Good Ham Bean Soup

(61)
  • Number of Servings: 15
Ingredients
IngredientsĦ1 pound of navy beans (or great northern beans) Ħ8 cups of vegetable or chicken stock Ħ1 ham bone or ham hock Ħ1 large carrot chopped Ħ1 small celery stalk, chopped Ħ2 garlic cloves, minced Ħ1 medium onion, chopped Ħ2 cups diced ham ĦSalt and pepper to taste Ħ2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
Makes 15 1-Cup Servings

Bean There, Done That
If you happen to have a can of beans handy that you would like to use for your ham and bean soup, then by all means go for it. The typical bean used in ham and bean soup is the great northern bean or navy bean. Both of these beans are small, white beans and their flavor matches well with ham.

If you are using dried beans, you will have to soak and cook them before adding them to your soup. In order to prepare your beans, you should follow these instructions:

ĦPick over the beans. Spread the beans out on a cookie sheet and check for small stones. Remove any small stones and broken or discolored beans.
ĦWash the beans. Rinse the beans under cool running water to remove any dust.
ĦSoak the beans overnight. While soaking the beans is not strictly necessary, it does reduce overall cooking time. Just place the beans in a bowl and cover with cool water.
ĦQuick soak method. Place the beans in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Then cover tightly and remove from the heat. Let rest for one hour.
ĦDiscard the water. Whether you use the long or quick soak method, you should drain the soaking water from the beans before using them in your soup.
Once the beans are prepared, you can then use them in your soup. You might be wondering if it is absolutely necessary to soak beans before using them in your soup. The answer is no, you do not. Although soaking does reduce cooking time and it does give the beans a more consistent texture. I suggest using the quick soak method because it is effective and will get your beans ready for dinner tonight. But if have the time to use the overnight soak method, you will find that the beans, once in the soup, will be fully cooked sooner.

Instructions
1.Prepare the beans as described above. I suggest using the quick soak method.
2.In a stockpot or a large pot, heat the oil over a medium flame.
3.Add the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery.
4.Reduce the flame to medium low and slowly cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.
5.Add the vegetable or chicken stock and the ham bone or ham hock and the diced ham.
6.Add the beans to the soup.
7.Simmer for 60 minutes.
8.Remove the ham bone.
9.If you are using a ham hock, remove it from the soup and remove the meat from the bone. Add the meat from the bone to the soup.
10.Taste for salt and pepper.
11.Test the beans for doneness by tasting some of them. They should be very soft to the tooth.

(note: For calorie calc, used 1 additional cup ham to represent meat from ham bone)

Number of Servings: 15

Servings Per Recipe: 15
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 204.2
  • Total Fat: 23.0 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.1 mg
  • Sodium: 5.0 mg
  • Total Carbs: 0.1 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
  • Protein: 0.1 g

Member Reviews
  • CHESAKAT41
    The calories might be right - but, the carbs 0.1g doesn't sound right at all. The beans themselves would be more than that... - 4/22/12
  • MISSRUTH
    The nutritional information for this recipe is totally wrong. When I added the soup to my Tracker, all that shows is Fat and NO carbs or protein. Hence the lack of stars-- how can you post a recipe on a healthy lifestyle site without nutional information?? - 1/3/12
  • CD12613737
    The nutrition calc is all wrong, if you look at the break down only thing done is oil. So be sure to check the actual nutrient value for your tracker. - 9/23/12
  • CD9423243
    I make soup exactly like this, but needed to find out the calorie counts and carbs, as well as fiber counts.. Um, there are a lot more carbs than that, and where is the fiber?? - 7/21/11
  • IM4GIVEN7
    You can reduce the fat by cooking this the day before serving, chilling in the fridge and then scooping the fat solids off the top. Beans are a great source of fiber but I'm not sure how much. - 10/5/11
  • ERIN1957
    sounds very good and it seems everyone liked it an awful lot, but 0.1 carbs...I think this may be off quiet a bit. - 3/4/11
  • BERTO4812
    great taste - 12/16/08
  • MINDFULME2017
    Very good. Calories are pretty close but I got over 12 g of Protein and 4.5 of fiber in my calcs. - 10/13/13
  • T-A-BYRD
    This is the 2nd time I have made this soup. It is excellent, however, you only need about 3 cups of stock. Not sure where 8 came from. I also used 3 cans of beans instead of the dried beans and mashed 1 of those cans of beans to give it a thicker texture. This is great with leftover holiday ham! - 1/16/12
  • LONEEAGLESPIRIT
    THIS ia awesome! This is how Daddy made it back when I was a kid! Thanks for sharing! - 12/6/08
  • GRALAN
    One cup (about 182 grams) of cooked navy beans contains approximately the following:
    255 calories
    47 grams carbohydrates
    15 grams protein
    1.1 grams fat
    19 grams fiber
    Then there is the ham, etc. I love ham bean soup, so I just looked up the beans for example here. If I can, U can too. Stop gri - 6/14/21
  • JUSTJ2014
    A little too many ingredients for me. I prefer just ham and beans - 4/4/21
  • JANIEWWJD
    Delicious!!!! - 1/29/21
  • JUNETTA2002
    Awesome love these beans - 1/24/21
  • AZMOMXTWO
    thank you - 12/19/20
  • ERIN_POSCH
    ok.. if we minus a star for the nutrtion being off we still give it 4 for being full of flavor. we used regular white beans and hamhock. this will be on our regular rotation for warm and awesome =) - 11/2/19
  • NASFKAB
    Great idea do not eat ham but using meat bones can make it good - 10/5/19
  • 1CRAZYDOG
    Wonderful! - 4/18/19
  • EGGBASKET1
    Delicious - 3/2/19
  • CAROLYN19512
    Watch the carbs Navy beans have carbs - 1/22/19
  • CD22721264
    Doesn't list carbs for navy beans but I looked them up on Sparks and 1 cup has 47 carbs!! Not good fur us diabetics. - 1/23/18
  • R1CROOK
    I refrigerated my beans overnight. I double the recipe. I use one pound of Northern beans and one pound of white beans from honey baked ham with a seasoning pack. I simmer the bone for an 1 1/2 hrs with vegetables no garlic uncovered. Remove bone, cut the ham off, added back to soup for 1hr. Freezes - 1/6/18
  • LAMBCHOP4EVER
    Wonderfully delish!!!!! Will add to menu plan! - 2/21/13
  • NOTEWORTHYBANDZ
    My entire family loved this. I added 3 bay leaves, dry mustard and more water. Will add potatoes or parsnips next time and try it in the crock pot. - 1/1/13
  • CD13422922
    Excellent! Used fast bean method but then simmered for 2 1/2 hrs. Only addition was a couple bay leaves and more celery. I'll make this again and again. Yum - 12/27/12