Thanks for the great recipe. Your version of White Bean and Ham Soup is the closest I've found to what my mom used to make! Minus the tabasco which I will try on half! :) Oh and I had to look up Herbes de Provence but I guess now I'll always know what they are!

This is very close to the white bean and ham soup that I've made for years. For those of you who don't have several hours to make this soup, you can also make it in the pressure cooker. (I own an automatic electric one from Farberware.) You just soak the beans for 1 hour then put the ingredients into the pressure cooker (making sure you have enough water to make the soup) and cook on HI (15lbs) of pressure for 20 minutes. Voila! Ham and white bean soup in short time.

For those who want to come home to a meal ready to eat, you can, indeed, make this classic in a large crock pot. You may find that you want to use a little extra water.

WOW. This was so good! I didn't have any Herbes de Provence and couldn't find any in the local grocery, so I looked it up on the Internet and made my own. Was missing a couple of the herbs for it, but the soup still tasted great. This is one I will definitely make again.

This recipe could be made better by using ham stock instead of water.

I would also soak the white beans in water and white wine for 6 hours.

Very simialar to my recepie. Only thing I like to do is add two 5.5 oz. cans of v-8 cocktail juice or tomato sauce, and try using beef boulion instead of chicken stock. I think you'll be pleased

Terrific recipe for autumn, and thanks for introducing me to Herbs de Provence. I used a cut-up ~1-lb ham steak (with bone) instead of the intact shank and added a can of chicken stock to the water. With the ham and stock, definitely taste before you salt.

P.S. Several drops of Tabasco per serving is the way to go.

My family loves Navy Bean and Ham Soup. Just the thing for these cold rainy Oregon days. My problem is I soaked the beans for 2 days in the fridge am not too sure that they are still good. Any helpful suggestions? Let me know.

This recipe is almost exactly the way I have been making beans and ham hock for years. I love it most when I have a nice meaty leftover ham bone to use.I cook the ham bone and beans together from the start, cooking the beans longer over low heat-approx 2-4 hours until the beans really soften and thicken a bit. Sometimes I add a small can of tomato sauce as well. I like to soak the beans overnight if possible to enhance their cooking time. Love your blog.

Serve over a slice of corn bread - yum!

Can anyone tell me a good, easy way to degrease Navy Bean & Ham soup ?

Let the soup chill overnight in the fridge. The next morning, scrape off any fat that has solidified on the top of the soup. ~Elise

wow made this for a special Easter treat, what a treat it was thank you!

I absolutely love your recipes and I always recommend your site. However, for me, this was a complete failure. My house stunk so bad the first hour of simmering the ham hocks. I was doing a friend's taxes while making this and her son walked into the kitchen and asked why it smelled dirty. Needless to say, I didn't even try it. Plus, mine looked nothing like your picture. Oh well. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Also, would love for Hank to share more Venison recipes. We just got a bunch of deer meat from my husband's co-worker. Thanks again!

Hi Nicki, well that's weird. We've made this soup a gazillion times without a problem. Here's an idea about what might be contribution to the stink. There is a season every year where bacon just smells bad when you cook it. My parents tell me it has something to do with what the pigs were eating before they were processed. Maybe this is happening with your ham hocks? Who knows. All I can tell you is that this recipe is one of our family standbys. ~Elise