Ham Bone Recipes: A Hearty Bean Soup for Leftovers

This ham bone and bean soup turns a leftover cooked ham bone into a savory, filling meal with tender vegetables, white beans, and bits of ham. The stovetop broth gets its flavor from a gentle simmer, so this flexible soup is a practical way to make use of a holiday or dinner ham without needing a complicated technique.

Ingredients

1 meaty cooked ham bone, about 2–3 lb (900 g–1.4 kg)
8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium chicken broth, or water
1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, about 1 cup chopped (150 g)
2 medium carrots, about 1 cup sliced (120 g)
2 celery stalks, about 1 cup sliced (100 g)
3 garlic cloves, minced, about 1 tbsp (9 g)
1 tsp (2 g) dried thyme
1 bay leaf, about 0.2 g
½ tsp (1 g) freshly ground black pepper
2 cans (15 oz/425 g each) cannellini or great northern beans, drained and rinsed, about 3 cups (510 g) total
1 cup (150 g) frozen or fresh chopped green beans, optional
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice, from about 1 lemon
¼ cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley
Salt, as needed, usually 0–½ tsp (0–3 g), depending on the ham and broth

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients. Chop the onion, carrots, and celery; mince the garlic; drain and rinse the beans. Check the ham bone for any loose fragments and remove them. Keep salt out of the pot for now: ham and prepared broth can both be quite salty, and their saltiness varies.
Soften the aromatics, about 10 minutes. Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and black pepper and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Avoid browning the garlic, which can make the broth taste bitter.
Simmer the ham bone, 1 hour 30 minutes. Add the ham bone, bay leaf, and broth. Bring the liquid just to a boil, then lower the heat so it bubbles gently. Cover the pot partly and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes. A quiet simmer extracts flavor while keeping the broth clearer; a hard boil can break the meat apart and make the liquid cloudy. If the bone is not fully submerged, turn it once partway through.
Add the beans and finish the simmer, 20 minutes plus 15 minutes. Stir in the rinsed beans and optional green beans, then simmer gently for 20 minutes so the vegetables soften. Remove the bone and bay leaf. Add the drained beans to the pot if you prefer them to stay especially intact; they can also go in now if you like a thicker soup. Allow the bone to cool enough to handle while the soup continues at a gentle simmer.
Pick the meat and finish the soup. Pull any tender ham from the bone, discard the bone, skin, and excess fat, and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. This should take about 10 minutes and can be done while the soup simmers. Stir the ham into the pot and simmer for the remaining 15 minutes from the previous step, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors come together. Make sure the reheated soup reaches 165°F (74°C), the USDA FSIS safe minimum for reheated leftovers, checked with a food thermometer.
Season and serve. Remove the bay leaf if it is still in the pot. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley, then taste before adding salt. Add a little salt only if needed; if the soup tastes too salty, stir in a splash of water and taste again. Serve hot.

Tips

Choose a meaty bone. A bone with some ham still attached gives the soup both its main flavor and the meat to serve in each bowl. If your bone is nearly picked clean, add 1–2 cups (150–300 g) diced cooked ham near the end. Since it is already cooked, warm it through in the soup rather than simmering it for the full cooking time.
Keep the heat gentle. A steady, low simmer is more useful than a rolling boil. Check the pot occasionally and add a little water if the liquid drops below the bone or the soup gets thicker than you want.
Hold the salt until the end. Smoked or cured ham, broth, and the meat left on the bone can all contribute salt. Use low-sodium broth or water if you are unsure how salty the ham is, and season individual bowls if needed.
Make it thicker without flour. Mash a few beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in. This gives the broth more body while keeping the soup’s ingredients and flavor intact.

Serving Suggestions

Serve the soup in deep bowls with crusty bread, cornbread, or warm dinner rolls for dipping. A simple green salad or sliced apples add a crisp contrast to the rich, smoky broth. If you are serving a larger meal, offer the soup as a hearty first course in smaller bowls; for a main dish, plan on a generous bowl with bread alongside.

A little freshly ground black pepper, extra chopped parsley, or a few drops of lemon juice make an easy finishing touch. Set out grated Parmesan only if it suits your taste—the soup is already savory, and cheese is not necessary. If the broth thickens as it sits, loosen each portion with a spoonful or two of hot water or broth before serving.

Variations

Use dried beans. Replace the canned beans with 1 cup (200 g) dried white beans. Soak them according to the package directions, drain, and cook them until tender before adding them to the soup. Because dried-bean cooking times vary, do not rely on the final 20-minute simmer to cook unsoaked dried beans; they may remain hard. Alternatively, cook the soaked beans in the broth until tender, then add the vegetables and ham as appropriate and allow extra time.

Try split peas. Replace the canned beans with 1½ cups (300 g) rinsed green or yellow split peas. Add them with the broth and simmer until tender, usually about 45–60 minutes, checking the liquid level and stirring from time to time. Split peas break down and make a thicker, more uniform soup, so you may want to add the carrots and celery after the peas have cooked for about 20 minutes.

Change the vegetables. Add 1 cup (150 g) diced potato with the carrots, or use chopped kale or cabbage in place of the optional green beans. Tender greens need only a few minutes at the end; heartier cabbage can go in with the beans. These swaps change the texture but work well with the ham-flavored broth.

Use water instead of broth. Water lets the ham bone provide more of the soup’s flavor and is a sensible choice when the ham is very salty or strongly smoked. For a deeper broth, use part broth and part water. A pinch of dried marjoram can stand in for thyme, though it gives the soup a slightly different herbal note.

Storage and Reheating

Let the soup stop steaming heavily, then transfer it to shallow, covered containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking. Keep it refrigerated for 3–4 days. For longer storage, freeze cooled portions in freezer-safe containers, leaving a little room for expansion; use within about 2–3 months for best quality. Thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight or reheat it directly from frozen over low heat, stirring as it loosens.

Reheat only the portion you plan to eat, on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave in a covered, microwave-safe bowl. Stir occasionally so it heats evenly, and use a food thermometer to bring leftovers to 165°F (74°C). Add a splash of water or broth if the beans have absorbed liquid in storage. Do not leave cooked soup at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make ham bone soup without beans?
Yes. Leave them out and add diced potatoes, extra carrots, or another vegetable in a similar amount. The soup will be less thick and filling, so taste the broth at the end and adjust the seasoning. You can also add cooked rice or small pasta, but cook pasta separately and add it to bowls or near serving time so it does not absorb too much broth.

Do I need to soak a ham bone before cooking?
No soaking is needed for this recipe. If the ham or bone is exceptionally salty, you can rinse the bone under cool running water before adding it, but rinsing will not remove all the salt within the meat. Using water or low-sodium broth and seasoning only at the end gives you better control.

Can I make this recipe in a slow cooker?
Yes. Soften the onion, carrots, and celery in a skillet first for the best flavor, then transfer them to the slow cooker with the ham bone, broth, garlic, thyme, pepper, and bay leaf. Cook on low until the meat is tender, about 7–8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours. Add canned beans during the final 30–45 minutes, then remove the bone, pick off the meat, and return it to the soup. Reheat the finished soup to 165°F (74°C) with a food thermometer.

What if I do not have a ham bone?
Use 2 cups (300 g) chopped cooked ham and 6 cups (1.4 L) low-sodium broth or water. Simmer the vegetables and seasonings in the liquid until tender, add the beans and ham, and cook until the soup is heated through to 165°F (74°C). It will be quicker, but the broth will not have the same depth that comes from simmering a bone.

Why is my soup too salty, and can I fix it?
Ham bones differ in saltiness, so the broth can become too salty even when the recipe uses no added salt. Stir in water a little at a time, tasting after each addition. You can also add more unsalted beans or vegetables to spread the salt across a larger batch. Avoid adding more broth unless it is low-sodium.

Can I use the ham bone again?
It is best to use a ham bone for one pot of soup. After a long simmer, much of its flavor has already moved into the broth, and repeatedly reusing it can produce a weak result. Discard it after you have removed the remaining meat, and refrigerate or freeze the soup rather than keeping the bone at room temperature.

More recipes to cook

Safety notes: safe minimum internal temperatures from USDA FSIS; raw and undercooked fish guidance from the U.S. FDA. Food safety notes

Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it (corrections policy).