Navy Bean Ham Bone Soup
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jan 21, 2026 
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 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
- Simple Egg Drop Soup Recipe
- Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup Recipe
- Navy Bean Vegetarian Soup Recipe
- 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 Soup Recipe (with Ham)
Video
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.
Delish- my grandmother always served this with a little drizzle of white vinegar too- weird but good!
Delish! My grandmother always served it with a little drizzle of white vinegar too, weird but good!
So Good! I did a quick soak of my beans in the Instant pot, 3 minutes, then let them sit in the pot for a while ( actually forgot about them) so the beans were pretty soft. so I sauteed an onion and some carrots and celery in a bit of olive oil added the ham bone along with some scraps of ham and a quart of chicken broth, spices ( no salt!) and a bay leaf, cooked in my instant pot for 20 minutes. I then added 3-4 cups beans and cooked 14 minutes more. It was perfect! If wanted, you can thicken the soup by removing some beans and broth and use an immersion blender on it to puree, then adding back to main soup pot.
Winner!
I made 2 batches of this soup. One on stovetop and one with a crockpot at the same time. I combined the northern beans and navy beans and soaked them overnight (2 lbs). I split them up equally between the crockpot and stove pot. I used the leftovers from a 10lb ham shank I made on Christmas Eve. I saute’d the onions and garlic and ham bone. I used 3 carrots and 3 celery sticks. Only difference is I used 8 cups of water instead of 10 ( I like my soups thick not watery and knew I could add more if needed). I used the fat and left over meat of the ham on the stove top and used the hambone in the crock pot. Both came out excellent. It took 2 1/2 hours on stovetop and 7 hours in the crockpot. My entire family said it was the best homemade soup they have ever had. Thank you for the recipe.
Looks like a tasty recipe. Can you use a ham hock instead of a hambone ? Thx Mark
Absolutely! I normally use ham hocks, and you’ll find other recipes that call for ham hocks as well. This’ll be my first time using a ham bone! 😄
Can i use can beans
Canned beans do not work . we’ll as they are already cooked
You actually can! Just don’t cook the beans as long and add them closer to the end.
How many cans of Navy beans did you need for this recipe? Thanks.
I made this soup (doubled recipe) last weekend and making another pot of it tonight. It is really delicious and I have been giving it to friends and family as Christmas gifts. I didn’t have fresh thyme or ham bone but used some dried thyme and a couple slices of uncooked center cut smoked ham with the bone in. At the end I just cut the cooked ham up into small pieces, chilled it and scooped off the fat. I also used half chicken broth and half water and added celery and carrots. The soup thickens up nicely as it cools.
This recipe is delicious and I’m not even a bean fan! I only thing I did differently was I added carrots, celery and garlic to the onion mix. I replaced the 10 cups of water with 10 cups of chicken stock. It. Was. Amazing. Thank you!!!
This is my third trip to this recipe since Thanksgiving. I had a huge ham. My husband used his chop saw to cut the bone in thirds. It’s a great recipe and your lucky to have a Nana share her recipe. I did add carrots and celery, and a shallot which only had a few days left before it became cash in the trash. Thank you for sharing.
By the way do you have a black eye pea recipe for New Years Day?
Merry Christmas to all. Stay safe and healthy.
I don’t have a large ham bone but I do have 2 large smoked ham steaks, bone in. Will these work for the soup?
Hello, I am making the soup right now and it is very watery. It’s only been cooking minutes but does not seem like it will thicken up enough. I followed the recipe to a tee
Use stock instead of water. Mine was nice and thick.
The longer you reduce the thicker and stronger the flavor will get.
Perfect! I ran out of cumin so I substituted curry powder. I used a container of beef stock I had. Best soup I’ve ever made. Thank you!
Great soup! My compliments to Nana!
This was amazingly flavorful, filling and oh so comforting on the cold winter nights.
LOVE the fresh thyme addition, and have it in my garage with my other wintering herbs.