Description
Make a comforting, homestyle soup using your leftover holiday ham bone, dried beans, and simple vegetables for a satisfying meal.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 large smoked ham bone (with meat attached)
- 1 pound dried navy beans or Great Northern beans, rinsed and picked over
- 8 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup cooked ham, diced (removed from the bone after cooking)
Instructions
- If you did not soak the beans overnight, place the rinsed beans in a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain the beans. (If you soaked them, simply drain them.)
- Place the ham bone, drained beans, water or broth, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, and pepper into a large stockpot or Dutch oven.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the beans are very tender and starting to break down.
- Remove the ham bone from the pot. Once cool enough to handle, remove all the meat from the bone and shred or dice it. Discard the bone and bay leaves.
- Return the diced ham meat to the soup. Stir well.
- Continue to simmer the soup, uncovered, for another 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and the broth to thicken slightly.
- Taste and add salt only if needed, as the ham bone adds significant saltiness.
- Serve hot, perhaps with cornbread.
Notes
- Soaking dried beans overnight significantly reduces the cooking time.
- For a thicker soup, mash about 1 cup of the cooked beans against the side of the pot with a spoon before returning the meat.
- You can substitute dried pinto beans for navy beans if you prefer.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 3 hr
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 750
- Fat: 8
- Saturated Fat: 3
- Unsaturated Fat: 5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 45
- Fiber: 12
- Protein: 28
- Cholesterol: 40