Leftover Ham and Bean Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Looking for a delicious and comforting way to use up leftover ham? Look no further than this hearty and flavorful Leftover Ham And Ban Soup! Packed with tender ham, aromatic vegetables, and creamy cannellini beans, this soup is easy to make and perfect for chilly days.
The Best Leftover Ham And Bean Soup
Maybe you made a honey mustard glazed ham, or perhaps it was glazed with brown sugar and cola. No matter how you prepared it, I have an awesome recipe for your leftovers! This ham and bean soup is the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold day, and it’s a great way to use up all that leftover ham. It’s a hearty and flavorful soup that’s easy to make and perfect for a weeknight dinner. Even better, it’s incredibly versatile and can be customized to suit your tastes.
Beyond its ease of preparation and budget-friendly nature, this soup also has some great nutritional benefits. It’s high in protein, thanks to the ham and cannellini beans, and it’s packed with vitamins and minerals from the vegetables and broth. Plus, it’s a comforting and satisfying meal that’s sure to please the whole family. So if you’re looking for a delicious and practical way to use up leftover ham, give this ham and bean soup a try!
Leftover Ham And Bean Soup Highlights
- It’s a great way to use up leftovers: If you have leftover ham and other ingredients in your fridge or pantry, this soup is a practical and budget-friendly way to use them up. Plus, it’s a delicious and satisfying way to repurpose leftovers.
- It’s easy to make: With just a few simple ingredients and some basic kitchen skills, you can have a warm and comforting meal on the table in no time. This soup is a great option for busy weeknights when you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.
- It’s nutritious and delicious: This soup is packed with protein from the ham and cannellini beans, as well as vitamins and minerals from the vegetables and broth. It’s a comforting and satisfying meal that’s sure to please the whole family. Plus, the smoky flavor from the ham and aromatic spices make this soup incredibly delicious.
- Ham – This recipe is so delicious that I would even go out to just buy a small ham to make the soup if I don’t have leftovers.
- Ham bone – Shave off as much of the meat as you can, but it’s okay to leave some on. That meat will still flavor the broth. If your ham doesn’t have a bone don’t worry about it, but if it does, you’ll wan to to add it to the soup for that extra flavor. You can also use ham hocks and they will add lots of great smoky flavor to your soup. I’ve used this soup with both ham bone and without, and it’s still just as delicious without.
- Mirepoix – The trifecta for all soups composed of onions, carrots and celery stalks. These veggies are what’s going to boost of our soup’s flavor.
- Garlic – The more garlic the merrier! You can use as much or as little as you like.
- Parsnip – I know some people have it out for parsnips, but trust me here. They add amazing flavor to the broth! I added them in large chunks to cook the soup and they’re removed before serving.
- Bay leaves – Use whole bay leaves. If you don’t have any at home, add them to your grocery list! They add a delicious peppery herb flavor to the soup.
- Vegetable broth – This has a mild taste and is still a great base to build up all your flavor. Use a low sodium broth if you can find it. You can replace this with a low sodium chicken broth.
- Cannellini beans – These are also referred to as white kidney beans. Always rinse canned beans before using them.
- Parsley – I love to use parsley as a fresh and bright garnish.
Making this ham and bean soup is a breeze – just sauté some vegetables, add in the ham and broth, and let it simmer with some spices and beans for a delicious and satisfying meal.
Heat up some olive oil in a large soup pot, and add in chopped onion, celery, and carrot. Cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and the vegetables are slightly browned.
Next, add in some minced garlic, cubed leftover ham, a leftover ham bone (if you have one), a peeled and cleaned parsnip, and a couple of bay leaves. Pour in some low-sodium vegetable broth and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. This will allow all the flavors to meld together and the vegetables to become tender.
After 30 minutes, add in a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans, cumin, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes.
After the soup has simmered for another 30 minutes, remove the ham bone if using, bay leaves, and parsnip from the pot. These ingredients have done their job of adding flavor, so it’s time to take them out.
Garnish the soup with some fresh parsley, and serve it up with some crusty bread for a complete meal. Enjoy the rich and smoky flavor of the ham, the creamy texture of the beans, and the comforting warmth of the soup.
What Other Types of Beans Can I Use?
Cannellini beans are pretty popular for soups, but if you have a few other types hanging out in your pantry that you want to use up then check out this list to see if they’ll work:
- Navy beans
- Gigante beans
- Lentils
- Kidney beans
Can I Use a Boneless Ham?
Yes! If you don’t have a ham bone, just skip it, it’s used to flavor the soup. You can add some extra herbs and seasoning to build more flavor if you feel it’s lacking without the bone, or use ham hocks. Using a soup enhancer such as bouillon or vegeta is a great way to add flavor.
Slow Cooker Ham And Bean Soup
A question I get asked often is whether or not you can make this soup in a slow cooker and the answer is of course, yes! It’s incredibly easy, just add everything to your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. You don’t even have to remove the meat off the bone first, you can leave that till after the soup cooks and then pull all the meat from the bone and shred or chop it.
Expert Tips
- Rinse the beans. You always want to rinse canned beans to remove the excess starch and salt, which can affect the texture of the finished dish. Rinsing also removes some of the gas producing sugars.
- Season at the very end. Soup reduces as it cooks, which means that all the flavors get more concentrated. So you should wait until the soup is complete to add any extra salt to reduce the risk of oversalting.
- Add more veggies. Feel free to add any vegetables you like to your soup. Some good options are greens like spinach, cabbage, and kale. You can also add frozen veggies like peas and corn or even chopped fresh tomatoes.
How to Store Leftovers
This recipe makes a pretty decent amount of soup, so if you venture into the lands of leftover leftovers, I have a few options for you.
This ham and soup will stay good for 3-4 days in an airtight container stored in your fridge.
You can definitely store your soup in the freezer if you’d like. You can store it either in a large airtight container, or in smaller individual containers. Thaw either in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. This soup will last 2-3 months frozen.
Craving More Recipes for Your Leftover Ham? Try These:
- Leftover Ham and Cheese Penne
- Olive Ham and Cheese Loaf
- Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
- Split Pea Soup
- Leftover Pistachio Pesto Turkey Sandwich
- Leftover Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
- Hawaiian Ham and Cheese Stromboli
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Leftover Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 3 stalks celery (chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 cups leftover ham (chopped in cubes)
- 1 leftover ham bone (optional)
- 1 whole parsnip (peeled and cleaned)
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups vegetable broth (low sodium)
- 19 ounce cannellini beans (1 can, drained and rinsed)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- ¼ cup fresh parsely (chopped, for garnish)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 5 minutes until onion is tender.
- Add garlic, ham, ham bone, parsnip, bay leaves and the broth. If you don't have a ham bone, just skip it.
- Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium. Let cook for about 30 minutes.
- Add the rinsed beans, cumin, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the ham bone, bay leaves and parsnip.
- Garnish the soup with some fresh parsley, and serve it up with some crusty bread for a complete meal.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- I don’t have leftover ham or ham bone, can I still make this: Yes! You can purchase a prepackaged ham from your local grocery store and use that instead of leftover ham. If you don’t have a ham bone, just skip it, it’s used to flavor the soup.=
- Can I chop up the parsnip: Yes, of course. I use a whole parsnip to simply flavor the soup, but I know some people prefer to actually eat, so in that case, chop it first, then add it to the soup.
- Can I use dry beans instead of canned beans: Absolutely, just keep in mind that dry beans take longer to cook. You’ll need about 1 cup of dry beans for this recipe. Also if using dry beans, you can soak them in water overnight if you choose. Usually this is done to speed up the cooking process, however studies have shown that it will only cut about 10 minutes of cooking time.
- How do I store leftovers: Store leftover soup in a covered glass or plastic container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- Can I freeze this soup: Yes you can. While the soup will only last 3 to 4 days in the fridge, it can last up to a month in the freezer. Make sure the soup is cooled completely first. Use freezer bags for this such as gallon or quart-size top plastic freezer bags. Ladle soup into each bag then let out any excess air and seal. Lay bags flat in a single layer in the freezer. Once they’re frozen you can stack them to save space. To reheat, thaw them overnight in your fridge then pour them in a saucepan and reheat over low heat. You can also reheat them in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Originally shared Nov 2014.
Made this once and now it’s a staple for us. We pour it over a bowl of rice. The flavors are great!
Prepared this soup for dinner and the family gave it a thumbs up. Great recipe for leftover ham.
Do not change anything
Supper:)
Easy quick I use chicken stock. Oh so good I ate 3/4 of a pot myself. Tried with leftover ham and bone also with ham hocks
Best hambone soup ever. We buy ham on the bone just to make the soup, not, but close. We leave the parsnips etc in and add an extra can of beans now we know what we like. Just finished spiral ham dinner, you know what is coming next. YUMM
So glad you liked it!
This soup is excellent. Did not save the hambone and forgot to get parsnip. Used chicken and vegetable broth. Even with all the changes, those who do not like ham in their soup or beans for that matter, loved it!
This soup is the best soup I’ve ever made! We used our left over smoked ham from Thanksgiving and it turned out amazing! The steps seem long the first time you make it, but I got two batches out of it so I froze the broth and veggies for a second meal. This recipe will now be my Thanksgiving Soup that I make every year:)
I’m so glad you like it!
I made a ham so I wanted to use up some leftovers. This was a great option and was very simple to put together. The flavor was nice and not too heavy. I didn’t have veggie stock so I used a stock starter and it worked out fine. I wasn’t paying attention and put the beans in too early but that was the only mix up.
I made not one adjustment to the ingredients. The only thing I did was to remove the vegetables and puree them in my food processer. This before adding the beans. I separated the chopped ham and put it back into the broth. An extra step but the pureed veg helps to thicken it. I then added the rinsed beans, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. It seemed as if there were not enough beans and I added more (35oz in all). Plenty to freeze for later and/or to share.
Great soup, we left the veggies in and next time will add more beans
Such an incredible tasting soup! I was missing parsnips, but it didn’t impact the flavor. Thank you!
It’s my husband’s ,dad,and sisters favorite. I love it too and I’m very picky. This is 4th time I’ve made.
You mentioned using pork hocks, how would one prepare them for the soup.
Hi Louise! Basically the same way, add the pork hocks in step 2. Remove the hack hocks after the one hour cook time, and let it cool a bit so you can handle it, then pull the meat from it and shred. Just add it back and finish the soup as instructed.
It’s so good. Was just wondering the calories is that per cup?
It’s per serving, the nutritional info assumes 8 servings for the recipe.
A hit! I made with bone broth, cut up the parsnip into the soup and added some kielbasa style chorizo per my husband’s request. It is so good. My stepson keeps saying how good it is.