This soup is fantastic for using up those enormous garden zucchinis and can be served hot or cold. It’s simple to customize this soup to your preferences. Reduce the tomato amount and increase the zucchini if you prefer a thicker soup. Add Parmesan cheese before serving.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 2 quarts |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dried Great Northern beans
- 4 meaty ham hocks
- 5 cups water
- 1 ½ cups sliced celery
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Place Great Northern beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain water and transfer beans to a large stockpot.
- Mix ham hocks, water, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf with beans in the stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until ham is coming off the bones, about 2 hours.
- Remove ham hocks from soup. Cut meat from bones, discarding fat and bones. Return meat to the pot. Continue cooking until beans reach desired softness.
- Navy beans can be substituted for the Great Northern beans, if desired.
- To thicken your broth, if desired, mash beans slightly. If too thick just add a little water.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 397 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 25 g |
| Cholesterol | 68 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 90 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The aroma of this soup cooking is heavenly! It was so tasty, even my husband who doesn’t eat ham (I removed it for him) said it was the best soup he ever had. Only change I made was chicken broth in place of the water.
i’ve made this several times now and it’s my husbands favorite recipe i didn’t change a thing
Great recipe!! Thanks Four stars only because I substituted chicken broth for half the liquid! Otherwise this is excellent!!
It was too bland for us, so I added about a half cup of mixed peppers that I stir fried with a bit of peanut oil. I also added just a bit of Tobasco and some Tony Chachere’s seasoning. Then it was really good! The recipe was a good starting point for my first try at this kind of soup, so thanks!
While I made several changes to the recipe the soup came out fantastic. I used a meaty ham bone and added an additional ham steak. Instead of water I used chicken stock and added more carrots, celery and onion to the soup. I used the bay leaf but didn’t have any fresh thyme, however I did add a quarter cup of sherry. I also substituted a bag of navy beans which I soaked overnight. In addition I cooked it all in a crockpot on high heat for 4 hrs and another 2 hrs on low. It was very hearty and flavorful and a big hit with my husband.
Very good! First time making ham and beans
No changes needed.
I made this using the leftover hambone from our Easter dinner. I added some salt because the hambone was not as salty as ham hocks. It was delicious! So easy to make! I especially like the thyme in it. My family really enjoyed it.
This soup is so darned good. My Aunt Dee has been making this for many years and she finally gave me her secret recipe and it is pretty much this very recipe. But Aunt Dee is known for some shortcuts, so I tried both and as much as I want to insist that there is a difference, there is not. Aunt Dee’s “beloved” recipe is made with these same ingredients though from jars and cans. Yep, I’m not proud. If you’re so inclined to “take the easy path”, this is it. A 48oz jar of Randall’s beans (mixed or Northern), 15oz can sliced carrots and the juice, 15oz can diced potatoes and the juice, 2-3 stalks diced celery, 3/4-1 cup diced onion, garlic or garlic powder to taste, 1/2t thyme to taste, pepper to taste, a bayleaf, 24 oz water, a big meaty hambone or hamhocks, and maybe even a handful or two of any diced ham that you may have in the meat drawer. To make myself feel better about this cheating way of making soup, my addition was to add 3 or 4 handfuls of chopped kale (center ribs removed) and saute it in EVOO along with the celery and onions. It made me feel better about myself. Again, this soup is so darned good.
Great
So good! We will make again
I really liked the flavor of this bean soup! I followed it pretty much to the T. I did replace water with chicken stock for more flavor and added a bit more salt and pepper. I would make it again.
Delicious! ! I used quick soak method with the beans, and substituted a cottage butt for the ham hocks because it’s what I had (and it’s easier). Served with sweet cornbread and butter…amazing…bf raved!
Really quite good, filling, and healthy.
The basic recipe is good but my soup lacked a smoky ham taste so I added one package of Goya ham flavoring (I know it has a high sodium count) and the soup became flavorful and my family loved it. Even better the next day. I will make again when I have a ham bone left over to provide more meat and richer flavor.
This soup turned out so delicious, I would rate it as the best soup I’ve ever made. I did not have dried beans so I used a can of white beans, a can of black beans and a can of red kidney beans. I rinsed them thoroughly as I did not want to add any extra salt. No “real” garlic on hand, so used lots of garlic powder. Threw everything in slow cooker with 6 cups of water and dissolved chicken bouillon in the remaining 2 cups of water. Cooked on high for 8-9 hrs. Fabulous! Everyone raved about it, will definitely make again.
I have gone through a lot of ham and bean soup recipes in 40 years and found this one to be my favorite. It’s so simple that the only thing needed on my grocery list was ham hocks. Be sure to purchase meaty ones, and don’t add additional salt, it’s plenty salty with the ham hocks. The only change I made was to strain the soup after cooking, chill the liquid, skim off the fat then add the liquid back to the rest of the ingredients. My husband loved it and that’s the clincher.
I’m not a huge fan of bean soups but decided to make some to use up a ham bone I had. It was excellent even though I didn’t have a bay leaf. Simple recipes are the best.
I was looking for a soup to use up a ham bone left from Easter Sunday, and this was perfect! It’s similar to the way I usually make my bean soup, except this one has garlic and thyme. I did cut the celery back a bit, as I only had 2-1/2 stalks in the frig. A good hearty soup that we all enjoyed.