This slow-cooker ham bone soup is a great way to use up any leftover ham from Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any time! The meat and veggie combo offers a main course loaded with nutrition, too!
Ham is a traditional meat served at many holidays. It’s also great for any family dinner, especially when you have a guests — so several mouths to feed!
We really like to have our Slow Cooker Apple Cider Hamevery now and then. It is delicious and can be served with so many sides, like our Crock Pot Mac and Cheeseor Crock Pot Green Bean Casserole. Plus, it leaves everyone at the table feeling satisfied.
I especially like it when leftovers from dinner lend themselves to a new recipe. We usually have a bit of ham leftover when I serve it, so it’s easy to make this slow cooker ham bone soup to serve for the next few lunches or dinners.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Serves: 16
Ingredients
1 meaty ham bone
3 potatoes, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 small onions, diced
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
8 cups chicken broth or water
2 bay leaves
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp thyme leaves
½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a large slow cooker.
Stir everything around the ham bone to combine.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 9-10 hours or cook on the high setting for 4-6 hours.
Before serving, remove the ham bone and bay leaves. Remove the meat from the bone, cut the meat into bite size pieces, and return to the soup.
Variations
As with most soups and stews of this nature, you can add/remove/substitute any ingredient you like. The ingredients I have listed here work well for my family but you can adjust to suit you and yours however you like. Some popular items to add include pasta (bow-tie would work well here), kale or collard greens, cabbage, corn (frozen corn kernels), or rice. Most of these additions can go into the pot with 30 minutes left but check up on them regularly to ensure you don’t overcook them.
Yep. In a large pot, saute the vegetables for several minutes, then add everything else. Bring it to a boil then turn it down and let simmer for a couple of hours. That’s basically it. For the finer details, adapt the steps from the recipe above.
How can I thicken the soup?
You can mash a couple of potatoes and add it to the soup. Rice will work similarly. You can also puree some vegetables and add to the soup. You can also add cornstarch (mix it with cold water first) or mix flour (2 tbsp), melted butter (2 tbsp), and 1 cup of the soup broth together, then add it to the pot.
How To Store Slow-Cooker Ham Bone Soup
Cool the cooked soup and place in freezer safe bags or airtight containers for up to 3 months. To prepare from the freezer: For best results, thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Warm in a stockpot over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Slow-Cooker Ham Bone Soup
About a Mom
This slow cooker ham bone soup recipe is a great way to use up any leftover ham from Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or anytime! The meat and veggie combo offers a healthy main course loaded with nutrition too!
Combine all of the ingredients in a large slow cooker. Stir everything around the hambone to combine.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or cook on the high setting for 4 to 6 hours.
Before serving, remove the hambone and bay leaves. Remove the meat from the bone, cut the meat into bite size pieces, and return to the soup.
Notes
Freezer Tip:Cool the cooked soup and place in freezer safe bags or airtight containers for up to 3 months.To prepare: For best results, thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Warm in a stockpot over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
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Instead, freeze the ham bone so you can use it later to add flavor to a soup or make homemade ham broth or stock. A ham bone will keep in the freezer for at least a few months. That buys you some time to make full use of it and you have a few days to properly prepare it for long-term storage.
To use your ham bone in this recipe, submerge it in the soup during the last 40 minutes of cooking. Depending how much meat comes off the bone, you may be able to reuse it if you refrigerate it between uses. Salt and pepper the recipe to taste.
Christmas ham stored in the fridge, either on the bone or carved off and wrapped in plastic and foil, will keep perfectly well for up to two weeks. Ham wrapped in plastic and foil and then frozen will last in the freezer for up to a month.
Simmering animal bones in water releases collagen and other proteins into the broth that may have health benefits, although more research is needed to validate these claims. Now, a new study has shown that ham bones contain peptides that could have cardioprotective effects.
They're not a super-fancy item only found at gourmet grocery stores—I buy mine at the local Safeway. If you can't find them, just ask. Both fresh and smoked ham bones need to be cooked thoroughly before eating and do best when simmered slowly for hours in a pot of soup.
Most appliances will automatically shut off after 20 or so hours on this setting, but you shouldn't leave food in a slow cooker for an extended length of time. The general rule of thumb is that 2-4 hours is the maximum length of time you can leave food in a slow cooker on warm.
Can you overcook something in a slow cooker? Slow cookers are specially designed to cook food for long periods of time, but yes, you can still overcook in a slow cooker if something is left on the wrong setting for longer than it's supposed to be.
Yes, you can absolutely prepare your soup in the slow cooker the day before and keep it cooking until the next day. This is a common practice for those who want to have a ready-to-enjoy meal the following night. Here's how you can do it: Prepare Ingredients:Gather and prepare all the ingredients for your soup.
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
Ham or ham bone is sold separately. Place ham bone in a large stock pot. Add 12 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Add HoneyBaked Mixed Bean Soup Mix with contents of seasoning packet.
Slowly add this mixture to your soup, stirring continuously. Let the soup simmer for a few minutes until it reaches the desired thickness. Remember to follow the recommended ratio of starch to liquid to avoid clumping.
An uncooked, cut country ham can be refrigerated for two to three months or frozen for one month. A cooked Country Ham should be refrigerated for seven days and or frozen for one month. Freezer storage time is for quality only. Frozen hams remain safe indefinitely.
Yes! Ham bone can easily be frozen and used later for soup. It's nice to be able to throw it in the freezer after hosting family and friends for a nice dinner or holiday. You can freeze the ham bone for 1-2 months.
Get rid of it. Slimy, super-wet, or oily textures on the outside of your ham might indicate bacteria growth. Juice can just be congealed oils, so use your senses to see if anything else is off. Slimy ham that's growing bacteria will usually have a smell that indicates spoilage.
Ham hocks are usually cured with salt and smoked, making them perfect for adding a rich, bacon-like flavor to any dish. After you've bought your ham hocks, you should store them in the refrigerator and try to use them within about a week — but always double-check the expiration date sticker to be sure.
Although you may be able to use a ham bone again for soup, if not all of the meat comes off of the bone, most of the flavor you can get from the bone will be used up the first time you use it to make soup. If you want to try to reuse the bone, refrigerate it and use it again within a couple of days.
For serving, we recommend taking Ham or Turkey out of refrigeration for 30 minutes prior to serving. If you choose to refrigerate your products, Honey Baked Ham can be refrigerated for 7 to 10 days and Honey Baked Turkey Breast can be refrigerated for 5 to 7 days.
As a guide shaved or sliced ham should last three to five days in the fridge. You can also freezer your sliced and whole hams. Whole hams will last in the freezer for up to three months; sliced for up to one month and cooked pieces for two to three months.
Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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