Best Outstanding Ham And Bean Soup Recipes

HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven (you can also use a thick-bottomed soup pot, but may need to stir more often to prevent burning) over medium heat for about 3 minutes or so, until it's nice and hot. Add the oil and the onions. Cook until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in the chopped celery and carrots, and cook for an additional 5-6 minutes. Add the beans, followed by the water. Increase the heat to high.
• Add the bay leaves, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, black pepper, paprika, and chicken bouillon paste. (If you don't have chicken bouillon paste, simply use chicken stock in place of the water.) Bring to a boil.
• Stir in the ham. I like to cut it into big shards/shreds for extra texture. (Sarah likes hers cubed and orderly though. I won't judge either way!) If you're using a ham hock instead of ham, you can add it in now.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low so the soup is at a somewhat energetic simmer--it should always be at a low bubble. Cook for 4-5 hours, stirring periodically. If the soup isn't cooking down, you may want to increase the heat to medium. Every stove is different, so don't just set it and forget it. Periodically check liquid levels.
• In the last hour of cooking, add the fresh parsley, and cook for another hour. It's done when the beans and carrots are tender, and the soup is thickened. If you used a ham hock, fish out any bones, and chop up any large pieces of meat and skin (keeping the skin is optional) that don't break down during the cooking process before serving.
• This soup is quite forgiving. If it ends up too salty for your tastes, just add water, and lightly mash some of the beans to release their starchiness and re-thicken the soup. If you are reheating the soup and there is not enough liquid, just add 1-2 cups of water to bring it back to your desired consistency.

OUTSTANDING HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• The Day Before:.
• - Around 2 PM the day before take your 1 lb. 8 oz. bag of Navy Beans and rinse them off. Then pour the beans into your largest stove pot. Pour in six cups of water and bring to a boil, then simmer the beans for about two minutes. Turn off the heat and then place a lid on the pot and let sit to 9 PM or till you assemble the ingredients in your 6-qt crock pot. When boiling be careful because the beans will foam up and overflow the pot. Occasionally, check the pot throughout the day and evening to ensure the beans remain covered by the water; if not, add water till the beans are covered.
• - While this is going on take three or more fresh celery stalks and finely dice them into small pieces. You should end up with about 2 cups of celery.
• - Also, dice up 10 or more baby carrots till you reach 2 cups. I find it is a lot easier to just purchase a bag of baby carrots and dice these up.
• - Then take a large onion and dice it up into very small pieces until you have 2 cups worth.
• - Now take one large red and yellow bell peppers and finely dice until you have 1 ½ to 2 cups worth.
• - And finally, you will need 4 cups of diced ham. Normally, I purchase a two pound ham end piece and dice this up until I have four cups; you will have some ham left over. I use black forest ham to get the best flavor.
• - Now place all diced ingredients into a large sealed storage container and then refrigerate until you assemble the mix for cooking.
• The Night Before:.
• - Around 9 to 11 PM the night before drain the water from the pot containing the navy beans. Pour the beans into your 6-qt crock pot. Note, this recipe will probably fill the crock to its brim. I use a slow cooker liner bag in the crock to simplify cleanup.
• - Pour your previously prepared containers of diced celery, carrots, onions, peppers, and ham into the crock pot.
• - Sprinkle in 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and then put in 2 bay leaves.
• - Mix all ingredients together with a large spoon.
• - Now pour in 2 cups of tomato or V8 juice, 6 cups of water, stir well, put the lid on, and turn the crock on to "LOW"; then go to bed.
• - For the first few hours the smell of onions will be strong, but this will dissipate as they cook into the soup.
• The Day of Serving:.
• - After cooking about15 hours the soup reached the bean softness and consistence we like. (We placed the crock on LOW at 9 PM the night before and it was done by 12 PM the next day.) Note every crock pot is different with regards to amount of heat it produces, therefore, after 12 hours I recommend you monitor the soup closely until it reaches the consistence you want.
• - Note, if the beans are still not soft after 12 to 13 hours of cooking turn the crock pot to "HIGH"; you make the determination.
• - About 1 to 3 hours before serving take a metal potato masher; a flat bottom one with holes seems to work best, and mash up some of the beans against the bottom of the crock pot; only mash a small portion. Mash just enough beans to make any clear fluid at the top of the crock pot take on the color of the beans and increase the overall thickness/consistence of the soup. You may have to do this one or more time until you are happy with the soup thickness. This way you do not have to pour a portion of the soup mix into a food processor to grind it up then place back into the crock as so many recipes call for in order to give your mix the typical bean soup appearance.
• - Note, if the soup is still too watery for your taste then let it sit for a while (keep heat on) until all solids settle to the bottom of the crock. After the beans have settled you may skim off the excess water using a small glass measuring cup. Do not remove too much; remove enough water to reach the consistency (thickness) you are looking for. Then stir, serve, and ENJOY.
• - Upon serving, let each guest add pepper and salt to suit their individual palate. In the past I would occasionally add some ketchup to my bowl for additional flavor. However, recently I discovered a few drops of Tabasco sauce really makes all the flavors in the soup "POP".
• - I recommend you freeze or refrigerate any leftovers for consumption at a later date. When reheating the soup you may need to add a little bit of water depending upon how thick your soup was initially.
• - If you plan on making corn bread to go along with the bean soup I recommend you start making it one hour before you serve the soup.

MOM'S HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place Great Northern beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain water and transfer beans to a large stockpot.
• Mix ham hocks, water, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf with beans in the stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until ham is coming off the bones, about 2 hours.
• Remove ham hocks from soup. Cut meat from bones, discarding fat and bones. Return meat to the pot. Continue cooking until beans reach desired softness.

THE BEST BEAN AND HAM SOUP

Steps:

• Place the soaked beans into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low for 30 minutes. Drain. Add the ham bone, ham, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, vegetable juice, and vegetable broth. Season with Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, chili powder, bay leaves, pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Pour in enough of the chicken broth to cover the ingredients.
• Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 hours. Add more chicken broth as needed throughout the day. Remove the ham bone and season with salt if needed. Continue to simmer for a couple more hours. Remove bay leaves before serving.

HAM AND GREAT NORTHERN BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Cut ham off bone in bite-size pieces, reserving bone. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat and fry ham pieces in hot butter until lightly browned, about 4 minutes.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan; cook and stir onion, carrots, and garlic in the hot butter until softened and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour undrained beans into vegetables, add ham and reserved ham bone, and pour in water to make soup your desired thickness. Stir bay leaves into soup and season with salt and black pepper.
• Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove ham bone and bay leaves before serving.

QUICK HAM AND BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, celery and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook for 15 minutes or until heated through. Discard bay leaf.