White Bean with Ham Soup- This is a great recipe for one of our absolute favorite soups. Creamy white beans in a rich broth with smoky ham, a hearty soup with such robust flavors, what a great way to please the whole family!
If you've ever cooked a holiday meal, than you've probably faced the dilemma of what to do with that leftover holiday ham the next day. That leftover meat, and especially the bone, has so much flavor. The best way to easily take advantage of this is to make this delicious soup.
You needn't wait for Easter dinner to make this easy ham and white bean soup recipe, though. It's a great soup to make anytime, guaranteed to warm your soul. It's one of a lot of soups that we feature here on Season Two Taste. Roasted shallot and potato soup, tomato and bacon, mushroom Asiago, and minestrone, to name a few.
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What You're Going to Need!
- Leftover ham bone - ham hocks, ham shank, or ham steak are just fine also.
- Onion - yellow onion will work great.
- Carrot
- Celery
- Cannellini beans - we chose to use canned beans, but dry beans are also great, they will just require longer cooking time. See "variations" below for more about choices of beans.
- Olive oil - since this is mostly a medium heat recipe, extra virgin won't burn and will add a nice flavor.
- Fresh thyme - you can pick it off of the stem, or tie it with some twine, knot the end around the handle of the pot, and fish it out later, entirely up to you!
- Fresh sage - this herb pairs so well with the smoky flavor of ham.
- Parmesan cheese rind - you could use the cheese instead of the rind if you prefer (I save my rinds)
- Bay leaves - never underestimate the flavor of a bay leaf.
- Better Than Bouillon chicken - you could use chicken stock or broth, just omit the water and replace with broth or stock
- Corn starch - if you would like the soup a little thicker.
- Heavy cream - (optional), for added richness.
See recipe card for amounts.
Recipe
White Bean and Ham Soup
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- dice onion, carrot, and celery to medium dice
- if you are using a ham steak, cut to desired bite sized pieces
- pull the thyme leaves from the stems
- rough chop the fresh sage
- place the mesh strainer over a bowl, open the can of beans and strain the liquid off
- rinse the beans in the strainer under cold water until the water is clear
- place the stock pot on a burner to heat
- when heated, add the olive oil, onion, carrot, and celery
- sauté the vegetables for a few minutes, then add the ham bone or ham chunks
- after cooking for another few minutes add the bay leaves and the herbs
- season to taste with salt and black pepper
- add the water
- add the Better than Bouillon, white beans, and the parmesan cheese rind or parmesan cheese
- mix with a cooking spoon, making sure the bouillon dissolves
- bring mixture to a simmer for 45 minutes
- carefully remove the ham bone from the pot, place on a cutting board
- using kitchen tongs being careful not to burn yourself remove the ham from the bone
- cut the removed ham into bite sized pieces and add back to the soup
- reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cream
- stir to combine, adjust salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind that the ham can add salt as it sits in the soup)
- garnish the finished soup with grated fresh parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!How to Make Ham & White Bean Soup
- As with any recipe, first you'll need to gather all of the necessary ingredients and process them as shown here.
2. Sauté all of the aromatic vegetables in the pot, add your herbs and the ham bone.
3. Shown here is the next step, adding the liquid, beans, and bouillon, and bringing to a simmer. Hidden from site is the parmesan cheese rind, this will add a real depth of flavor, but make sure that you give a stir at the bottom so that it doesn't stick.
4. Once the soup is thickened and finished with a little cream, all that is left is to enjoy!
Chef Tip
To get this savory soup nice and creamy, as well as to thicken it a bit, you may want to mash the beans a bit. You can use a potato masher to accomplish this, or an immersion blender. Just make sure not to get carried away and lose all of the texture.
Substitutions & Variations
- Gluten free - the only ingredient that has a small amount of gluten in this recipe is the chicken base, so using chicken stock or a gluten free bouillon would do the trick.
- Vegetarian/Vegan - remove the ham and chicken broth, use vegetable base or stock. side note: it's probably good to also use some soy sauce to season the soup, to create a rich umami back note.
- Dairy free - the cream is only to add some richness, so you could add some extra creamy milk alternative, or just omit it altogether.
- Dry beans - we made this a quick and easy soup with canned beans, but if you would like to use dry, you'll just have to have more time and make some modifications. Cover the beans with enough water to cover them by at least one inch, and let them soak overnight. When cooking the soup, use plain water until the beans become tender, and then add the chicken base, to avoid them getting tough or salty.
- Different beans - as long as they are white, they will work just fine. Cannellini beans are very tender and quick to cook. Great northern beans, navy beans, even white kidney beans should work out just fine.
Storage & Helpful Hints
This soup can be stored in an airtight container refrigerated for 4 to 6 days. Frozen for up to 2 months.
The best thing about making a big pot of soup is the second day! It's always a good idea to make a large batch. It stores well, and tastes even better after it has time to allow all of the flavors to really marry.
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Yes, you can use any of your favorite beans in this soup.
Jason says
delicious soup
gabeuscorpus says
Made this last week - this soup was all that- smoky, hearty, and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!