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Hearty Ham and Bean Soup from a Leftover Ham Bone

A close-up of a white bowl filled with rich Ham and bean soup, featuring white beans and shredded ham.
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Make a soul-satisfying ham and bean soup using your leftover holiday ham bone. This navy bean stew is a classic, comforting post-holiday meal.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large leftover 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 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • Salt, to taste (use sparingly due to ham salt)

Instructions

  1. If you did not soak the beans overnight, place the rinsed beans in a large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour. Drain the soaking water. If you soaked them overnight, simply drain and rinse.
  2. Place the ham bone, drained beans, water or broth, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme into a large stockpot or Dutch oven.
  3. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot partially, and let it simmer.
  4. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the beans are very tender and the meat on the ham bone is easily shreddable. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
  5. Remove the ham bone from the pot. Once cool enough to handle, shred all the meat from the bone and discard the bone and bay leaf. Return the shredded ham meat to the soup.
  6. Taste the soup and add black pepper. Add salt only if necessary, as the ham bone adds significant saltiness.
  7. For a slightly thicker soup, mash about 1 cup of the cooked beans against the side of the pot or blend them separately and stir back into the soup.
  8. Simmer for another 15 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Serve hot with cornbread.

Notes

  • Soaking dried beans overnight reduces the cooking time significantly.
  • If you do not have a ham bone, you can substitute 1 pound of dried beans with 1 pound of cubed smoked ham and 6 cups of broth, reducing the cook time to about 1.5 hours.
  • This leftover ham bone soup freezes well for future meals.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://mistyplate.com/ham-and-bean-soup-leftover-ham-bone-recipe/