Classic Ham and Bean Soup can be made with a leftover ham bone or a purchased ham hock and cubed smoked ham. It's the perfect ham and bean soup recipe for your leftover holiday ham or when you just have a taste for a delicious, comforting soup!

Comfort foods...we all know them and love them.  This Classic Ham and Bean Soup is pure comfort food to me.  Smoked ham, white beans, carrots....Such a great deal of flavor!

I normally make this soup after the holidays, when I have a nice big ham bone from a Honey Glazed Ham leftover...but last week I had a taste for it, and wondered if I could duplicate the flavor the ham bone gives to the soup with a few substitutions.

I picked up a package of Smoked Ham Hocks (used one froze the other...and these things are reasonably priced too!) and a huge slice of smoked ham.  If you can find a slice of ham with the bone section still in the middle, even better!

The ham hock is used just for flavor in this recipe. But, if you like, you can pick off what little meat there is on the hock before discarding it as the recipe card below states.

If you are using a ham bone, I would recommend picking off the meat and adding back into the soup when it's time to take the bone out.

And, to give the soup that bit of sweetness from the glazed ham, I added a few TBSP of brown sugar at the end.  Result?  Delicious....and now I know I can make this soup any time I like! 

You will need to give yourself some time to make this soup, as the dried beans do take awhile to cook and you'll need to soak them overnight as well.

The recipe makes about 16 cups of soup...plenty for a meal and extra to freeze for another time.

 

Classic Ham and Bean Soup, Ham and Bean Soup with ham bone, Ham and Bean Soup

Soup, Pork

American

Yield: 10 servings

Author: Renee Paj

Classic Ham and Bean Soup

Prep time: 10 MCook time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 2 H & 40 M

Classic ham and bean soup made easy on the stove top. Smoky ham, white beans, and veggies make this soup a family favorite. It's a healthy soup that will warm you right up!

Ingredients:

• 1# dried white beans, such as Navy or Great Northern, rinsed and soaked overnight, then drained
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 32 oz. box of low sodium, fat free chicken stock ( 4 cups)
• 6 cups water
• 1 smoked ham hock (or leftover ham bone)
• 1 - 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, undrained (no added salt if you can find them)
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup celery, sliced
• 8 oz. fully cooked smoked lean ham, diced
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 - 3 TBSP brown sugar
• couple dashes of liquid smoke
• juice of half a lemon

Instructions:

1. In 6 quart dutch oven or similar sized stock pot sprayed with cooking spray, on med heat, cook onion until softened ( about 5 minutes) . Add garlic and cook for a minute or so longer. Add beans, chicken stock, water, bay leaves, and ham hocks. ( if you have a smoked ham slice with the bone in...cut around the bone and drop that into the soup with the ham hock, then remove when beans are done) Bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Cover loosely and simmer for about 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Remove ham hock and discard. Skim off any visible fat from top.
2.  Add in canned tomatoes, carrots, celery, diced ham and thyme. Continue to simmer until vegetables are tender. ( about another 30 minutes to an hour).
3.  Remove bay leaves and discard. Add in brown sugar, liquid smoke and lemon juice. After testing broth, season with salt and pepper. ( you may not need any salt at all)
4. Optional....take a potato masher and mash up some of the beans and veggies on the bottom and stir for a thicker soup! ( I did do this!)

Notes:

This Ham and Bean Soup recipe is great for leftover ham bones too! Just substitute the ham hocks for a ham bone in the recipe.

Calories

136.04

Fat (grams)

2.59

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.59

Carbs (grams)

18.44

Fiber (grams)

2.54

Net carbs

15.89

Sugar (grams)

9.31

Protein (grams)

10.37

Sodium (milligrams)

451.70

Cholesterol (grams)

18.02

Nutritional Information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy.

https://www.reneeskitchenadventures.com/2011/09/classic-ham-and-bean-soup.html

Copyright © 2011 Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Ham and Bean Soup has to be one of my favorite soups of all time.  I served this with some Pumpkin Jiffy Cornbread for the perfect accompaniment.

This soup is delicious and with all the beans inside....it really fills you up!

And, did I mention how economical this soup is? 

Dried beans are a steal and you don't need much ham to complete the soup...you could even ask the clerk at the deli counter to cut you off an 8 oz. portion of your favorite lean smoked ham to use.

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