Y’all, I’m on a roll with these simple, cozy, soup recipes! I had one extra ham hock left over from making Split Pea Soup a few weeks ago, so I decided to test a simple Navy Bean Soup recipe. I used dry, uncooked navy beans because they’re more economical than canned beans and you can infuse a lot of flavor into them. Then I just paired the navy beans with some vegetables, a smoked ham hock, and lots of herbs and spices. The results…a hearty, creamy, and absolutely delicious navy bean soup! Trust me, you’ll be blown away by how flavorful this soup is and just how easy it is to make!
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INGREDIENTS FOR NAVY BEAN SOUP
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this comforting & delicious navy bean soup:
- Navy Beans – We start things off with dry, uncooked navy beans. Navy beans are creamy and break down easily in the soup.
- Vegetables – A combination of aromatics like onion, celery, carrots, and garlic are sautéed with a little bit of olive oil to add a great base layer of flavor and depth to the soup.
- Ham Hock – Ham and beans just go together like peanut butter and jelly!😄 The smoked ham hock we used infused a ton of smoky, salty, flavor into the navy beans! We also tested this recipe with just regular diced ham, but it did not provide the same type of rich flavor as a ham bone. However, smoked turkey wings are a great alternative to use if you don’t want to use ham.
- Spices – A combination of dried spices like thyme, oregano, and smoked paprika adds a rich color and wonderful flavor to the soup.
- Chicken Broth – Make sure you use a good quality chicken broth as a lot of the soup flavor will come from the broth. We use Better than Bouillon for our broth.
Do I Need To Soak Navy Beans Overnight?
Although it’s not mandatory, we did soak the navy beans overnight to help soften the beans and speed up the cooking process. You could also do a quick soak method if you are pressed for time.
To do the “quick soak method” start by giving the dry beans a quick rinse with cold water in a colander. Remove any stones or debris that you see. Next add the navy beans to a large pot and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, continue to cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and allow the beans to soak in the hot water for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans well before cooking!
Storing Leftovers
This navy bean soup recipe makes a big batch, so save the leftovers for lunch the next day or freeze for later. You can store the soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Or freeze in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
Navy Bean Soup
Servings 6 (1 1/3 cups each)Ingredients
- 1 lb. dry navy beans ($1.29)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 carrot ($0.15)
- 1 celery stalk ($0.25)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 ham hock ($3.65)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 6 cups chicken broth ($1.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Start by soaking the dry navy beans overnight. Place the beans in a bowl, cover them with cold water, and place the bowl in the refrigerator. The next day, drain and rinse the beans.
- Dice the onion, the carrot, and the celery stalk. Mince the garlic cloves.
- Sauté the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a large soup pot or Dutch oven with olive oil over medium heat, until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the soaked & drained beans, ham hock, dried thyme, dried oregano, dried rosemary, smoked paprika, black pepper, and chicken broth to the pot. Gently stir to combine all the ingredients.
- Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the soup simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and begin to break down (approximately 1.5 hours). Flip the ham hock over once or twice, while the soup is simmering, so that it gets even exposure to the hot liquid.
- Once the beans are tender, remove the ham hock and pull the meat from the bone, then add the ham meat back to the soup.
- Now mash some of the beans against the side of the pot and stir the mashed beans back into the soup. Continue to simmer the soup uncovered for about 30 minutes to reduce some of the liquid and to thicken the soup further.
- Taste the soup and add salt, if needed. I ended up adding 1/4 tsp of salt after tasting. The amount of salt needed will depend highly on the type of broth used. Serve hot with some crusty bread for dipping and enjoy!
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Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Nutrition
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How to Make Navy Bean Soup – Step by Step Photos
Start by soaking the navy beans overnight. Place 1 lb. of dry navy beans in a bowl, cover them with cold water, and place the bowl in the refrigerator. The next day, drain and rinse the beans.
Dice one onion, one carrot, and one celery stalk. And mince two garlic cloves.
Sauté the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a large soup pot or dutch oven with 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat, until the onions are soft and translucent.
Now add the soaked & drained beans, 1 ham hock, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and 6 cups of chicken broth to the pot. Gently stir to combine all the ingredients.
Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the soup simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and begin to break down (approximately 1.5 hours).
Once the beans are tender, remove the ham hock and pull the meat from the bone.
Then add the ham meat back to the soup.
Now mash some of the beans against the side of the pot and stir the mashed beans back into the soup. Continue to simmer the soup uncovered for about 30 minutes to reduce some of the liquid and to thicken the soup further.
Taste the soup and add salt, if needed. I ended up adding 1/4 tsp of salt after tasting. The amount of salt needed will depend highly on the type of broth used. Garnish with some fresh chopped parsley (optional). Now the only thing left to do is enjoy a big bowl of this cozy navy bean soup with some crusty bread for dipping and soaking up all that yumminess! Enjoy!
what sub for ham hock can do you do that’s vegetarian? is it for flavor or texture?
The ham hock mostly provides smokiness, richness, and saltiness to the dish. So, balance that out, I’d either add more smoked paprika (maybe 1 tsp total) or a dash of liquid smoke if you have it. It will likely need a bit more salt, and you can add some more olive oil or butter to get that richness. I like using coconut oil when replacing animal fat because they have a similar mouthfeel, but you might be able to detect that coconut flavor. Smoked tempeh or tempeh bacon might also be nice in this!
I made this in a slow cooker because I can’t read directions. 😅 Can confirm it works just fine with the liquid amount as written. I pre-soaked the beans too.
Made this for dinner this evening and it was delicious! Thank you, Marsha!
Great soup! I used some leftover pork roast instead of a ham hock and it still turned out great. If you’re like me and work full time so slaving over a pot of soup for 2 hours isn’t feasible, this can be done in the instant pot by following the exact recipe, sauteing the vegetables in the instant pot, and setting the manual pressure to 35 mins and doing a slow/natural release. I’ve made it both the stovetop and instant pot way and both are good!
Any instructions on how to make in a crock pot?
We haven’t tried it concretely but you could likely do 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. :)
Honey…my picky 6 year old who never eats beans…he ate and asked for seconds…and then said mommy make sure this is on the menu..I didn’t have ham but I added smoked sausage…it was heaven lm
This was such a yummy soup. I shared the recipe with 4 people the day I made it. It was my first time using a ham hock and I was nervous that it might make the soup to salty for my liking, but it was perfect. This recipe will go into my soup rotation for sure.
I had cleaned out my spices at the end of the year, so I did not have any of the spices but sub’d them with a pizza spice blend I had and it worked out great. Also did not have any celery, to I skipped that. I did not have to use any extra salt even though I used a lower sodium stock. I am hoping to have enough left over to freeze it to see how works out.
I made this tonight. I used a ham bone and 2.5 stalks of celery plus 1 whole onion and about 12 baby carrots. I added a bay leaf.
I couldn’t wait to try it after cooking about an hour. Hope I don’t get sick. The beans could have cooked a little longer.
It was delicious. I will be making this again.
Made this tonight and it was delicious!
I had to make a couple of changes – I subbed diced ham because they were out of ham hocks. I also used Mirepoix from the grocery deli to save time.
I browned the ham bits before sautéing the veggies to give it a bit of smoky depth. So easy, filling, and healthy. I’ll be adding this one into my rotation.
So good and so easy! I had to leave out the garlic because I ran out, but doubled the rest of the spices per Ari’s recommendation. I also used two ham hocks because that’s how many was sold in one package at the store. This is such a flavorful, filling, economical meal.
After reading the comments that the soup came out bland for others, I bumped up all the seasonings to 1 tsp and garlic to 4 cloves. For 6 cups of broth that seemed like a better ratio anyway. Came out delicious!
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely delicious!!! Recipe was super easy to follow and I did chop the onion, carrot etc ahead, to make it easier.
Once it simmered for about an hour and a half, the navy beans had started to break, so I took out the ham hock and took the meat off the bone and set it aside. I took a potato masher and mashed up some beans. Worked like a charm! Then returned the ham meat onto the pit and let it simmer for another 30 mins. It was thick and so tasty with the flavour from the ham hock. It didn’t any salt! I will be making this again!!!
Could I use canned beans?
You’d need to change the recipe quite a bit to use canned beans, unfortunately, so we’d need to redesign the recipe to fit.
I used canned beans that I lightly mashed before I put them in the pot. I decreased the broth to 4 cups and left out the ham hock which made the cooking time much shorter. It turned out great!
The beans and ham hocks take me back to my childhood!
Hubby is vegetarian, so we will likely substitute with minced cremini or portabella mushrooms and some liquid smoke. Definitely not the same but will be a fun spin.
This soup was excellent. Saw that someone said “it was bland”…….mine wasn’t, but then I don’t think everything has to be dosed with hot sauce to have flavor. This reminded me in a wonderful way of winter evenings around the dinner table with my brothers and sisters……..and a big pan of corn bread. Delicious!
I’m a vegetarian, can I leave out the ham?
You can do a vegetarian version of this. I would add more smoked paprika to replace the smokiness of the ham and some coconut oil to give that rich mouthfeel that you would have gotten from the pork fat. And then, of course, swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth or a vegetarian version of “chicken” broth.
We found this soup rather bland, sadly. Not sure how to rescue it, but it definitely needs more flavor.
I am forwarding this Recipe to my 91 yr old mom. I read thru it and not only will it get her stamp of approval but she’ll enjoy the vegetables you introduced into a country classic. I also saved it for myself, as I also love to cook. I signed up for your newletter also. Now, Im going to check out your other recipes! Cheers Marsha
I am excited for this kind of recipe. I look forward to making it for a hearty fall soup. It looks like a classic. Thank you Marsha at Budget Bytes!
Very good navy bean soup I have made it before but I will try yours it sounds delicious
I cannot wait to make this! Just wondering how big the ham hock is? My grocery store has different sized packages so want to pick up the right one
I think it was about a half pound, but honestly, it’s very flexible so if you have a larger one or a smaller one it will probably still turn out great. :)
I was going to ask about an instant pot. Could you make this in an instant pot?
Probably, but I would want to test it first before offering any concrete suggestions. :)
I make a similar recipe using an instant pot and the stove top. I use my instant pot to cook the beans and ham hocks together for 45 minutes with a natural release, using 4-6 cups of water. Once it is natural releasing, I prep the carrots, celery and onion and sauté them till tender in a large soup pot with neutral oil. Add the garlic after the other stuff starts so it doesn’t burn. Once the beans are done, remove the ham hocks and let them cool a bit to the side. Add the beans and liquid to the soup pot with the veggies and put it on low. Pick the meat off the hocks and add it to the soup. Add any herbs you want or none at all. I use pepper, thyme, oregano and a bay leaf. I usually add a tbsp of better than bullion, too and give it a taste test before adding any salt. It likely won’t need much. Finish it with some acid like cider vinegar and serve! It smells like it took hours but it only took about 10 minutes longer than the beans. No need to smush any beans—it will be very thick. Add more water if necessary! Tastes better the next day!
This looks delicious. If I wanted to try it in a slow cooker, do you have any idea how long it would need to cook for in that context?
Probably about 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. :)