Old Fashioned Southern Ham Bone Slow Cooker Soup

Nana's Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup Recipe: A simple, nevertheless utterly tempting, ham and bean soup recipe is a great way to utilize your leftover holiday ham bone.

Big pot full of soup with a wooden spoon

What To Do With Leftover Hambone

Chances are, after yesterday's Easter dinner (or any holiday banquet) y'all have a well-nigh-naked ham bone in your refrigerator at this very moment.

Maybe you lot fifty-fifty finished off your ham to the point of placing the ham os in the freezer for future use.

Either way, today I desire to show you exactly how to use your leftover ham bone, to make the most of every final bite of flavor your baked ham tin offer!

Top view of the pot full topped with some sprigs of thyme leaves

Ham Bone Recipe

Navy bean soup is the food of my babyhood. It's rich, filling, comforting, and can feed a large crowd on a small budget.

Growing up with v kids in our family, and a string of tag-along neighborhood friends, my mom made a lot of meals that could either be stretched to feed extra guests, or could exist eaten as leftovers.

Single serving of soup with beans in a red bowl with a handle and a metal spoon sticking out

Our Best Ham and Bean Soup

1 of my favorite childhood meals was Nana's Ballsy Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup, i.eastward. navy bean soup simmered with a leftover ham bone.

My mom (now known as Nana) had a special gift for using her resource wisely. Cipher went to waste, ever.

All leftovers were either eaten or repurposed, fifty-fifty bones.

Red bow in the background of a metal spoon with this soup

Edible bean Soup (Made With Leftovers)

Nana'southward Epic Navy Bean Soup was a meal we ate somewhat regularly, every fourth dimension a ham graced our table.

Nowadays it seems like we just bake a ham a couple of times a year. Commonly effectually the holidays. Yet as a child, I remember having ham at least once a month.

Perchance because information technology is a food that is so easily stretched and repurposed?

A pot full of the beans soaking before making this soup

Ham and Bean Soup

But I digress… Adding a ham os to soup is a marvelous way to create rich flavor, finish off the concluding scraps of ham left on the bone, and eliminate the need to buy added stock.

A ham bone boiled in water develops a lovely soup base on its own!

Dutch oven with a leftover bone for this ham bone soup

Navy Beans

Although Nana's Ballsy Soup recipe, varied from time to fourth dimension, depending on what veggies and spices she found in the kitchen, I'one thousand sharing the about simplified version with y'all today.

With just a handful of ingredients, including a ham bone and an inexpensive purse of dried navy beans, you can brand a rustic hearty securely satisfying meal your whole family volition beloved.

PS – If you didn't have ham for your holiday dinner, yous can buy a ham bone from the butcher for adjacent to nothing.

The Ingredients You Volition Need

Dried Navy Beans – or other small white beans
Ham Bone + Ham Scraps – or a hamhock
Olive Oil
Big Onion – peeled and chopped
Minced Garlic Cloves
Fresh Thyme Leaves
Ground Cumin
Crushed Cherry-red Pepper
Water
Table salt and Pepper

Sometimes Nana (and I) add two-iii chopped carrots, and 2-3 chopped celery stalks to the soup for boosted veggie goodness. They are not necessary ingredients, but practise add together a bit of actress colour! If using, add together the carrots and celery when you add the onions.

Sauteed onions and garlic in the dutch oven

How to Make Nana's Epic Navy Edible bean Ham Bone Soup

Outset by soaking dried beans in water overnight to prep them for cooking.

This does take thought to prepare alee, only it also saves coin (on canned beans) reduces sodium and gives the beans a meliorate texture.

Quick Tip: If you don't take fourth dimension to soak your beans overnight, and yous ain an electric force per unit area cooker like an Instant Pot, you tin can pressure level cook the beans instead of soaking them to speed things up.

Added beans, spices and herbs to the dutch oven pot

Ham and Beans

Next sauté the ham bone, onions, and garlic in a lilliputian oil. This browns the leftover ham and softens and sweetens the aromatics.

Then add together in the soaked beans, herbs, spices, and h2o. Simmer the soup for at least an hour to soften the beans and draw the flavor out of the bone.

side view of this Finished recipe in a dutch oven with a wooden spoon

Careful with the Salt

Practise not add together any salt until the soup is fully cooked.

Hambones have a lot of salt in them, and information technology's easy to overdo it if you salt the soup too early on. Gustatory modality and conform appropriately.

That's it!

Next time you buy a ham, make certain to grab a bag of stale beans as well. You won't be sorry!

See The Recipe Card Beneath For How To Brand Ham and Bean Soup. Savor!

Ladle full above a full pot fresh off the stove

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Navy Bean Soup

You can add whatever additional vegetables, herbs, or spices y'all like. Or add extra ham scraps yous might want to use upward.

You tin freeze Nana's Ballsy Soup for later on quickie meals.

Even consider pureeing it into incredible edible bean dip to consume with tortilla fries.

Tin can This Be Fabricated With Canned Beans?

You can utilise canned beans and information technology will reduce the cooking fourth dimension, but honestly, information technology'southward best with dried-soaked beans. It takes nearly 3 of the fifteen ounce cans of beans per 1 pound dried beans. Drain them well to reduce the sodium.

Is There A Crockpot Version Of This Recipe?

You tin can make this recipe in the crock pot… And you practise non need to soak the beans alee of time! Saute the veggies on the stovetop, then add everything to the tedious cooker. Fix on low for 10-12 hours, or on loftier for 5-7 hours.

Tin can I Use The Ham Bone More than Than Once?

I usually just use a hambone once. Even so, I have heard that if there is even so meat on the os and marrow in the centre, y'all can wrap and freeze it for later use. Yet if you've "picked the bone dry" in a recipe, throw it out.

Single serving of this recipe with a fabric napkin in the background

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Nana's Epic Navy Edible bean Ham Bone Soup

Nana's Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup Recipe – A uncomplicated yet utterly addictive ham and bean soup recipe is a great way to use your leftover holiday ham bone.

Servings: viii

1 pound dried navy beans
1 ham bone + ham scraps
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/ii-1 teaspoon crushed ruby-red pepper
x cups water
Common salt and pepper

The Nighttime Before: Place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with three inches of water. Soak the stale beans overnight (upwardly to 24 hours) to soften. Bleed when ready to use.
Place a big six quart pot over medium heat. Add the oil, ham bone, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to soften the onions.
And then add together in the drained beans, thyme, footing cumin, crushed red pepper, ten cups of water, and any remaining ham scraps. (Do not salt the soup until the finish, because ham bones tin can be very salty.)
Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for sixty-90 minutes, covered, until the beans are very soft. Uncover and stir occasionally, then place the lid dorsum on top.
Use a fork to pull any remaining ham off the os and stir it into the soup. Discard the os. Add together i-ii cups additional h2o if the soup is likewise thick. Taste, then salt and pepper every bit needed.

Sometimes Nana (and I) add 2-3 chopped carrots, and 2-3 chopped celery stalks to the soup for additional veggie goodness. They are not necessary, simply do add a flake of extra color! If using, add the carrots and celery when you add the onions.

Serving: 1 cup , Calories: 218 kcal , Carbohydrates: 36 g , Protein: 13 g , Fatty: ii g , Saturated Fat: 0 1000 , Cholesterol: 0 mg , Sodium: 22 mg , Potassium: 715 mg , Cobweb: 14 m , Saccharide: 2 g , Vitamin A: 85 IU , Vitamin C: 3.ane mg , Calcium: 108 mg , Iron: iii.7 mg

Making this recipe? Follow u.s.a. on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective then nosotros can share what you're cooking!