White Bean and Ham Soup: How to Use Your Leftover Ham and Hambone

It’s our family tradition to serve ham for dinner on Christmas, along with cheesy and creamy scalloped potatoes and sautéed green beans. I grew up in a Jewish household, so eating ham, especially on Christmas, is still a novelty. It’s usually just four of us for dinner, which means we have a lot of leftover ham and a very flavorful hambone. We typically slice all of the ham, package it up into vacuum-sealed bags and freeze it along with the bone until we’re inspired to do something with it.

We all know that ham and beans are like two peas in a pod, so I decided to make a white bean and ham soup. It’s a comforting and inexpensive meal that’s very filling, and makes for excellent leftovers.

One of the elements of this soup that makes it so affordable are dried beans. I appreciate the convenience of canned beans, and use them often, but I chose to use dried beans because it adds a great flavor and texture to the soup. Dried beans come in all shapes and sizes, and for my recipe I used great northern beans, but navy or cannellini beans are also good choices.

I know what you’re thinking; dried beans take so long to cook, but all it takes is some planning. I’ll even teach you a handy shortcut that I use quite often.

Here are some tips when using/cooking with dried beans:

• Pick through your dried beans to make sure there are no foreign objects hiding in there such as pebbles. Once you have picked through the beans, give them a rinse.  
• Soak your beans. Place the dried beans in a container at least twice the volume of the beans because they will swell once soaked. Cover the beans by about 6 inches of cold water and place the container in the fridge. Allow the beans to soak for 8 to 12 hours. This allows the beans to hydrate, reducing their cooking time. This can also remove some of the indigestible sugars that can potentially lead to intestinal distress. So, your friends and family want you to soak the beans!
• Quick soak shortcut! If you’re like me, and don’t plan accordingly to soak your beans overnight, then quick soaking is the answer. Place your beans in a saucepan (large enough to account for swelling), and cover by about 6 inches with cold water. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and allow the beans to soak for at least 1 hour.
• Drain the soaking water. Whether you did the overnight soak in the fridge or the quick soak on the stovetop, drain the water.
• Hold the salt. Adding salt when soaking the beans or while they are cooking can cause the skins to wrinkle, which is I always wait to add salt to my soup towards the end of the cooking process once the beans are tender. Also keep in mind that ham is salty, so you may not even need any additional salt at all, which was the case with my soup.
• Taste five beans. I just learned this from my friend, but she says you should always taste five beans to be sure they are all consistently tender.
• Take our Culinary Boot Camp course! We’ll teach you all about cooking dried beans and making soup in this life changing, five-day course along with a multitude of other recipes and techniques.

Now you’re ready to make your soup! As with most soups, start by gently sautéing mire poix (carrots, onions and celery), and then add the garlic and a small pinch of red chili flakes.

Add the drained and soaked beans, ham bone, stock and a bay leaf. We had a quart of homemade turkey stock in our freezer from Thanksgiving that we used, but you can use any chicken stock of your choosing (or even water is fine, as the ham bone will create a broth as it cooks). Bring the stock to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer (remember to hold off on adding salt).

Simmer the soup, covered, until the beans are tender and starting to fall apart. Until you reach this point, the soup will look pretty brothy, but as soon as the beans start to break down a bit, you’ll notice a thicker, creamier consistency.

While the soup is simmering, cut your ham into bite-size pieces; I had to do some pretty significant fat trimming (I call it “editing”) with our ham slices.

Add the ham pieces to the soup and cook until heated through. Taste for salt and pepper, but as I mentioned previously, I didn’t need to add any additional salt because the ham is already salty. I just added some freshly ground pepper. Serve your soup with a side salad and/or a slice of homemade bread, or garlic bread for a complete meal.

White Bean and Ham Soup

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Total time: 2 hours (does not include bean soaking time)

2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil

1 onion, medium dice

2 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice

2 stalks celery, medium dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 cups dried great northern beans, soaked and drained (see note, below)

5 to 6 cups chicken stock

1 leftover ham bone (see note, below)

1 bay leaf

3 cups smoked ham, cut into bite-size pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a heavy soup pot over medium heat and add the oil. Gently sauté the onions, carrots and celery, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook for an additional minute, or until aromatic.
3. Add the soaked and drained beans, chicken stock, ham bone and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, until the beans are tender and starting to fall apart, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
4. Remove and discard the ham bone.
5. Add the ham pieces to the soup, and simmer until heated through. If the soup is too thick, add a splash of water or chicken stock.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• This recipe is based off of using a leftover ham bone, but if you don’t have one, you can always purchase a ham hock from the store and use that instead.

Soups are one of my favorite things to make because they are so incredibly versatile and can encompass so many different textures and flavors. I love soup so much, that I created a hands-on class called Global Soups and Stews you can attend this winter. We’re making:

• Minestrone
• Chicken Paprikash, and
• Thai Coconut Cauliflower Bisque.

Join us on Tuesday, January 14 at 6pm or Monday, February 3 at 6pm and learn how to prepare an assortment of globally inspired, one-pot meals perfect for the winter months.  

Yield: 6

Author: The Chopping Block

Print

With ImageWithout Image

White Bean and Ham Soup

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 H & 45 MTotal time: 2 Hour

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil
• 1 onion, medium dice
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
• 2 stalks celery, medium dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 2 cups dried great northern beans, soaked and drained (see note, below)
• 5 to 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 leftover ham bone (see note, below)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups smoked ham, cut into bite-size pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat a heavy soup pot over medium heat and add the oil. Gently sauté the onions, carrots and celery, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook for an additional minute, or until aromatic.
3. Add the soaked and drained beans, chicken stock, ham bone and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, until the beans are tender and starting to fall apart, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
4. Remove and discard the ham bone.
5. Add the ham pieces to the soup, and simmer until heated through. If the soup is too thick, add a splash of water or chicken stock.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

https://www.thechoppingblock.com/blog/white-bean-and-ham-soup-how-to-use-your-leftover-ham-and-hambone