super excited to have found this recipe! We make a ham along with turkey for Friendsgiving and I found your recipe yesterday – I appreciated the simplicity of it. I soaked the beans and let it sit all day in the crockpot. I used the immersion blender to make it a bit creamier – seriously the best soup ever. We are hot sauce people so we added a few dashes at the end and poured the soup over cornbread. Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
DrDan
Hi Heather,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it worked so well for you.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Amy
Just made this and it was amazing. I did add about 1/2 cup of left over mashed potatoes the last 30 minutes and it thickened up perfectly. Definitely making again.
Lynne
What do you prefer to use : Northern beans or Navy beans- and why ? Love to hear everyone’s responses as I am a new chef!
DrDan
Hi Lynne,
Welcome to the blog.
Old habits die hard and if using dry, I tend to grab Navy beans. If precooked, I tend to buy Great Northern.
The obvious difference is the size. Navy is a bit smaller and the Great Northern is slightly bigger and slightly firmer.
I think I prefer the Great Northern a bit due to size. But when cooking dry, the smaller Navy bean will cook a little faster and I’m sure it is done.
So no big preference for me.
Dan
Jonette
Used a honey baked ham bone, but the beans turned out too sweet. Any idea how to fix this?
DrDan
Hi Jonette,
Welcome to the blog.
Most of mine are honey baked for the “Honey Baked Ham Store”. A lot of running water to rinse off the sugar and if there is crust on it, take a knife to it. Some brands get the sugar down into the cuts on the meat and it will be hard to get them clean.
You are right, you need to get as much of the sugar gone as possible.
Dan
Ash the Homelyhappychef
Hi Dr.Dan I have a ham bone from my family easter, I had removed almost all the meat, as much as possible anyway lol. It is mainly bone with a little bit of meat and not much fat on it from what I can tell. This is my first time making this soup, I remember it fondly from my early childhood. Would it still work with just the bone and some meat added?
DrDan
Hi Ash,
You do need some “meat on the bone” so if you stripped it, you don’t have much to work with. You could try it by adding some ham from elsewhere like a slice of ham from the meat department. I’m not sure how well that would work. Or just wait until next time.
Melissa
I made this ham and bean soup for New Years Day. I made it with smoked ham hocks-it was absolutely fabulous. Super thick and tasty, effect for a winter day. I’m making it again tomorrow for my Community “Soup” Pot Luck. I’m sure it will be a major hit!! Thank you so much for such a GREAT recipe!! I’m now going to look at all of your other recipes as I believe they will be just as good.
DrDan
Hi Melissa,
It is one of my favorite soups.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Deborah Watson
I made this soup tonight with a good, meaty hambone that had been frozen from our Christmas ham. Ample bone and about 1 lb of meat. Instead of using 2 crockpots, I cooked the soup on high instead of low and added the hambone after about 1.5 hours of cooking. Total cooking time was 5.5 hours. I also did not soak the beans but picked through them, rinsed them andded them straight away. The meat gave the broth a great flavor and it needed only a small amount of salt at the end. My last alteration was removing 1/3 of the beans and 2 cups of broth to a medium sized, deep container and using an immersion blender to puree it smooth to add thickness and body to the finished product without using cream/ milk and flour or cornstarch. This is a definite make again! Excellent comfort food! It was served with fresh, hot cornbread.
DrDan
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your thickening method is probably the preferred. At this point, I don’t think corn starch is a good idea due to the trouble with reheating. Other options would be some potato flakes, tapioca or arrow root.
Thanks for the note.
Dan