Since it’s the holiday season, I am sure you are going to have a ham once or twice during this time. And I am here to tell you, don’t throw away the leftover ham bone! You can reuse it to create this delicious crock pot ham bone and bean soup!
It’s the ultimate comfort food and tastes absolutely delicious. The ham hock gives it so much flavor! I promise once you try this recipe, you will definitely use the meaty ham bone time and time again for this recipe.
So be sure to save and bookmark this if you are having a Christmas ham coming up. We used a spiral cut ham for Thanksgiving dinner this year and once we were done with it, we used the bone to make this amazing soup.
And it was perfect timing too because the temperatures dropped so low here. So it was nice to have a warm, hearty soup to enjoy on a chilly day!
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How Long Does a Ham Bone Last?
If you can’t make this soup right away, don’t worry! You can keep the ham bone in the fridge for up to 4 days. But, if you need longer than that, you can always freeze it! Just place ham bone in a freezer bag until ready to use. For best results, use within 3 months of freezing though!
Ingredients Needed For Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup
- 1 (16-oz bag) Dried Navy Beans, about 2 ½ cups, sorted and rinsed (you could also use any kind of dry white beans as well such as cannellini beans or great northern beans)
- 1 Smoked Ham Bone, or smoked ham hock
- ½ large Onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 large Celery Rib, diced (about 1 cup)
- 5 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme, or ¼ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 6 cups chicken broth (or you can use water as well)
- 1 large Carrot, diced (about 1 cup)
Do I Need To Soak Dried Beans Beforehand?
It is recommended for this recipe to soak your dry beans overnight before cooking. However, if you’re pressed for time, you don’t have to. You will just have to cook the soup a little longer.
When I made this soup, I didn’t have time to soak my beans either. But, it turned out to be just fine cooking it a little longer instead.
Technically soaked beans can have a better texture though, so if you have time to soak them, do it!
How To Make Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup
Add your navy beans, celery, garlic, onion, thyme, salt, pepper, and ham bone to your crock pot. Add enough chicken broth to cover mixture by one inch. Also, I will link my crock pot here that I use as well in case you’re looking for a good one:
Alternatively, you can use water too if you don’t have chicken broth on hand. You may need to add some additional water or broth as it cooks.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours if you are using soaked beans. If not, increase your cooking time to low for 9 hours for un-soaked beans.
During the last hour of cooking, stir in the carrots. If you add in the carrots too early, they will cook too much and become a little mushy- ask me how I know! Lol I went ahead and added the carrots in at the beginning which was a mistake.
I couldn’t really taste them, although it didn’t affect the overall texture of the soup or anything like that. Once the beans are done, remove ham shank and be sure to get any extra ham left on it as well. Discard of any gristle or bones.
Add the delicious ham pieces back into the soup and enjoy! If you want a creamier soup, you can alway mash some of the beans with a potato masher or use an immersion blender as well.
How To Store Ham and Navy Bean Soup
If you have leftovers, which you may not since it is such a delicious soup; you can store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
This is also a great recipe for freezing as well if you would prefer to freeze your leftovers. I will say, when you are heating the soup back up, you may want to add in some additional broth or water.
The soup is very thick after sitting in the fridge so more broth will help it to thin out when reheating. I just empty my leftover soup into one of my Caraway Home Stock Pots and reheat the soup for a few minutes that way!
Enjoy Your Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup!
This recipe is definitely a favorite way to use up a leftover holiday ham bone! And in my opinion, it even tastes better the next day because all of the flavors have melded together more.
I also love how it is full of simple ingredients and it really makes for an easy dinner during soup season! Serve it with a side of cornbread and you are good to go!
If you try out this ham bone soup recipe, let me know what you think about it! I think you will love the depth of flavor a ham bone can add to a soup! Try it out and see for yourself!
Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 16 oz dried navy beans about 2 ½ cups
- 1 smoked ham bone or ham hock
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 6 cups chicken broth or water
- 1 cup carrots chopped
Instructions
- Recommended- soak beans overnight in 8 cups of water. Discard water and then add to the recipe below. You don't have to soak the beans though, you can just increase the cooking time if need be.
- Add the beans, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and ham bone into crock pot.
- Cover mixture with broth or water by one inch. You may need to add more as soup cooks.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours for SOAKED beans. Or cover and cook on low for 9 hours for UNSOAKED beans.
- When there is just one hour of cooking time left, add in the chopped carrots.
- After soup is done cooking, remove ham bone and get any extra ham off of it and add back to soup. Make sure there are no bones or gristle left.
- For a creamier soup, you can use a potato masher to mash some of the beans with. Or an immersion blender as well.
- Cool to room temperature and place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or you can freeze the soup for up to 3 months as well. Enjoy!
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