Ham and Bean Soup with Canned Beans

5 from 10 votes

Ham and Bean Soup with Canned Beans

Smoky and rich, this homemade, comforting ham and bean soup recipe with canned beans comes together quickly on the stovetop or in the slow cooker!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword bean soup, crockpot ham and bean soup, ham and bean soup, ham and bean soup with canned beans, navy bean and ham soup, white bean and ham soup

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 15

Total Time 1 30

Servings cups

Calories 164kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Equipment

1 Dutch oven

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (about 3 cloves garlic)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 (15.5 ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed (about 5 ¼ cups total) (use navy beans, Great Northern beans, or cannellini beans, for instance)
Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or sub with ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
1 ½ lb. smoked ham hock
1 dried bay leaf
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Optional: chopped fresh parsley or thyme, for garnish

Instructions

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Stir until vegetables are crisp-tender (about 5 minutes).
Stir in chicken broth, beans, thyme leaves, ham hock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour. Discard bay leaf. For a thicker soup, mash or puree some of the beans at the end of cooking. You can do this with a potato masher, or you can use an immersion blender. The pureed beans will add texture to the dish and thicken the soup. Just be careful not to puree all of the soup! Another easy way to thicken the soup is to continue simmering the pot with the lid off until it reduces.
Remove ham hock; pull meat off the bone and discard fat. Cut ham into bite-sized pieces and stir into the pot. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley or thyme.

Video

Notes

Crock Pot Method: If you prefer the convenience of the slow cooker, you can also prepare this hearty soup in the Crock Pot! Simply sauté the vegetables and garlic in butter as instructed, then transfer them to a slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients as instructed in Step 3, cover, and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours. Pull the meat from the bone, return it to the pot, and serve!

Some ham hocks do not have as much meat on them as others. You'll still get the smoky ham flavor, but you won't have much meat to stir back into the pot at the end. In that case, for a heartier soup, you can add leftover diced ham (if you've got it) or stir in store-bought diced ham towards the end to bulk up the pot.

Nutrition