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White Bean and Ham Soup

White Bean and Ham Soup

We've had some wonderfully cold, rainy, winter storms here lately in Northern California. This soup is the perfect hardy accompaniment to a cold winter day. Note, this soup is the kind that is much better the next day, as the flavors from the beans, ham, and vegetables have had time to blend.

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White Bean and Ham Soup Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of white beans - Canellini or Great Northern
  • 2 quarts of water
  • 2-3 lbs of ham shanks (preferred to ham hocks because the shanks have more meat), each shank cut into 2 or 3 sections
  • 1 cup of diced onions
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 2/3 cup chopped carrots
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • Tabasco sauce
  • Salt and pepper
  • Herbes de Provence
  • Fresh parsley

Method

1 Soak the beans in at least 2 quarts of cold water for about 2 hrs. Drain the water.

2 Put the ham shank pieces in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about an hour. Add the chopped vegetables and beans. Cook for another hour, until the vegetables are soft and the ham meat easily pulls away from the bone.

3 Add several drops of Tabasco to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch of herbes de Provence. Serve with a pinch of chopped fresh parsley.

Serves 8.

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20 Comments

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!

Posted by: SD on October 14, 2004 11:19 PM

Ahhh, my youth! This is my mother's recipe, as well. It makes me long for the cool rainy season, and, as I'm also in hot Nor Cal with 100 degree days, it can't come a moment too soon. Thanks for posting this, this one goes into my binder.

Posted by: K. on August 13, 2005 8:51 PM

Can I put this piggy in the crockpot?

Posted by: Martha on October 3, 2005 1:37 PM

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.

Posted by: David Reid on January 9, 2006 5:09 PM

Made this Sunday afternoon for dinner during
the week. Had to use smoked ham hocks as
Safeway didn't have shanks. Cooked them in
10 cups of water. The beans took 1 1/2 hours
to cook. The end result tasted a little
bland so I added salt to compensate. The
next time I think I'll try 5 cups water and
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth.

Posted by: RD on January 11, 2006 10:23 AM

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.

Posted by: Dank on March 4, 2006 10:41 PM

I've made this receipe but use the great northern beans that can be purchased in a glass container already cooked. (Can be bought ahead of time to be used at a later time).
Also I use approximately 2-3 cans of chicken broth instead of water.
Instead of a ham bone I purchase packaged diced ham from the lunch meat area in the grocery store. This ham can be frozen before hand to be used when necessary.
Besides the carrots, celery, onions, I add a small amount of chopped potatoes and a small can of diced tomatoes drained and salt and pepper to taste.
By having the beans and diced ham on hand I can make this bean soup any time as I usually have the other ingredients in the fridge.

Posted by: Jackie DeSmyter on September 14, 2006 6:05 AM

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.

Posted by: Dave Hubbard on December 2, 2006 2:06 PM

Sounds like at great recipe -- can I make it in a slow cooker? Would I still soak the beans?

Thanks for such good recipes!

Posted by: Carmen on December 3, 2006 4:31 PM

Great recipe...
I used chicken stock instead of water but would recommend low sodium chicken stock instead.

Posted by: Pat Hoffman on January 1, 2007 12:00 PM

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

Posted by: Robert Rajchel on April 9, 2007 7:47 AM

Made this yesterday afternoon. This is very good! My son loved it so much that he had it for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I did not put tabasco though cause I was not sure my son would like it. Also, I added a little beef bouillion.

Posted by: Otty on October 24, 2007 3:36 PM

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.

Posted by: Barbara on November 11, 2007 2:31 PM

Just HAD to post: I just made this recipe on Christmas Day, using the leftover ham from our Christmas dinner. It took no time to make and was a hit! It was sort of like "dinner--round two" for us! Thank you!

Posted by: Erin on December 27, 2007 11:35 AM

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.

Posted by: Sally on January 13, 2008 6:06 PM

My mom used to make this when I was growing. I make it now and have with garlic bread. Very Good!

Posted by: David on February 13, 2009 5:12 PM

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.

Posted by: Sharon on April 10, 2009 6:05 PM

I printed off this recipe and tried it. My husband and I both loved it. In fact, we just had it for lunch today and it's delicious. I had made a ham a week ago and I used the ham bone in this one. Normally, I would just toss it but when I read this recipe, I decided to try it. No more ham bones in the garbage, that's for sure. Thank you.

Posted by: Debbie on May 11, 2009 12:34 PM

Serve over a slice of corn bread - yum!

Posted by: John on November 15, 2009 6:32 AM

This came out great. I mashed the veggies with my spoon a bit near the end. Dislike intact bean texture. Fantastic soup though. Thanks.

Posted by: jasi on January 21, 2010 10:16 AM

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