Basic Ham and Bean Soup

  4.6 – 936 reviews  • Beans and Peas

Hearty ham and bean soup that’s loaded with herbs and vegetables. This dish is simple to prepare and a fantastic way to use up a ham bone.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Additional Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  1. 8 cups water
  2. 1 pound dry great northern beans, sorted and rinsed
  3. ½ teaspoon salt
  4. 1 cup chopped carrots
  5. 1 cup chopped onion
  6. ½ stalk celery, chopped
  7. 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  8. 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  9. 2 bay leaves
  10. 1 ham hock
  11. 2 cups chopped ham
  12. ½ teaspoon ground white pepper, or to taste

Instructions

  1. Place water and beans in a large pot; bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in salt and remove the pot from heat; cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
  2. Add carrots, onion, celery, garlic, mustard, and bay leaves to the pot with beans; stir well. Add ham hock and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
  3. Remove ham hock and discard. Stir in chopped ham and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with ground white pepper to taste.

Reviews

Christy Rojas
This was so good and easy to make. I added extra ham. I’m excited to make it again!
Benjamin Brooks
I gently sauté the veggies, and then throw everything into a crock pot (on low) in the morning. Dinner is served in the evening. Yummy. Don’t let that ham/pork hock go to waste, as they tend to be filled with lovely meaty goodness.
Patrick Bowers
I absolutely love bean soup! I use low sodium bone broth, chicken and toward the end add the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon and canned fire roasted tomatoes for the acidic balance… then let it simmer for another 45 minutes. Makes it very rich! I also sauté the veg components for a layer of flavor. Thank you!p for this!
Johnny Chen
I was craving ham and bean soup so I decided to make this and it did not disappoint. I made a couple changes. I left out the bay leaf and the celery as I do not care for those. Also, I didn’t have a ham hock, so I used chopped ham and I also added three tablespoons of ham base to this soup to give it a nice smoky flavor. It was amazing and I can’t stop eating it!
Joshua Holt
I added Goya seasoning.I used a leftover ham bone with some meat on it still.
Karina Alexander
I cooked in a crock pot and used a ham bone rather than ham hock. My grandchildren love this recipe!
Crystal Schroeder
It was bland and had to cook it 90 minutes longer than directed.
Daniel Tucker
simple easy to make soup with leftovers.. I switched up black beans for white and I added I can diced fire roasted tomatoes juice and all.
Jake Thomas
it was great! I soaked the beans overnight.
Patrick Watson
It’s very bland, and my husband kept whining about it and what else could be added for flavor
Jacob Burgess
Love it! Took a few of the other reviewers ideas, added salt to taste, love love love it!
Ann Farley
I thought it was excellent as it is but I did thicken it.
Katherine Padilla
This recipe is as close to my mother’s recipe that I’ve been able to get. This is the best recipe, it’s so darn good and I’m sure my mom would agree…..Reminds me of my childhood….. Thank you, allrecipes
Kevin Davis
added 6 oz bacon crumbled. Added one potato cut into small cubes. .Put in whole celery stalk instead of 1/2. A little extra sweet onion. Added liquid smoke for more smokey flavor. Left ham bone in till the end. Added a few, 4? small sweet peppers cut up for last half hour of simmer. Excellent, will make again using left over Easter Ham.
Christopher Ramos
To get a “creamer” look take 1/3 of the cooked beans, blend them and at it back in. Super delicious. I had some cooked potatoes and I added it in a small batch.
Melissa Stokes
I added a step to the process. I find it adds more flavor to the soup if you saute the chopped veggies in a bit of EVOO before you add the other ingredients. It’s a flavor boost. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the soup for a smoother texture before adding the 2 cups of ham. Good cooking!
Christine Davis
If your beans are too old, you can cook them forever and they will never get tender. Also, I add Summer Savory to my bean soups. It adds great flavor.
Jennifer White
I made double the amount and gave tons away. Everyone loved it and gave me rave reviews on it. I did soak the beans overnight and in step one I boiled the beans with the ham bone. I did give it a brief taste of the immersion blender once cooked, which still left lots of whole beans, but gave a nice thick consistency. Do not add salt. After tasting, I ended up adding small cubed potatoes near the end to help absorb the salt, and I had not added any salt, it all came from the ham.
Daniel Le
Very flavorful. Family loved it. Next time I will double recipe. I have big eaters. No leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.
Katie Mann
Used a ham shank instead of a ham hock.
Kent Martin
I actually use the stock from my cottage ham and cabbage recipe for this dish. 2 meals for the price of one. plus because I let it simmer all day long the bean soup broth has more potatoes and carrots bits

 

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