This Ham and White Bean Soup is not only warm and comforting, but it elicits memories of times past. Simple ingredients and flavor to remember!
Years ago, there were certain dishes my Mom cooked after the holidays, and they were as memorable for me as the holidays themselves. You remember those post-holiday meals, right? These days, in my house, I call it “Leftover Surprise”, which has come to mean a casserole filled with everything from that large family meal – a nice Shepherd’s Pie or Thanksgiving Casserole, for example. Growing up, our holiday meals often featured ham. As a grownup, though, I’ve actually pretty rarely made ham for any sort of meal. I don’t know why exactly. I do like it, but it isn’t among my favorites. However, there’s a certain soup Mom would make a couple times a year, that is among my all-time favorites. She would take the leftover bone from the ham along with any leftover pieces and make this wonderful Ham and White Bean Soup. Hers was more stew-like than this one. And if I’m being honest here, as kids, we really didn’t care for it much.
I’m really not sure why we didn’t like it. Maybe just because we were kids and we resisted anything different from our Midwestern meat-and-potatoes regimen. (I’m going with the resistance story here, because I think we actually did like it, it was just a feeling we needed to resist.) Maybe it was bland-looking, a stew of beige with tiny niblets of ham. Strangely, to make it better-tasting, you won’t believe it, but we actually put ketchup on it! I know! Crazy. Because in reality, on its own, it really was tasty. Over time, I actually looked forward to it, and admitted I loved it! But, as you can see, this Ham and White Bean Soup is not bland in any way. It is full of color, chock-full of texture, and the F-L-A-V-O-R is amazing! A silky, smoky broth; meaty chunks of ham; tender, savory beans and nice, sweet chunks of carrots and celery. So comforting! (Hold the ketchup!)
What’s even better is all of the ingredients are simple, no need to search your grocery for a certain spice or vegetable. You can cook it on the weekend or toss all of the ingredients in a (large) slow-cooker if you want. I cooked it in my favorite piece of cookware, a large enameled cast-Iron pot on the stovetop on a Sunday, just letting it simmer, and tossed the pre-soaked beans in 2 hours before serving. If you want to substitute canned beans, just add them 30-45 minutes before serving. And the recipe makes enough for a crowd, or dinner for a hungry family with a week of lunches for you! So please, don’t be the kid I was – don’t resist all this flavor! And please, no ketchup in soup or stew! And let me know, did you have any strange ways to disguise foods you didn’t like as a young person? I have to say, ketchup was our favorite for those few foods we didn’t like. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out these other Soups and Stews I’ve made.
My quick and easy Cheddar Onion Scones or Easiest Buttermilk Biscuits would be great to go with any soup!
PIN Smoky Ham and Bean Soup for Later ->
Ham and Bean Soup
A simple, adaptable and very forgiving recipe, inspired by October 2018 Bon Appetit, this soup satisfies! This hearty, delicious, smoky soup recipe can be adapted by using any type of bean you want (I used Great Northern beans), or ham hocks instead of shanks, or include any vegetables you might like. I stuck to the traditional carrots, celery, onions). You can make this in a single pot, but the ham hocks or shanks take up quite a bit of space, so it may not be feasible to use a slow-cooker or Instant Pot.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours, 45 min
- Yield: 4 qt. 1x
- Category: Soups and Stews
- Method: Stovetop
Ingredients
- 1 lb White Beans (Gigante, Great Northern, Cannelini), soaked overnight in water, drained, and rinsed
- 3 T neutral oil (olive, grapeseed, canola)
- 2 large yellow onions, halved horizontally
- 2 heads garlic, halved horizontally
- 2 c chopped celery, 3/4” segments
- 3 Medium carrots, peeled, sliced in 1/2” thick coins or half-moons
- 1/2 c Dry white wine
- 1 bunch fresh thyme, tied together with kitchen twine
- 10 cups liquid (I used 1 qt. Chicken stock and 6 c water, but all of one or the other is perfectly fine, just adjust your salt accordingly)
- 2 1/2– 3 lbs. Ham Hocks (4-ish) or Shanks (2 medium-sized)
Instructions
Saute the Vegetables
- In a large, heavy (6 qt) pot, heat the olive oil over Medium-High heat. Place the onion and garlic halves in the hot oil and let turn dark golden brown, about 4 minutes. Either remove them from the oil to make room for the chopped vegetables, or move too one side of the pot. Add in the chopped celery and carrots, sautéing 4 additional minutes.
- Deglaze the pot with the wine, scraping any brown bits off of the bottom. Let wine evaporate until the volume is down by 2/3.
Simmer the Ham Hocks or Shanks
- Add Hocks or Shanks, the soaked and rinsed beans, the thyme, the broth and/or water, a couple generous pinches of salt and pepper. Simmer 2-2 1/2 hours.
- Prior to serving remove the onion, garlic, and thyme, and discard. Remove the hocks and shanks, cool 15-20 minutes until you can easily cut the meat off and return bite-size pieces to the pot.
- Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/3 cup
Keywords: Soups, stews, ham, beans, ham hocks
I’ll pass on the kitchen, but definitely not on a huge bowl of this! This is my kinda recipe and totally comforting (and needed) for the cooler weather we’ve been having. I love adding a lil’ vinegar in my soups, though. It really is yummy!! Maybe some bread on the side for dunkin 😉 ??
Dawn – adding vinegar to soup sounds like a great idea, Dawn! I might give that a try next soup I make! And, yes, I made cornbread with this – my family gobbled it all up before I could get photos, ha! It was that good! My have to post that recipe sometime soon!
can’t wait for the holidays and especially the leftovers the next day!! this soup looks so amazing! Can’t believe you would resist it! lol
You know, I can’t believe it either. I think maybe it’s something all kids do with things that look or smell different from what they are used to. At least from experience with my own kids, this might be the reason! Ha! Thanks for your visit!
This is just the essence of autumn, love all these ingredients together. What a warming, comforting bowl of soup!
Thank you, Caroline! This soup is one of my all-time favorites! I appreciate your visit!
That’s a great family favorite around here! Pinned!
Thanks, Kim! I’m glad your family feels the same as mine! Thanks for visiting!
There’s not much I love as much as soup in the fall and this one looks fantastic. It’s perfect for chilly nights!
Thanks, Kelsie! I feel exactly the same way! I could eat soup every day from October to March! And probably the rest of the year, too TBH!
I think we were both thinking along the same lines today with white beans Laura! This looks so deliciously hearty! Can’t wait to try!
Thanks, Mary Ann! I don’t know about the weather where you are, but here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s full-on white bean season! Great in chili as you know as well as other soups and stews!
I love this soup. Especially when I expected a creamy version. Plus I love that you cut the ham off the bone. Really pretty.
Thanks so much, Mimi! It is a lovely soup, one of my fall favorites, for sure!
This soup is like a huge hug!! So warm and comforting. I want a bowl of this now 🙂
Kelly, thanks, I’ve been experiencing this “hug” for several days now! Ha! Enough soup for a crowd, or just for me, for sure! Thanks for visiting!
Over here a classic poor student meal is heated canned white beans with Heinz chili sauce over toast.
I can think of no better ending for a ham than bean soup. One of my favorite comfort meals indeed. Give me a bowl (or two) of your ham and bean soup and some cornbread and I’m in heaven.
Thanks, Ron! I’ve never heard of putting chili sauce over beans – that actually sounds pretty tasty – certainly better than ketchup. What were we thinking? Ha! Glad you like the ham and bean soup, and you’re right – cornbread is the perfect accompaniment!
Oh man, ketchup in soup? That’s a new one! But I totally get it. I ate ketchup like it was going out of style back when I was a kid. But you know what’s funny? I hardly use ketchup at all anymore! (Well, maybe I’ll pull out the bottle with this soup…kidding!) Also, I just discovered that our local butcher store will happily sell you ham bones. We don’t make ham all that often here either, but Laura has a soup that she loves (also from her childhood) that uses a ham bone. That was a cool realization since it keeps us from having to cook an entire ham first! Either way, this soup sounds delicous…and I wouldn’t resist a bowl of this one for dinner tonight! 🙂
Thanks, David! I always forget to buy bones at the butcher – would be so good for any soup. This was actually the first time I used ham shanks instead of hocks – much more meaty and incredible flavor, too!
Your story brings the memories of my childhood back: we had the same resistance to good old fashioned, frugal, tasty food… reason unknown. Thank you for sharing this delicious idea with us !
I’m glad to see there are more like me out there! Thanks for letting me know this… and for your kind words!