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!
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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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Equipment
- Small Blender
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Dutch Oven
- Color Cutting Boards
Nutrition
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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!
Looks great!!! You can actually go to your local deli and pick the flavor ham (honey, maple,smoked, etc etc) you like and have them slice a pound off in one piece. This way you can cut it into whatever size chunks you like in your soup!
This was totally delicious, and my picky family loved it too. I used an immersion blender to blend the one can of beans right in the can…super easy and less mess.
Quick, easy, delicious!
This is excellent. I added leftover chopped up asparagus an four cups of the chicken broth. If ham is not an option smoked kielbasa is great too. I topped the soup with mozzarella an smoked parmigiana cheese.
sooo good! i add cheese after and makes it better. either way super happy with it
This recipe is fantastic! I find with most recipes I end up changing or adding something. With this recipe… I changed NOTHING! Absolutely perfect! Thank you for sharing :)
Looking forward to making this, can other beans be subbed?
Yes, you could use navy or great northern beans. :)
So very good and so very economical!
Made this today and love it, great tasting and easy to make
I used leftover Christmas ham that I had in the freezer, and wish I would have dried it with a paper towel before adding to the pot, too much water/steam and I overcooked it a bit while trying to get a good sear. Navy beans were great in this.
I made this soup and it was delicious!
3rd time making this. I found a 1.5lb pork butt. Double smoked it for like 2 hours this time. The smoke adds so much damn flavor makes you want to do a back flip. I recommend if you have a pellet smoker. Did the rest as stated. Just added a Lil more of everything. Great recipe Beth
This soup was so creamy and luscious! Perfect way to use up left over holiday ham. Packed it into containers for the freezer and I’m looking forward to taking it to work for lunches with some cornbread!
Deeeeeeelicious! Could not find thick cut ham, so instead used a pound of bacon (half turkey, half regular pork). Followed everything else to the T.
Hi, looking forward to making this!
Can it be made in a slow cooker/crockpot?
Thank you.
You could probably do this in a slow cooker, although you won’t get that nice browning on the ham unless you do that separately. :)
I can’t wait to make this, but I have a meaty ham bone I’d like to use. Any suggestions as to how to incorporate it? Thanks!
I think I would add the broth and ham bone after sautéing the vegetables (without adding any of the beans yet), and let that simmer for at least a ½ hour, maybe more, and then remove any bits of meat from the bone, add then add the beans.