Ham and bean soup is a hearty, delicious homemade meal perfect for the cool weather. Loaded with beans, veggies, and diced ham, it’s a flavorful main course the entire family will love, and it’s so easy to make!
Fall is almost here, and winter will be right behind it. That means it’s time to start thinking about delicious soups! I’m a big fan of these hearty cold-weather dishes because they’re so easy and so flavorful.
When the weather starts to turn cold, I always start thinking about soups, stews, and chilis to fill up my family and stave off the cold. I make all kinds, and my favorites are the ones like this ham and potato soup that allow me to use up my leftover protein from the day before.
This ham and bean soup is always a winning choice for family dinners or even potlucks because it’s so filling and flavorful. It’s also easy, which doesn’t hurt, and it’s a great meal prep option to make things even easier!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: This rustic recipe uses basic ingredients found in any pantry or grocery store.
- Easy: This is a simple recipe that even beginners can make. There’s really nothing to it!
- Customizable: It’s easy to tweak this recipe to make it your own.
- Versatile: This makes a great family dinner or potluck dish.
- Great for Leftovers: This is such a tasty way to use up leftover ham!
- Great for Meal Prep: This is a freezer-friendly soup, so you can make extra and save it for later.
Ingredients
I’ve included a list of all the ingredients you’ll need to make this soup here, but you’ll find their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Great Northern Beans
- Onion – chopped
- Carrots – chopped
- Celery – chopped
- Garlic – minced
- Butter
- Vegetable oil
- Ham hock
- Ham – diced
- Pepper
- Salt
- Slap Ya Mama seasoning
- Thyme
- Vegetable broth
- Chicken broth
- Flour
Variations
- Ham: Use diced leftover ham or a small pre-cooked ham from the store.
- Other Meats: The flavors and beans in this soup work well with other proteins like beef brisket recipe leftovers, chopped pork, and chicken.
- Creamy: Replace half of the vegetable broth with heavy cream and double the flour to create a creamy version of this soup.
- Beans: I love Great Northern Beans for this recipe, but you can use your favorite beans. One variation that works very well is a bag of mixed beans.
- Spicy: Add red pepper flakes for a kick of heat.
- Semi-Homemade: Use canned beans to reduce your cooking time drastically. You won’t have to soak the beans, and you’ll only need to simmer the soup long enough to heat everything through.
How to Make Ham and Bean Soup
You can read a general overview of the recipe here. Check out the recipe card at the end of the post for the full instructions.
- Boil the beans for about 2 minutes. Then, remove them from the heat, cover, and let them sit for an hour. Drain them.
- While the beans soak, saute the vegetables in butter over medium heat until tender. Then, add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
- Sprinkle flour over the veggies and cook until the raw flour smell is gon.
- Combine all the soup ingredients in a large pot or Dutch oven, stir, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender. Enjoy!
Tips
- Chill your onions for about 30 minutes before dicing them to eliminate stinging eyes.
- I highly recommend a Dutch oven for this recipe. They distribute heat more evenly, making it easier to control the temperature.
- It’s very important to take the time to rinse and check your beans before quick-soaking them. You don’t want any dirt, debris, or sub-par beans in your soup!
- To reduce cleanup, quick-soak the beans in the same pot you’ll use for the soup. Then, drain the beans and continue with the recipe with one less dish to clean!
- Be sure to cook your flour for at least a minute. It’s important to cook off that raw flour flavor before adding your other ingredients.
- If you choose to make this a creamy soup, do not let it come to a boil. The added heavy cream will curdle.
Ham and Bean Soup FAQ
Ham and bean soup ingredients vary from recipe to recipe. However, the core ingredients remain the same. The soup will always be made with diced ham, beans, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and liquid such as broth. Seasonings will vary, depending on the recipe, and some versions use added cream and flour for a creamy soup.
If you prefer a thicker version, you can make a roux of equal parts butter and flour, a slurry of cornstarch and water, mash up some of the beans, or even blend in very soft boiled potatoes.
I recommend two hams. First, you’ll add smoked ham hock or leftover ham bone to the soup for flavor. Then, you’ll add diced ham for more flavor and a meaty bites of ham in every spoonful of soup.
More Delicious Ham Recipes
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Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz bag Great Northern beans
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cups carrots, chopped (approximately 3 carrots)
- 2 cups celery, chopped (approximately 4 stalks)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 ham hock
- 2 cups ham leftover or fresh; diced
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp Slap Ya Mama® seasoning
- ½ tsp Thyme leaves
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
Instructions
- Clean any debris or rocks from beans and add to large stock pot.
- Cover with hot water and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover and let sit for one hour, then drain beans.
- While beans are quick soaking, add oil and butter to large skillet.
- Melt butter, then add carrots, celery and onions. Saute for about 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute.
- Sprinkle flour over vegetables, stir and cook for another minute then remove from heat.
- Add ham hock to dutch oven or large stock pot.
- Pour vegetable broth, chicken stock, beans, diced ham, vegetables into pan.
- Sprinkle with seasonings, salt and pepper, stir, cover and cook over low flame for approximately 2-2 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.
- Enjoy with a delicious piece of homemade corn bread or bread and butter.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
- Defrost overnight if frozen. Then, reheat all the soup in a pot over medium-low heat or microwave individual portions at 1-minute intervals.
- Chill your onions for about 30 minutes before dicing them to eliminate stinging eyes.
- I highly recommend a Dutch oven for this recipe. They distribute heat more evenly, making it easier to control the temperature.
- It’s very important to take the time to rinse and check your beans before quick-soaking them. You don’t want any dirt, debris, or sub-par beans in your soup!
- To reduce cleanup, quick-soak the beans in the same pot you’ll use for the soup. Then, drain the beans and continue with the recipe with one less dish to clean!
- Be sure to cook your flour for at least a minute. It’s important to cook off that raw flour flavor before adding your other ingredients.
- If you choose to make this a creamy soup, do not let it come to a boil. The added heavy cream will curdle.
Nutrition
Here are a few pics that are the perfect size for pinning to Pinterest.
Enjoy, Terri
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I am Male,92+,soe Handicaps.,Marr.68 yrs.Wife Crippled-I mes up cooking.How can print some of yr recipies?? ThankYou.Frank Sanders,Jr
fsandersjr@myfairpoint.net
Hi Frank, Yes, you can print out the recipe. If you go to the recipe card where the actual measurements for the recipe are, right under the picture there is a “print” button. Just click it and it should print. I hope that helps. I also wish you and your wife the best and congratulations on 68 years of marriage! :)