Ham and vegetable soup is a delicious way to use that leftover holiday ham bone. Packed with loads of vegetables and ham in a flavorful broth, this recipe can be easily prepared in a crock pot or on the stovetop in a Dutch oven with simple step-by-step instructions.
🐖Ingredients
Ham bone—meaty
Vegetables—carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, diced tomatoes, kidney beans (optional)
Chicken broth—or water
Seasoning—garlic powder, salt, pepper, bay leaf(optional), crushed red pepper(optional)
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Featured Comment by Sandra:
"Just finished eating this delicious soup, and the only thing we altered to the recipe was we added 1½ cup of chopped ham (only because we had the leftover ham). We definitely will make this again whenever we have a ham bone. Great recipe!!"
So what to do with a ham bone from that holiday spiral cut ham? You can toss it or make soup. But let's change it up some from the traditional ham bone bean soup—more vegetables with fewer beans.
We have repeated this recipe many times since initially published in 2013 when we wanted more vegetables and fewer beans. It always puts a smile on our faces.
👨🍳How to Make Ham and Vegetable Soup—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Prepare the ham bone by rinsing off any honey coating and removing large pieces of fat.
2. Peel and trim potatoes and carrots. Chop the onion and celery ribs.
3. Rinse the kidney beans—low sodium preferred. Beans are optional.
4. Combine broth or water, diced tomatoes, beans, veggies, and spices in a large crock pot or Dutch oven.
5. Add the ham bone and cook on low for 8 hours in the crock pot or simmer covered for 3 hours in the Dutch oven.
6. About ¾ into the cooking time, remove the ham bone and strip off the meat.
7. Return the meat to the slow cooker or Dutch oven.
8. Finish the total cooking. You may now serve or refrigerate overnight and scrape off any solidified fat.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🐖Ham and ham bone options
Any ham Ham and vegetable soup is a delicious way to use that leftover holiday ham bone. Packed with loads of vegetables and ham in a flavorful broth, this recipe can be easily prepared in a crock pot or on the stovetop in a Dutch oven with simple step-by-step instructions.bone with a fair amount of meat will do. After cooking, you will need to get about 3 cups of shredded ham off the bone. I find anywhere from 2 to 4 cups works well.
If you are short on ham or want a meaty soup, you can use chopped ham from another source, like a ham steak. You can also use other ham, which may be leaner, and make a healthier soup. Aim for about 3-4 cups, which will be about 1 pound of ham.
Honey Coated Ham: Many hams have a sugary coat. The sugary taste is not needed in the soup, and I think it would be "weird." This sweetness needs to be reduced as much as reasonably possible. Trim or scrape off some, and then a good rinse should usually do. While doing that, scrap off some fat, too.
Ham Hocks: The ham hock will add flavor but does not contain the same amount of meat. So, if you use a ham hock, add some ham from another source. You want to have about 3 shredded or cubed ham cups, but between 2 to 4 cups will be fine.
🥣Broth options
Typically, low-sodium chicken broth is used, but in this recipe, you can make your ham broth with water and a long simmer time.
You can always add some chicken or ham bouillon cubes if you want more flavor near the end of cooking. I also have a ham soup base that can add flavor if needed.
🥕Vegetable options
I like to use Russet potatoes for prolonged cooking, but all potatoes cook about the same. With Russets, peel first, but for thinner skin potatoes, you can leave the skin on the potatoes.
In addition to potatoes, the common vegetables are carrots and celery.
Other vegetables to consider are frozen corn or green beans, which can be added at the start of cooking, and frozen peas, which could be added near the end of cooking. Use one cup of any of those vegetables.
The recipe includes some kidney beans, but you may eliminate them or change them to black beans or a type of white bean.
👨🍳Seasoning options
Just garlic and pepper are good with all the other flavors. Some will add thyme or other herbs and spices.
Skip the red pepper if you don't want that slight touch of heat. Increase if you want more heat.
Salt should not be added until the end of cooking, and then only if you are sure it needs salt.
🐖Ham Soup Recipes
For other ham soup recipes, check out my popular Ham Bone and Bean Soup. For a change of pace, you will love my Puerto Rican Chuletón Soup, AKA Christmas Ham Bone Soup.
For leftover ham, use it up in a delicious way with Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.
Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Crockpot Ham and Bean soup is easy to make with leftover ham bones, dry white beans, and vegetables. It is old-fashioned comfort food at its best—delicious and hearty—and is a simple and economical recipe for ham and beans in the crock pot.
❄️Storage
If you have time, refrigerate overnight before the first serving of any ham bone soup. The excess fat will come to the top and become solid. You can then skim off that fat.
Refrigerate leftovers for 3 to 4 days or freeze for 3 to 4 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator if frozen, then reheat on the stovetop or in a microwave.
❓FAQs
You want to have about 3 shredded or cubed ham cups, but between 2 to 4 cups will be fine. You can add ham from other sources if needed.
Ham has a lot of salt already. So, for both health and taste issues, you should try to keep it minimized.
1. Don't add extra salt until the end of cooking. Then, only if you are sure you need it.
2. Use only low-sodium products.
3. Rinse the beans.
4. You can use water instead of broth and let the simmering with the ham create its own broth.
Yes, there is a lot of fat in a ham. If this is a concern (and it should be), refrigerate overnight and scrap the disgusting fat off the top, where it will solidify. Hopefully, you scraped some off with the sugar coating.
👨🍳Recipe
Ham and Vegetable Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 hambone with meat
- 2 carrots - diced
- 2 ribs celery - chopped
- 1 onion - medium chopped
- 2 potatoes - medium russet cubed
- 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 48 oz water - or low-sodium chicken broth
- 14 oz light kidney beans - drained and rinsed. Optional
- 1 bay leaf - optional
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
- salt - ONLY IF NEEDED AT THE END
Instructions
- Rinse the ham bone under running water to remove as much of the sugary coating as possible. This is also a good time to trim any easily removed fat.
- Chop two peeled potatoes, two peeled carrots, a medium onion, and two celery ribs. Feel free to vary the veggies.
- Rinse one can of beans. I used light kidney. Beans are optional.
- In a large crock pot or Dutch oven, combine 6 cups of water, a 15-oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and, optionally, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Add the rinsed beans (optional) and the veggies, then stir to combine. You may use low-sodium chicken broth if you prefer.
- Add the ham bone and cook for 8 hours on low in the crock pot or in the Dutch oven, simmer covered for 2½-3 hours
- About 75% into the cooking time, remove the ham bone and strip off the meat. Return the meat to the slow cooker or covered Dutch oven.
- Finish the total cooking. You may now serve or refrigerate overnight and scrape off any solidified fat.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- There are many options covered in the post.
- Your ham bone should have some meat on it. You may add other ham if you think you need to. You should have about 3 cups of meat but anywhere from 2 to 4 cups should work.
- Rinse and scrape very well to remove as much sugar as possible if you have a sugary coating. Also, remove fat that is easy to remove, but don't obsess over the fat.
- Use all low-sodium products and do not add salt unless you are sure you need it.
- I now use water for this recipe instead of chicken broth. You may use low-sodium chicken broth or add some bouillon cubes when stripping the ham bone if you think it is needed.
- You may serve hot out of the pot or refrigerate overnight and scrape off any solidified fat.
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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Originally Published April 13, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
This recipe is featured in What to Do With Leftover Ham.
Jeanne T says
OMG this is great, I did make it with 38 ounce chicken broth and added water for the rest. I didn't add two potatoes just one because I used white beans. Just a little idea put some shredded swiss cheese on the bottom of your soup bowl, you won't be sorry.
DrDan says
Hi Jeanne,
I do love a good soup and thanks for the suggestions.
Dan
Sandra Bowman says
Just finished eating this delicious soup and the only thing we altered to the recipe was we added 1&1/2 cup of chopped ham (only because we had the leftover ham). We definitely will make this again whenever we have a hambone. Great recipe!!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note. Glad you liked it.
DrDan
Adam Turner says
In the slow cooker as I type. I used fresh garlic instead of the powder and no tomatoes. Also added a tbsp of Italian seasoning. Oh and used kidney beans and northerns. My ham bone was bigger than the one in the picture so I had to add 1/3 more broth.
I also added some rice.
I sure hope it tastes as good as it smells. This house smells incredible.
Rick Bradley says
I recommend that you try a smoked pork shoulder in place of the ham. You'll find that it's processed with WAY LESS salt, has a very similar flavour so #1 will be pleased and after cooking low and slow (5hr @ 275F) the fat that hasn't rendered can pretty much be rubbed off by hand. I save the cooking liquor and then use the bone and some more veg the next day for a total of about 4L of broth.
Paul says
I see a can of tomatoes in the ingredients but you do not mention
them in your directions. . . thanks for the great recipe!
DrDan says
Thanks for the error catch. I'm editing the post now.
Dan
Dorothy says
My family loved this soup. So easy to prepare on a cold morning and letting it cook all day in the crock pot. My husband 'put it together' the first time and it was a hit. I agree that it can become salty with the ham. I used all the low sodium ingredients as suggested and felt it was just right. I also added some frozen chopped spinach and bow tie pasta near the end of cooking time. I was just as good a couple of days later. Will make this again.
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the note.
DrDan
Susan says
Forgot my rating!
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the note(s) and Rating
DrDan
Susan says
Your recipe was delicious! I made a few modifications when I made mine. I left out the onion only because I didn't have one on hand. I added 4 cloves of fresh garlic, black beans instead of kidney beans, canned corn, a couple of bay leaves, and turmeric spice because it's good for you. It was a huge hit! Thanks again!
Rena says
Just trying this recipe now. Followed it exactly except using black beans. Will do a taste test at 3 hour mark and may adjust seasonings if needed, also thinking of adding some zuchine and yellow squash. Still on the fence re: the squash. Will rate after eating tonight. Also, if you oversalt a dish grating a potato into the broth helps reduce the saltiness.
Donna says
I made this recipe but added 1 - 8oz can tomato sauce after tasting the broth and feeling it needed a little more tomato taste. I also threw in a couple of handfuls of broad noodles during the last 30 minutes of cooking. I got a late start in preparing the dish, so I cooked mine on high for 5 hours and it came out delicious.
DrDan says
Thanks for the note. I love to hear modifications.
Again thanks for the comment and rating.
DrDan
June says
Googled "ham bone soup" and found your site. I wanted a ham bone soup with no dried beans (don't have any on hand right now). I was planning on making my soup basically like your recipe, but would use water instead of broth. Good comments. I do have part of a can of black beans. I will rinse those and add, that made me think of corn, so will add some of those and maybe tomatoes. We shall see what tomorrow brings! Thanks for the great ideas.
Dave says
Really great flavors in this dish. Great use of the entire ham. Sodium was not a problem. Only modifications were to add a few extra vegetables Thanks for the recipe.
Dave in Ann Arbor, MI
DrDan says
Thanks for the note Dave and Happy Harbaugh Day there in AA
DrDan
Dave says
Really great flavors in this dish. Great use of the entire ham. Sodium was not a problem. Only modifications were to add a few extra vegetables.mthanks for the recipie.
Runnerchick says
I made this tonight and it was amazing! I had a hambone from Sunday's dinner so I did a search and came up with this :) I used 16 ounces of low sodium chicken broth and the rest was water. It was seriously good!