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:
- Breadsticks
- Biscuits
- Garlic Bread
- Chopped Salad
- Garlic Knots
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 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.
I made this with ham hocks, I ended up not adding any salt but I did bump up the red pepper flakes just a couple pinches. I loved this recipe so much I ate it every day until it was gone. Delicious!!
I’ve made this 100 times and it never disappoints. I did change the following.. I use chicken stock in place of water and I make a mirepoix. I also add fresh rosemary and a couple bay leaves. Let it simmer for about 3 hours before removing the ham bone.
Found d this soup to be delicious. Followed recipe and included carrots and celery but added red cabbage and some yellow mustard to taste
Delicious! I had to add more salt and simmer the beans veeery long to get them mushy. But that was really worth it 😊
This recipe is perfect as is. I used unsmoked ham hocks from our farm., because that’s what I had. I also quick-soaked the navy beans in instant pot for five minutes pressure, slow release. Salted after everything was cooked. Thank you, flavors were excellent! I can imagine with a smoked ham bone, this would be even tastier.
This was delicious and souper (sorry – couldn’t resist!) easy! I followed the recipe almost exactly with just a few modifications, based on previous comments. I decreased the amount of liquid added so that the soup was thicker and I used ham bones (which turned out to be pig trotters!) from the butcher which gave the soup a lovely, velvety mouth feel (all that collagen ) but probably decreased the amount of ham chunks. I cut the trotters up so as to enable it to more easily melt into the soup. I had Rancho Gordo cranberry beans so that’s what I used and their smoky profile is a perfect fit with this recipe. I had rinsed, overnight soaked and then separetely cooked the beans and used their cooking liquid towards the recommended 10 cups of water (I used about 8.5). I also used Diaspora ground chilli powder instead of red pepper flakes. I mention both of these brands (which I have no affiliation with other than as an avid consumer) because they are each notable for incredibly fresh and delicous products, and of course delicious ingredients make cooking a delcious meal that much easier.
This is so very simple and a family favorite… I use a large bone in ham slice most of the time, since we rarely cook a whole ham, cut into cubes. I also use vegetable stock in place of water and a a little I can’t believe it’s not bullion…chicken flavored. Drained Navy or Northern canned beans are fine to substitute if you forget to prepare. Enjoy.
Awesome – I added carrots, celery), fresh thyme, and at end, added browned ground sausage and nice peppery dandelion greens! So yummy and definitely filling. Served to many peeps, and all have asked for the recipe! Hummmmm ….. which ingredient did I leave out? Thinking lemon juice? 😂
Delicious !!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this recipe. I’ve never had cumin or red pepper flakes in my ham and beans. But, it is really good! I used a ham bone from a ham shank that I had cooked a few days ago. I used the juices from the pot as a base for the broth. No salt or pepper needed. I should really make some cornbread to go with this!
I prepared this in a crockpot and was pleased with the result with a couple of small modifications. I still soaked the beans overnight (I like to remove the husks after soaking) and cooked the soup on low for ten hours. I sauteed diced carrots and celery along with the onions and used chicken stock instead of water, as well as adding extra ham at the end. I only used 8 cups of stock and still ended up making a roux with some if the stock to thicken the soup the last hour. It was still a little bland for my taste so I added a cup of ketchup at the end for added flavor. The result was excellent and the next day it was even better!
My Dad always made the best bean soup and always added about 1/2 cup ketchup at the end. If soup wasn’t thick enough to his liking, he scooped out some cooked beans at the end and mashed them with a fork, then added them back into the soup. Another of his tricks to thicken was adding leftover mashed potatoes or adding some peeled, chopped potatoes to soup and let them cook down. No need to add roux.
This is the best bean soup ever. Bears my recipe thatI used for 30 years. I added small egg dumplings as I always have done. My new recipe for sure. Thanks for the recipe.