This recipe for Easy 1-Day Ham Bone Soup and I go way back. I typically make this soup after the family had finished picking over the spiral-cut Christmas ham. If the ham bone was big enough, we could usually break in into two sections, freeze one for later and make a second pot of soup on a cold weekend day during the winter.
This is a take-your-time recipe, not a quick 30-minute meal. This is the kind of recipe where people float into the kitchen over the course of the day, declare something smells good, and repeatedly ask when dinner will be ready. This is a cold winter’s day recipe to fill your stomach and warm your soul.
The flavor of the stock is developed by simmering the broth for a minimum of four hours, allowing it to rest overnight, and finishing the soup the next day. It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isn’t since the stove is doing the heavy lifting for you. I often start the broth on either Friday night or early Saturday morning while I’m doing other things. The last stage of building the soup – the stage where you add the vegetables, beans and ham back into the pot – only takes about 15 minutes of additional prep and another hour to simmer.
Overall, your active prep time with this recipe is less than one hour. The stove is doing the rest of the work as the soup simmers and develops its flavor with time. And like many good soups, this one is even better the next day.
If winter’s chill has you craving something warm and you just happen to have a ham bone in your freezer, this Easy 1-Day Ham Bone Soup recipe is for you. Even if you don’t have one readily available, you can still make this rustic soup with a few minor adjustments to the recipe. So read on, then gather your ingredients and meet me back here to make this hearty ham and bean soup.
Jump to RecipeTable of Contents
What Do I Do If I Don’t Have a Ham Bone?
If I’ve tempted you with pretty pictures of this hearty ham and bean soup recipe, but you think you can’t make it because you don’t have a ham bone, don’t be sad. I will show you how to make ham and bean soup from scratch – even if you don’t have a bone in the freezer. All that’s needed are a few minor adjustments to the recipe.
If you can find pork broth or stock at your local grocery, great! Definitely use it. Simply substitute 8 cups of ham stock for 8 cups of water. Combine that with two chicken bouillon cubes and 8 cups of water for a total of 16 cups of liquid. This will give you a comparable rich stock. If you can’t find pork stock, you can use 8 cups of low sodium chicken broth instead.
If your ham bone is pretty picked over, or you don’t have one at all, you can use cubed ham from the grocery. It won’t have that same sweet taste as a good spiral ham, but it will still deliver good flavor to this soup.
Everything else holds true in this hearty ham and bean soup recipe. It tastes best when prepared with a spiral-cut, glazed ham bone, but you can get pretty close to the original with these few tweaks to the recipe.
Other Tips for Success
When making this hearty ham and bean soup recipe, it’s important to let the stock cool overnight. This allows the extra fat from the ham to rise to the surface and solidify. The next day, before you finish the soup, you’ll be able to easily skim the fat from the top (pictured bottom left), but don’t discard all that fat immediately.
Be sure to reserve two Tablespoons for sauteing the vegetables that will finish the soup. There’s a lot of flavor in that fat, and since this is a waste-not-want-not recipe in its own right, we put just enough of that extra fat to good use and back into the soup for a little extra richness.
How Does This Easy 1-Day Ham Bone Soup Freeze?
Beautifully! This is one of those easy soup recipes that I developed when our daughter was young and we were darting everywhere between work, school, and other commitments. I didn’t have time to cook every night of the week, so I would often split a batch in half and freeze it for a quick week-night meal at a later date. Since this soup makes enough to serve eight people, divide it up and add it to your meal prep rotation. This soup will keep in the freezer for up to two months.
Let’s Get Social!
Thank you for visiting the MOstly Bakes food blog. If you’ve enjoyed this recipe for Easy 1-Day Ham Bone Soup, and are looking for other soup recipes to try, you may also enjoy this one for Amazing 30-minute Smoked Gouda and Broccoli Soup. Both of these easy soup recipes would be great options if you’re having a soup-tasting party or some other cozy gathering. Additionally, I’d like to invite you to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media via Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Thank you again, for visiting, and I look forward to connecting with you there!
Blessings & enjoy!
Ham Bone Soup
Course: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy8
servings1
hour5
hoursIngredients
16 cups cold water
1 leftover ham bone
2 cups of ham roughly chopped into 1/2-inch cubes (you can use store bought to supplement if more meat is needed to reach two full cups).
2 cubes of chicken bouillon (I prefer Knorr brand).
1/2 cup white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
3/4 cup celery, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup of carrots, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
One (1) 48-ounce jar of Great Northern White Beans, drained and rinsed.
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. of reserved fat from the stock.
Directions
- In a large stock pot, bring the water, ham bone and bouillon to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a simmer until the broth has reduced by 1/4 – approximately 4 hours. Remove the stock from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.
- Once the stock has cooled, remove the bone and any large pieces of meat. Cube the meat into 1/2-inch cubes and discard the bone, skin and any cartilage.
- Place the stock in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove the stock from the refrigerator and skim off any fat that has congealed on the top of the stock. Reserve 2 Tbsp. for cooking the vegetables, and discard the rest.
- Return the stock to the stove. Over medium heat, return the stock to a simmer.
- In a large saute pan, heat the reserved fat (alternatively, you can use 2 Tbsp. of olive oil) and saute the carrots, celery and onions over medium heat until they just begin to develop some color and the onions have softened – approx. 5-7 minutes.
- Add the cooked vegetables, cubed ham, beans and parsley to the stock. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until the vegetables are cooked through.
- Adjust seasoning with black pepper and salt to taste. Serve and enjoy.
