I love a good ham and bean soup and look forward to using up leftover ham in soup making. I’m not a runny soup type person, so I add mashed potatoes to a lot of my soups to thicken them up a bit. I also throw in broccoli, spinach and/or kale into a lot of my soups for added nutrients.
This is a quick soup to put together so make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go. If you don’t want to thicken it with mashed potatoes or add spinach, that’s ok.
I generally use navy beans because I like the size, but use whatever white bean you want. Just make sure you drain and rinse them well to get as much of the gases off of them as possible.
In a large stock pot, sauté the veggies for a few minutes to soften them. Then deglaze the pan with red wine or red wine vinegar, or a couple tablespoons of the chicken stock. Scrap the bottom of the pan to get all the stuck on bits of flavor up off the bottom.
Now add the ham, beans, stock, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
If you’re adding mashed potatoes and hearty greens like spinach, kale, or chard, now is the time to stir them in. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so to wilt the greens and heat everything thru.
It’s as easy as that, you have a delicious ham and white bean soup ready to eat.
Enjoy!
Ham and White Bean Soup
Equipment
- Knife and cutting board
- 6 to 8 quart stock pot
- heat resistant spoon
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1/3 cup yellow onion diced
- 1 stalk celery chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 each carrot chopped, about 1 cup
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
- 2 tbsp red wine or red wine vinegar
- ½ tbsp garlic fresh minced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups ham diced
- 2 cans white beans drained and rinsed well, 15 oz cans
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup mashed potatoes optional
- 4 handfuls spinach and/or kale, optional
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped, optional
Instructions
- On medium heat, heat large stock pot and add oil, onions, celery, mushrooms, and carrots. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Deglaze pan with red wine, scrapping all the brown bits off the bottom.
- Add ham, beans, stock and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- If adding mashed potatoes, spinach and/or kale, or parsley, stir in and cook for another 3 minutes or so until the potatoes are hot and the spinach is wilted.
- Enjoy!