Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup
Nana’s Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup Recipe is a simple, yet utterly rich and savory, ham and bean soup recipe is a great way to use your leftover holiday ham bone or make on a chilly winter day!
Why We Love This Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup Recipe
Growing up with five kids in our family, and a string of tag-along neighborhood friends, my mom (now known as Nana) made a lot of meals that could either be stretched to feed extra guests, or could be eaten as leftovers.
My mom (now known as Nana) had a special gift for using her resources wisely. Nothing went to waste, ever. And one of my favorite childhood meals was Nana’s Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup, i.e. navy bean soup simmered with a leftover ham bone.
Navy bean soup is rich, filling, comforting, and can feed a large crowd on a small budget.
This soup is especially good when you have a leftover ham bone from a holiday meal! Whether it was from Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, this ham bone navy bean soup is perfect as a nourishing meal following the days after a holiday. Today I will show you exactly how to use your leftover ham bone, to make the most of every last bite of flavor your baked ham can offer!
Ingredients You Need
- Dried Navy Beans – or other small white beans like great northern beans or cannellini beans
- Ham Bone + Ham Scraps – or a ham hock
- Olive Oil
- Large Onion – peeled and chopped
- Cloves Garlic –Minced
- Fresh Thyme Leaves – or dried thyme
- Ground Cumin
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Water – or chicken broth, but be sure to use low-sodium
- Salt and Black Pepper
Sometimes Nana (and I) add 2-3 chopped carrots, and 2-3 chopped celery stalks to the soup for additional veggie goodness. They are not necessary ingredients, but add a bit of extra color and nutrients to this navy bean soup recipe! If using, add the carrots and celery when you add the onions.
Pro Tip: If you didn’t have ham for your holiday dinner, you can buy a ham bone from the butcher for next to nothing.
Why should I add a ham bone to soup?
Adding a ham bone to soup is a marvelous way to create a rich depth of flavor, finish off the last scraps of ham left on the bone, and eliminate the need to buy added stock.
A ham bone boiled in water develops a lovely soup base on its own, because the bone itself will add flavor and collagen to the liquid, and the smoked meat will fall off and add salt and a lovely meaty flavor with literally no effort from you!
How to Make Nana’s Epic Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup
Start by soaking dried beans in water overnight to prep them for cooking.
This does take thought to prepare ahead, but it also saves money (on canned beans) reduces sodium, and gives the beans a better texture and consistency.
Place a large 6-quart pot or dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat on the stovetop. Next sauté the ham bone, onions, and garlic in a little oil. This browns the leftover ham and softens and sweetens the aromatics.
Then add in the soaked beans, herbs, spices, and water. Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 60-90 minutes, covered, until the beans are very soft. Uncover and stir occasionally, then place the lid back on top.
Use a fork to pull any remaining ham off the bone and stir it into the soup. Discard the bone. Add 1-2 cups additional water if the soup is too thick. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
Serve warm. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired. You may even want to pair a jalapeno cheddar cornbread with this hearty soup.
Tips & Tricks
- You can add any additional vegetables, herbs, or spices you like to this navy bean soup with ham. Bay leaves would be a good option, or add extra ham scraps you might want to use up.
- If you don’t have time to soak your beans overnight, and you own an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot, you can pressure cook the beans instead of soaking them to speed things up.
- Do not add any salt until the soup is fully cooked. Hambones have a lot of salt in them, and it’s easy to overdo it if you salt the soup too early. Taste and adjust accordingly.
Serving Suggestions
A bowl of navy bean ham bone soup is perfectly satisfying on its own, but you can also serve it with some side dishes to make it a more hearty meal! This is a great idea if you are feeding a large crowd. Try pairing it with some of my personal favorites:
See The Recipe Card Below For How To Make Easy Ham and Bean Soup Recipe + Video. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Store Navy Bean Soup?
You can freeze Nana’s Epic Soup in an airtight container or freezer bags for later quickie meals.
Even consider pureeing it into incredible bean dip with a blender to eat with tortilla chips.
Can This Be Made With Canned Beans?
You can use canned beans and it will reduce the cooking time, but honestly, it’s best with dried-soaked beans. It takes about 3 of the 15-ounce cans of beans per 1-pound dried beans. Drain the liquid well to reduce the sodium. You can even rinse the beans to make sure you get as much sodium off as possible.
Is There A Crockpot Version Of This Recipe?
You can make this recipe in the crock pot… And you do not need to soak the beans ahead of time! Saute the veggies on the stovetop until tender, then add everything to the slow cooker. Set on low for 10-12 hours, or on high for 5-7 hours. Then serve your slow cooker ham soup warm out of the crock.
Can I Use The Ham Bone More Than Once?
I usually just use a hambone just once. However, I have heard that if there is still meat on the bone and marrow in the center, you can wrap and freeze it for later use. Yet if you’ve “picked the bone dry” in a recipe, throw it out.
What If I Threw My Ham Bone Out?
You could make this with your leftover ham or you could buy a ham bone (or ham hock) from the grocery store. Or, try making my vegetarian navy bean soup recipe instead!
Looking for More Soup Recipes You Will Love? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Portuguese Caldo Verde Recipe
- Creamy Poblano Turkey Soup Recipe
- Slow Cooker Guacamole Soup Recipe
- Simple Egg Drop Soup Recipe
- Spring Pea Wasabi Soup Recipe
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup Recipe
- Navy Bean Vegetarian Soup Recipe
- Rustic Ribollita Recipe (Tuscan White Bean Soup)
- Nana’s Creamy Potato Soup Recipe
- Ham and Potato Soup Recipe by Simply Recipes
Check the printable recipe card below for the nutrition information including calories, protein, fiber, and vitamin percentages.
Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans
- 1 ham bone + ham scraps
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 10 cups water
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- The Night Before: Place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with three inches of water. Soak the dried beans overnight (up to 24 hours) to soften. Drain when ready to use.
- Place a large 6 quart pot over medium heat. Add the oil, ham bone, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to soften the onions.
- Then add in the drained beans, thyme, ground cumin, crushed red pepper, 10 cups of water, and any remaining ham scraps. (Do not salt the soup until the end, because ham bones can be very salty.)
- Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 60-90 minutes, covered, until the beans are very soft. Uncover and stir occasionally, then place the lid back on top.
- Use a fork to pull any remaining ham off the bone and stir it into the soup. Discard the bone. Add 1-2 cups additional water if the soup is too thick. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
Easy to prepare recipe that the family loved, thank you! Will be saving this recipe to make again.
I used heirloom beans from bobs red mill. Soup tastes fantastic. I also made the soup for my dad! Easy goodness!
Hello. This soup looks great. I want to make it tomorrow for my dad. He will absolutely love this. but I need to be out until about a half hour before dinner. Can this soup be made in a crock pot instead?
Hi Patricia,
Yes, just make sure to sauté the vegetables first. Then cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. :)
Yum! I had a giant ham given to me as a Christmas gift… Way too much ham for my 3 person family. We’ve been eating ham for days! I made this recipe tonight using the bone and some of the leftover ham (soaked beans since last night). Delicious! My husband said I outdid myself. Which is funny because this recipe could not be any easier!
My husband and I love baked ham so I always have ham bones in my freezer. i usually make split pea soup but I wanted to try navy bean so I tried your recipe. I LOVED it!! It was easy and I had all the ingredients in my pantry. I’ll be checking out your other recipes. Thanks and Happy New Year!!
Can you please fix this recipe. It calls for the following:
2 teaspoons
1/2 – 1 teaspoons
But it doesn’t say what the ingredients are.
Thanks
John,
It is 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1/2-1 teaspoons of crushed red pepper
they are listed as a hyper link, might be why you can’t see
Hello,
I do not have time to soak my beans. Can I buy the buy the big jar of navy beans?
Hi Jackie,
Here’s a quick soak method that works pretty well: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quicksoak-dried-beans-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-198610
If you need to go with canned beans, 4 – 15 ounces cans equals 1 pound dried beans. Rinse them well before adding to the soup.
The soup turned out delicious, much to my surprise! I did add a tomato sliced and cubed. Also, I put a half stick of Kerigold butter and about 1 1/2 tablespoons if ‘It Is Better than Boullion’. I may have used a little more Thyme than a tablespoon. I would have preferred it a little thicker, but it is scrumptious! Thank you!
My family loves bean soup and my son said this one was the best I’ve ever made. I didn’t use the red peeper flakes because some of us don’t like spicy and I cooked it in the crock pot but overall a great recipe base
Yummy…. I came from a family of 8 so we survived on casseroles and hearty soups. I didn’t like very much of our supper offerings but I do have fond memories of Navy bean soup & chili. I have tried a couple previous attempts at navy bean soup and not been pleased. This one hit the mark perfectly. I did add the celery & carrots. I was surprised about how much spice the red pepper flakes added, but I liked it . I live alone so I had to freeze most of it, but it freezes well. Now if you can give me a good chili recipe I would be very grateful :)
Nanas epic navy bean soup with ham hocks. Bad, bad experience. I am totally lost now. Im a husband/father and l do all the cooking in my familly. I want navy bean soup so last night l go get all the ingredience at Big Y. I soak my beans last night to this morning. That would be about 14 hours. I follow Nanas reciepy to a T. 7 hours and the navy beans are almost as hard as when l started. So, l go back to the store and buy all the ingredience again. But this time l have no time to soak over night. Now l do the next best thing. Rince, bring to boil for 5 minites remove from heat, rest 1 hour then rince again and start over again. Well ,4 hours later and beans are hard again. Not as hard as before but hard. Whats wrong. What happened.? Was it the beans or something l did? Help!was to make for company tonight now what?
Hi Richard,
So sorry to hear about your troubles. I have never heard of beans being soaked overnight, then taking so long to cook. Did you cover the pot? Were the beans actually simmering? Were you using navy beans or did you buy something else? Here’s a tutorial on cooking dried beans that might provide further help: https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/21-how-to-cook-beans
This has happened to me! Upon research it was my hard water that destroyed the beans leaving them hard and inedible. Hope that helps!
I had the same problem with my beans; however, I added 3 tsps. baking soda over two hour period of simmering and finally, soft, edible beans. I loved this recipe.
Holy moly!!! This soup is DELICIOUS!! Thank you for the recipe! Easy to make too! I’ll never get a ham without a bone now! ;)
Good day Sommer!
I made Nana’s Epic bean soup on Saturday and truly, you need to add one more word to the description. AWESOME EPIC BEAN SOUP! I did use a ham hock and the cut up ham steak but cut back on the spices a bit as I was bringing some to an elderly friend Belive me, a half tsp. of red pepper flakes was perfect for my taste. I did add one small bay leaf and only a 1/4 tsp of the cumin. I did add the veggies and threw in a can of petite diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used chicken stock and water to make up the 10 cups). My house smelled amazing during the process of cooking. I have some left over which I froze. I was a rainy Saturday and cold so this soup was perfect for warming your insides! OH! I made home made cheddar corn bread to go along …. for a Yankee that grew up in Brooklyn NY I have adapted well here in the South. Thanks for a great recipe!!
I love the spices in this recipe-very tasty!
Love the recipe Sommer , especially the addition of the celery and carrots. Could you use a ham hock instead of the ham bone?
Hi Doris,
Absolutely! Let me know how it turns out. :)
HI Sommer!
Thanks for the fast reply. I got my beans soaking right now for tomorrow and can not wait to make this! I did buy an ham steak to cut up but will use the ham hock too. I will surely let you know how it turned out! Blessings and enjoy your weekend.
Can this be frozen
Hi Lois,
Oh yes! Nana always had some leftover soup in the freezer for quickie meals. :)
This was amazing!!! The cumin and crushed pepper gives it just the right kick! I come from the same background. A whole lot of leftover/repurposing. From chicken carcasses to short ribs… some fond memories from very frugal sources!!!
This was good! I soaked the beans overnight then made it in the crockpot. My family all had 2nd servings. I reduced water to 8 cups and added 2.5 tbsp of chicken bouillon. I also sauteed carrots and added them at the end because sauce was too thin. I will be making again. Thanks for sharing!
That looks Delicious; especially on this chilly morning.
What a wonderful childhood memory to warm the soul.
I remember my mother making this when I was a kid; only she did add diced potatoes to make more filling and for it to go further for our family of 6