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.
simple,seasoned well and easy to make. just as delicious as anything you could buy in a restaurant!…adding a little cornstarch and/or mashing a few of the beans will thicken the broth and add a little heartiness to the soup….depending upon your meat source—you can also add a quarter cup of bacon drippings to support your ham…..(borrowed from others) I always
include a couple of diced fresh (medium) carrots and a couple (medium)stalks of fresh minced celery….just love this soup!! Great with homemade iron skillet cornbread or buttermilk biscuits….
Excellent recipe!
To those who want a thicker soup, try taking a potato masher and mashing up some (approx 1 cup) of the beans. After mixing them back in, the soup will be thicker. I personally don’t like adding potatoes to my soup, and mashing some of the beans gives the soup the perfect thickness.
I’ve made this recipe many times and it’s my go-to. One thing I enjoy adding is pickles and some juice. Yes, you read that right. Mmmmmmm The guys love it.
Very good recipe!! It came out so savory and delicious. My Husband and I enjoyed this dish. I used ham neckbones with some Cajun spice and came out really good.
We made this recipe with leftover Easter ham. Turned out great. Thanks for sharing.
I always thicken with left over mashed potatoes. Instant works fine too. About a cup of mashed potatoes per recipe, start with half, mix in, add more as needed. That is a cup of finished mashed potatoes, not a cup of flakes or dry product. You can microwave a potato, scoop out and mash (I do it with cream, salt pepper, butter) if you have no leftovers. You will love how this thickens and add’s texture.
Absolutely wonderful recipe for my leftover Easter ham bone. Thank you for sharing Nana’s recipe. I only reduced the amount of thyme because I was using dried thyme and I also added two chicken bouillon cubes and small diced carrot, celery and onion. Exceptional flavor profile.
Unfortunately i made the recipe exact and it didnt have enough flavor. I expected it to be great but it wasnt.
You might not have had a meaty enough bone. I like to use a hambone that still has a lot of meat still in it!
Deeelicious!! I happened to have fresh chicken broth and 3-4 cups of defatted ham dripping from Instant Pot (maple pineapple ham). Best ham and bean soup we’ve had! Beans were perfectly “first day” brothy, the way I likenthem in a ham & bean soup. It thickened up a great deal the next day. This is our 2nd pot since Easter… with jalapeno cornbread. Yummy!
Excellent flavor! My only complaint is this came out way too brothy.. I even used half chicken stock half water and added carrots. It could be a personal preference but this had way too much broth. I’d love to make again so any tips on how to thicken it up? Maybe I will add another bag of beans…. I’m wondering if doing the quick soak in the instant pot caused my beans to cook and make them not absorb liquid while simmering the soup.
I like my soup thick too. A little trick I learned is add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of instant potatoes to soup makes it nice & creamy.
I use a potato masher to break down the beans. The starches release and help to thicken the stock.
This was a delicious and easy soup to make. I used by Instant Pot to cook the dry beans quickly and then again for all the soup ingredients. I also added the carrots and celery, used vegetable broth and had a small ham w/o bone so I chopped and used that. Like others I was hesitant about the cumin, just because it isn’t the type of recipe I would normally use it in, but man am I glad I went with it! Thank you for a great recipe!
This time I added carrots and the dried mashed potatoes to thicken it up. Love it! You know if Covid did not happen I would have never learned how to make this soup. I bought dried beans at the beginning of this pandemic and have to use them up now. Thank you for the recipe.