Soup season is already on its way out, but I couldn’t resist one more warm and cozy pot of goodness. For this super easy and deliciously chunky Ham and Bean Soup I took cue from my easy Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup and used a puréed can of beans to thicken the pot, combined that with some chunky and colorful vegetables and a handful of diced ham to round out this meal in a bowl. This is also a great use for your leftover holiday ham, so bookmark this recipe for Easter next month!
What Kind of Beans Should I Use?
I used cannellini beans for this soup because I love their large shape and creamy texture. You can also use a different type of white beans, like navy beans or great northern beans.
Can I Use Dry Beans?
This recipe is written specifically for canned beans. Using dry beans would require different methods and different amounts of liquids and seasoning, so I would need to develop and test a recipe specifically for dry beans before providing instructions.
What Kind of Ham Can I Use?
You can use virtually any cooked ham. The ham I used is an uncured, fully cooked, thick sliced ham. If using pre-sliced ham, a thicker slice works a little better than thin sandwich slices, which won’t give much texture to the soup. If you have leftover cooked ham from Easter or any other holiday, that can also be used in this recipe.
Can I Freeze Ham and Bean Soup?
Yes, this soup is a great candidate for freezing! Simply chill the soup completely in the refrigerator overnight before transferring to the freezer for long term storage (about 3 months). I prefer to divide my soup into single servings before freezing, so they can be reheated as needed and in the amount needed. Quart-sized freezer bags are great for freezing soup, as are the small blue-top Ziploc food storage containers.
Chunky Ham and Bean Soup
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 3 carrots ($0.30)
- 3 ribs celery ($0.35)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 lb. cooked ham ($3.75)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 3 15oz. cans cannellini beans ($1.47)
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 2 cups chicken broth (or more as needed) ($0.26)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, peel and slice the carrots, slice the celery, and mince the garlic.
- Dice the ham into bite-sized chunks. Add the ham and cooking oil to a large soup pot. Sauté the ham for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, or until it achieves a decent amount of browning. Remove the browned ham to a clean bowl.
- Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to the pot in place of the ham. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes over medium heat, or until the onions have softened. Allow the moisture released from the vegetables to help dissolve the browned bits of ham from the bottom of the soup pot as you stir.
- While the vegetables are sautéing, add one of the three cans of beans to a blender, with the liquid from the can, and purée until smooth. Drain the remaining two cans of beans.
- Add all three cans of beans (one puréed and two drained) to the soup pot with the vegetables. Also add 1/4 tsp dried thyme, some freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill), and 2 cups chicken broth. Stir to combine, then turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the soup to come to a boil.
- Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium and allow the soup to continue to boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. As the soup boils it will reduce and thicken. If the soup becomes too thick, add more chicken broth or water to achieve your desired soup consistency.
- After the soup has boiled for 15 minutes and has thickened, stir the cooked ham back into the soup. Give the soup a taste and adjust the salt or pepper to your liking. I did not add any additional salt, but I did top each bowl with a little fresh pepper. Serve hot!
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Nutrition
How to Make Ham and Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
Before you begin, dice one yellow onion, peel and slice three carrots, slice three ribs of celery, and mince two cloves of garlic.
This is the type of ham I used. You can use any cooked ham, but a thicker slice works better than thin sandwich slices. You can also use cooked holiday ham. You’ll need one pound of cooked ham.
Dice one pound of ham and add it to a soup pot with one tablespoon cooking oil. Cook the ham over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the ham is browned on the edges. Remove the ham to a clean bowl.
Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pot in place of the ham and continue to cook over medium for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are softened. Use the moisture released from the vegetables to dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
While the vegetables are cooking, add one of the three cans of cannellini beans to a blender (with the liquid from the can) and purée until smooth. Drain the other two cans. Add the puréed beans and drained beans to the soup pot.
Also add 1/4 tsp dried thyme, some freshly cracked pepper, and 2 cups of chicken broth to the pot. Stir to combine. The soup will be fairly watery at this point.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the soup up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down slightly to medium and let the soup boil for 15 minutes, stirring often. The soup will reduce and thicken as it boils. If it becomes too thick for your liking, simply add a little more water or chicken broth to reach your desired consistency.
After boiling the soup for 15 minutes, stir the cooked ham back into the pot. Give the soup a taste and adjust the salt or pepper, if needed.
Serve the chunky Ham and Bean Soup hot, preferably with crusty bread for dipping!
This is yummy and hearty soup – I used one clove of garlic and added a sprig of fresh thyme – it was delish! I prefer to have my veggies more tender so I let is simmer for an additional 10 min. Definitely will make again and double it to have leftovers!
During these tough times it is really hard to find canned beans – I do how ever have some dried beans that I can use. Can you suggest how long I should soak them for and if I should cook them first?
Yes, this recipe is specific for beans that are canned/already cooked, so you’ll want to cook them separately before following the instructions above. Here is a great tutorial on how to cook dry beans from Simply Recipes. I also have a similar Slow Cooker White Bean Soup that uses dry beans, I just haven’t written one for dry beans on the stove top yet.
I used dry beans in the insta pot for 30 minutes with natural release for 20 before adding the beans to the soup and it was perfect.
This is really really nice! I did not think a bunch of cans could turn out this well but I am enjoying eating this a lot. Goes well with some diced potato too!
Made this in the Instant Pot tonight and it was fantastic! Followed the directions up until the sautéed vegetables. Then added everything back into the Instant Pot, including the ham, and added a bay leaf. Pressure cooked for 4 min in the Instant Pot in manual mode. It came out perfect!
We had this for dinner last night. Yum! Browning the ham is definitely a winner to develop the taste more. I subbed in great northern beans since that’s what I had on hand. They worked well in this recipe.
I admit I took a chance on this because I had never had cannellini beans, so I had no clue if I’d even like this. But the photos looked so tasty that I decided to give it a go! And I loved the soup – but only after some doctoring. Perhaps my taste buds are just a little weak, but I wound up having to add at least two teaspoons of salt, a teaspoon of pepper, parsley, garlic powder, a little oregano, a dash of tabasco for a tiny kick, and about 1/4 cup potato flakes for flavor and thickness. But I know a lot of recipes can’t be eaten “off the rack” I guess you could say just because of how much everyone’s tastes vary, which is why I still gave this one five stars.
Still delicious and very filling! Browning the ham definitely added a nice texture and a nice flavor overall to the soup. I think I’d like to try making it again substituting potatoes for some of the beans like some folks suggested, partly for flavor and partly because I didn’t realize how many calories were in those beans! Yikes!
Looks yummy! I will try this at home.
Love this am and bean soup- my husband didn’t stop eating it
Loved this soup!! I feel like browning the ham really adds something special since I have several ham and white bean soup recipes and this one is definitely my favorite so far.
Making that this weekend for sure)
Made this yesterday. The husband loved it (I don’t eat beans so only make this kind of thing for him). I, too, had only two cans of beans so added some elderly potatoes. I didn’t use the food processor to pulverize the one can of beans because I hate cleaning it. I drained the liquid off and used a wand blender to cream them right in the can. That worked perfectly and less clean up for me. Will definitely be making this again since it was a hit with the husband.
I made this last night and the whole family loved it, even the toddlers. I *thought* I had three cans of beans, but I only had two so I used cubed russet potatoes to fill out the rest of the soup. I cooked it for a long time because it was Sunday and I could. I also added a cup of water because I found the soup to be a bit salty (definitely the ham’s fault). Adding this to the list of great family-approved recipes.
This looks SOO good. My mouth is watering. I can’t wait to try this.
I’ve made this twice now….such an excellent recipe!
If you add cubed potato would you need to change the cooking time?
I would be just a tad longer Jean to make sure those potatoes get cooked through.
Gonna try this weekend