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There is no meal that hits the spot quite like a rich meaty soup in the cold winter months. Packed with delicious vegetables and a rich meaty broth, this ham and bean soup is sure to keep you warm this winter.
For more delicious meat soups, why not try Meatball Soup or Black Bean & Ham Soup?
Ham and Bean Soup
After spending days in the kitchen preparing the perfect meal for your guests this holiday season, the last thing that you probably feel like doing is spending even more time in the kitchen using up leftovers. Equally, it can be upsetting to throw away the remaining food that you spent so much time loving preparing.
Ham and bean soup is the perfect solution; it uses the remains of your baked ham to create a delicious meal while requiring almost no effort and making minimal mess. You can also portion this soup up and store it in the freezer for that holiday feel all of the way into spring.
Ham and Bean Soup Ingredients
Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.
• Hambone
• White onion
• Russet potatoes
• Frozen mix containing carrots, peas, corn, and lima beans
• Canned white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Dried thyme
• Garlic
• Bay leaves
• Salt & pepper
• Chicken broth
• Ham
How To Make Ham and Bean Soup
• Place the hambone, onion, potatoes, frozen vegetables of choice, the kidney beans, thyme, garlic, bay leaves, and the salt and pepper into a large slow cooker
• Add enough chicken broth to cover the ingredients, and then cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 6 hours, until the potatoes and onion are cooked through
• Remove the hambone from the soup and cut off any extra meat
• Add the meat back into the pot, alongside the diced ham
• Cook until heated through completely, and then serve
Where To Easily Get A HamBone For This Recipe?
In order to make your ham and bean soup, you are going to need a hambone that has just the right amount of meat still on the bone to give your soup that hearty feel. Ideally, this soup is made within a few days of having a baked ham and is a great way to use up leftovers, especially when there is still a good amount of meat left on the bone.
Of course, there are times when you want the comforting feel of a ham and bean soup without going to all of the efforts of having prepared an entire backed ham dinner the day before. This is when you are going to have to be a little creative in sourcing your hambone as they are not typically found in grocery stores ready to be tossed into a soup.
One option is to ask your local butcher if they have any hambones that would be suitable for a soup. Very often, butchers will not have the type of hambone you need for this recipe on display but are likely to have some stored out the back that they will happily sell you. Some butchers keep stripped hambones as they are a popular dog treat.
You can also save hambones with their remaining meat from meals throughout the year in the freezer. Hambones can last for several months in the freezer when stored properly and mean that they are ready for when you feel like making a ham and bean soup.
How To Serve Your Ham And Bean Soup
While ham and bean soup might have started out as a simple way to use leftovers from the holiday season, it does not mean that you cannot impress your family and friends with this delicious dish. A few little presentation tricks when serving can take your soup to the next level.
Swirling a little creme fraiche on the top of your soup and adding a few parsley leaves can easily take your ham and bean soup from a basic leftover dish to something that looks like your spent Horus preparing. You can also use a little flaked salt and pepper to add texture to the top of the soup.
If you have a bit more time on your hands, why not try serving you ham and bean soup in these Home Made Bread Bowls, turning your soup into a complete meal. Bread bowls never fail to make a soup feel fun as you slowly tear away at the side of your bowl and enjoy the soup soaked bread.
Looking for more Soup recipes this winter? Try these out:
Love,
Karlynn
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Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 leftover hambone
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 2 cups diced Russet potatoes
- 3 cups frozen carrots/peas/corn/lima beans mix
- 2 cups canned white kidney beans drained and rinsed (about a 15 ounce can)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6-8 cups of chicken broth
- 2 cups of ham diced (removed from the hambone or leftover)
Instructions
- Place the hambone, onion, potatoes, frozen vegetable mix of choice, kidney beans, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and salt and pepper into a large slow cooker. Add enough chicken broth to cover the ingredients.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hours, on or high 5-6 hours until the potatoes and onion are cooked.
- Remove the ham bone from the soup and cut off any extra meat. Add the meat to the pot, along with the diced ham. Heat through completely, then serve.
- Serve immediately.
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