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This easy Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup recipe is an ultra-comforting and healthy dinner idea. Bonus: There’s no need to soak the beans in advance for this slow cooker soup!
There are many reasons to buy fully-cooked bone-in hams. It’s far more flavorful once roasted, for one, and the prospect of a delicious Ham and Bean Soup the next day is a close runner-up.
Put the ham bone, and any leftover ham, to work in this easy slow cooker soup recipe. It’s one of my family’s favorite comfort food recipes and is a tradition in our home after Easter and Christmas.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Chicken broth: Store-bought or homemade chicken broth; either works well.
- Navy beans or pinto beans: To soak beans overnight, add 4 quarts water to a large bowl and add 1 pound of rinsed beans. Soak at least 8 hours. To quick-soak beans, add 1 pound of rinsed beans to a large saucepan and cover with 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. (See “Recipe FAQs” for more bean-soaking tips.) To substitute canned beans, use 3 to 4 cans of navy, pinto, kidney, cannelini, or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained.
- Ham bone and ham hocks: This infuses the broth with so much rich pork flavor. A meatier ham bone will produce a meatier soup.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a 3-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sauté carrots, celery, and onion until softened and translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in broth, water, beans, ham bone, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Pour into slow cooker. Heat on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or until beans are tender.
- Remove ham bone and bay leaf. Chop ham from bone and return to slow cooker. Add additional leftover ham, if using, and cover until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes satisfying 12 servings. Pair with your favorite salad recipe and some crusty bread for dunking for a cozy and complete meal.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The soup can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
- Freezer: To freeze ham and bean soup, place it in a shallow dish in the refrigerator to chill. Then, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze up to 2 months.
- Sauté then slow cook: I know it can feel tempting to just toss everything into the pot for a “dump dinner” in the slow cooker, but for the best flavor, it’s crucial to sauté the vegetables first. Add the beans and broth, bring everything to a boil, then add this all to your slow cooker. It takes just one additional pan and a few extra minutes, and the results are so worth that investment.
- Try it with turkey: If you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, you could certainly adjust this soup to feature that instead. Bonus points if you can set aside a few portions of the bones to infuse the slow cooker soup broth.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, I recommend pouring the soaking water down the drain. Some people say it’s a waste of water to throw away the soaking water. Others say if you keep the soaking water, it adds a sour taste. I agree with the latter and recommend tossing the soaking water, but it’s up to you.
Yes, salt the beans before cooking them. You may have heard somewhere that the universe will implode if you add salt to beans before they are completely cooked. However, if you read Kenji López-Alt’s information in his book, The Food Lab, he did some side-by-side testing and determined that salting beans before they are cooked is fine. In fact, doing so helps prevent the beans from exploding (see page 256 in his book).
Kidney beans contain phytohemagglutinin, a type of lectin that is very toxic at high levels. You MUST pre-soak dried kidney beans and hold them at boiling point (212 degrees Fahrenheit) for at LEAST 10 minutes. This means you should never cook kidney beans in a slow cooker. You won’t know for sure if the slow cooker reached boiling temps and held it for 10 minutes. Better to be safe than sorry!
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Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup carrots sliced (3-4 carrots)
- 1 cup celery sliced (3-4 ribs)
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth (see note 1)
- 4 cups water
- 1 pound dried navy beans or pinto beans, rinsed and picked over (see note 2)
- 1 meaty ham bone or ham hocks (see note 3)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- additional cooked ham chopped, optional
Instructions
- In a 3-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sauté carrots, celery, and onion until softened and translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in broth, water, beans, ham bone, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
- Pour into slow cooker. Heat on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or until beans are tender.
- Remove ham bone and bay leaf. Chop ham from bone and return to slow cooker. Add additional leftover ham, if using, and cover until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chicken broth: Store-bought or homemade chicken broth; either works well.
- Navy beans or pinto beans: To soak beans overnight, add 4 quarts water to a large bowl and add 1 pound of rinsed beans. Soak at least 8 hours. To quick-soak beans, add 1 pound of rinsed beans to a large saucepan and cover with 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. (See “Recipe FAQs” for more bean-soaking tips.) To substitute canned beans, use 3 to 4 cans of navy, pinto, kidney, cannelini, or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained.
- Ham bone and ham hocks: This infuses the broth with so much rich pork flavor. A meatier ham bone will produce a meatier soup.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
This is the best ham and beans I have made. A huge hit at my house.
Hi Suzanne! Glad it was a hit! Take care! – Meggan
I followed this receipe step by step and not only was it the best soup I ever made but the best I ever had.thx so much for your receipe .
You’re so welcome, Terry! So glad you loved it! Take care! – Meggan
Making this for dinner tonight! So excited!
Hope you love it, Melody! Please write back and let me know how it turns out! – Meggan
Best ham and bean recipe I’ve had. Used beef stock as that’s what I had on hand. The veggies were good in it.
Thank you so much Debbie! I’m so glad you loved it. And beef stock works just fine here, I’ve made that substitution too. I always make this after I have backed hams. It’s my fave. Thanks again! -Meggan
Just made this and it is FANTASTIC. I used one pound of dried 15 beans soup mixture and left out the packaged seasoning. I picked through, washed, and soaked overnight. While I was sauteing the veggies, I drained and rinsed the beans. I followed the seasoning recipe given here, but didn’t add any extra salt because the ham butt portion was salty enough. This is definitely a “Keeper” recipe. Thank you!
Hi Cynthia! I’m so happy to hear that you loved this! Such a lovely idea to substitute with the 15 bean soup mixture! I’ll have to try it myself! Take care! – Meggan
Really hit the spot on this rainy, dreary day in Oregon. Loved the spice profile. There’s nothing on your site I haven’t loved