Leftover Hambone Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
You can use up your leftover hambone to make this cozy, hearty soup loaded with tons of veggies and chunks of sweet ham!
For those of you who made a ham for Christmas yesterday, I highly suggest saving the bone so you can make this ultimate hambone soup.
I first made this soup two years ago and I was so amazed as to how you could actually use the hambone. In the previous years, I would toss them in the trash but the leftover hambone is actually quite a gold mine.
With a simple homemade ham stock, you could create such a cozy, hearty soup with ingredients you already have on hand.
Once you let the flavors meld together, this soup is wonderfully sweet and comforting with chunks of ham in every bite!
Leftover Hambone Soup
Ingredients
- 1 leftover hambone
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 cup canned white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup frozen corn kernels
- ¾ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ cups leftover diced ham
Instructions
- Place leftover hambone in a large stockpot or Dutch oven and add enough water to cover the bone halfway, about 6-7 cups. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until very fragrant, about 30 minutes to 1 hour; set aside ham stock and discard hambone.
- Heat olive oil in the large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots and potato. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in ham stock, beans, corn, thyme and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes. Stir in ham until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Love the recipe. What are the nutritional facts?
Best ham bone soup ever!
This really is the best leftover ham bone soup! I’ve been making it for a few years now, usually just once a year after Easter. But, if I happen to get my hands on a ham bone from friends or family, this is the only thing I make with it! It’s top notch, with staple ingredients & also nutritious 🙂
I wanted to make a faster version of ham and bean soup (using canned, not dried beans), so I tried this recipe and it was great. Did everything but the potato, which I didn’t have. The thyme and bay leaves added a lot! Thanks for a great recipe.
Wow – my picky family gobbled it up! Way better than the typical after Easter pea soup.
made this tonight using the left over ham and bone from easter … sooooo good. I did add extra potato and parsnip as well as red pepper flakes for a tiny amount of heat its unseasonable cold right now and this warm soup with bread for dinner tonight was perfect
This truly is delicious soup. I had boiled my ham when I cooked it and I used that water to make the stock. I put the ham bone in that water with carrots and tomatoes and celery and garlic to make the stock. When I made the soup, I also added a quart of tomatoes I had preserved.I had a lotof stock so I used more potatoes and carrots than called for. I found the beans were too soft, but I also cooked the soup all day. It had much more flavor after I cooked it all day, then after I had cooked at the time required. Very good.
Loved this, was so simple. I made it for lunch.
Added lentils instead of beans, canned corn instead of frozen. It was lovely, family asked me to write it down and save it for another time.
I searched for this recipe my dear. So delicious and heart healthy with the veggies. Delicious
Delicious soup! I added a bag of fresh spinach and some celery. Also threw in a teaspoon of herbs de provence. It’s in the fridge for tomorrow night when I will add some pasta.
I have made this every 2 to 3 months and love it just as it is. Thank you. It is a favorite for sure!
I made this tonight for something different than my usual cream based or Hurst beans pkg mix recipes for the leftover ham bone. I added 2 ribs of diced celery, simply because I had them available. And I added 3 sprigs of thyme to the ham bone stock instead of adding the thyme leaves later, because I wanted to save time. All in all the result was exemplary. I really enjoyed this recipe.
I have DARK RED Kidney Beans…what are your thoughts on replacing them for the WHITE???
(I don’t want to ruin the soup!)
This soup was excellent! I did cook the bone for about 6 hours though. Hubby even had seconds, which means this soup was a big win! I will be making this with my ham bones from now on. Thank you!
I love many of your recipes and they are always winners as is this one. My comment is that if you cook the ham bone longer( 6-8 hours) and make a stock of sorts. Then all the rest of the meat falls off the bone and it’s super flavorful so essentially you just add the veggies with a final seasoning check. I have dogs so they get the bones!
Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
I just want to know What to do with one ham hock. The pot was too small for three ham hocks and I already made the beans They were great!
Delicious! Made just a couple of changes. Added an extra potato instead of beans (preference) and because my ham had a sweet glaze I added a tablespoon of vinegar to counteract the sweetness. This recipe is a great base. I can imagine lots of variations.
Very delicious and easy to make. Used a bag of mixed vegetables since I didn’t have any corn. Also added celery.
So quick, easy, and delicious – a family favorite for us year round 🙂
Very tasty…I would love to add tomatoes and a noodle of some sort…is this possible ?
Looks delicious. Can you use ham hocks?
Came out great. Added celery and cabbage, and a bit of chicken bullion. and made a double batch. Great recipe, thank you!
My favorite part of thanksgiving. I make this every year. So delicious and easy!
Fantastic recipe! Just made a double batch for my mother-in-law and the residents at her memory care facility. It was a hit!
We were looking for a way to use the hambone from our Thanksgiving meal and found this recipe. It was easy and delicious. The cook times were accurate, and prep was minimal. It was so yummy that now I am trying to think of reasons to buy a spiral ham so we can make this soup again!
Hi,
This soup was absolutely excellent! Easy to make, VERY quick and mighty tasty! Leftovers seemed even better.
Thanks…
This soup is absolutely delicious, any time I buy a spiral ham I make this soup. I add peas and some fresh dill & parsley to it as well.
Soup is very tasty with a flavorful broth. Would make again.
Worked great and family loved it! Added celery along with carrots and potatoes. Will use this again!
Can I freeze this soup? I made too much (doubled the recipe expecting a crowd…)
Delicious recipe and I’ll make it again. I followed the recipe but had to make two substitutions based on what I had in the pantry. Instead of russet potatoes, I used two parsnips, hubby loves them. I didn’t have corn, but added a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. I add that frequently to soups because I like the depth of flavor it gives due to the mild green chilies. Everything else stayed the same and the soup was delicious for several meals for the two of us.
This soup was absolutely excellent! Easy to make, VERY quick and mighty tasty! Leftovers seemed even better. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Excellent Soup!! My family is not a big fan of soups but they loved this one! I increased the ham to 2 cups because my family are meat lovers. I don’t like thyme so I omitted it.
Easy to follow. First time, will do again. I even canned some different beans earlier All met and we enjoyed. This tastes Great much better then store soups. Will look forward to other ideas.
Amazing! I cooked my hambone in 5-1/2 cups of chicken broth and 1-1/2 cups of water.
My husband loves ham. He is always buying one. I made this soup and he was hesitant to try as he only likes chicken soup. I just made it with a xmas ham that was a gift and he was sick with the flu. I made him a bowl, he went crazy for it. This broth is so rich and flavorful….One of my winter mainstays…..thank you for the recioe.
Just wanted to drop by and say that we make this EVERY year with our leftover Christmas ham bone. I don’t change a thing when I make it: it’s perfect! Thank you for getting us started with ham bones 5 years ago!
How much of the ham broth do you use for the souo?
I made this exactly as written, but used more water to make more broth, and used Great Northern beans since I’ve never heard of white kidney beans. It is so good! What a simple, comforting soup.
I make this as a standard after every ham I bake now! The kids literally get so excited because after the holiday ham comes the soup! It really is damn delicious Thanks for creating a family fave that is now family tradition in our home
Awesome soup. I added smoked sausage and celery. Enjoyed by all. Will make again
Do you think this soup could be made with leftover prime rib?
I’ve made this several times & every time it was a hit! My family loves it!
May this four or five times now it is absolutely delicious we look forward to it as much as we do the ham every time we get a ham my wife loves it
Wonderful recipe. Thank you!!
I just made this. It’s absolutely delicious!!! I followed the instructions accept I didn’t use thyme or bay leaves (didn’t have them). It’s an outstanding recipe and doesn’t take long. You can make the ham stock as you’re cutting the vegetables. Oh, another thing I did differently…instead of adding the ham stock to the vegetables, I removed the ham bone from the stock, scooped out any lose ham from the stock, then added the vegetables (I was already cooking in another pot) to the stock. It worked out perfect!
The soup was extremely good, I added crushed red pepper. I like a previous review of adding celery . Also added Creole seasoning to the already delicious broth from the ham bone. I just need to remember to saved more ham for the future batches .
Definitely a keep of a recipe and my wife and teenager loved it , especially with a fresh load of country bread from Costco!
This was delicious! Even my young children gobbled it up.
After reading other reviews, I did put the hambone in the crockpot all day with an onion and stalk of celery.
Added celery to the chopped veggie as well.
Only thing I would do different next time is increase all amounts some to make a bigger batch.
Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Am I missing something? I boiled my ham bone in water per the directions for over an hour and followed the directions. My soup broth was so bland! To “fix” it i added chicken bouillon, mustard powder, lots of salt and pepper. I took an additional cup of the beans and used the stick mixer to macerate them with some of the broth and I added that to the soup. I had leftover spinach, so I added that too. Oh, and the bag of corn i bought was 12 oz, so I used the whole thing.
The soup is delicious, but i definitely altered the recipe!
Great! After reading reviews, I used a 6 qt. slow cooker. I added BTB (Better Than Bouillon) Chicken to the water for cooking the bone, plus celery and onion. I cooked it about 12 hours on High. I cooked the veggies in bacon grease for about 10 min. Used 2 1/2 carrots, 2 large cloves garlic, and 2 potatoes, plus 1 can Garbanzo beans and 1 can Great Northern. Added sl. over 1 c corn, 1/4 rounded tsp. thyme leaves (dried), and 1/4 rounded tsp. dry mustard, and pepper and salt. Broth was almost tasteless – I needed to add over 1 TBS BTB to make it pretty good. Yield was 6 dinner servings. I cooked it at least another 4 hours in slow cooker in stage 2. Excellent soup and recipe. Thanks.
Why dried mustard? What does it do for the taste?
Fabulous recipe!! So delicious!
Oh my, this is absolutely delicious. Best I’ve ever tried.
Delicious!! I didn’t have fresh thyme so I substituted dried and added it with the veggies. Worked great. Husband loves it too!
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. It was quick and easy to make with excellent results. I used the ham bone from Easter’s dinner. The soup was delicious; light, comforting and very satisfying. Made as written wouldn’t change a thing. My husband called dibs on the last bowl. I can’t wait to make this again.
I’m not even normally a fan of soup but this was absolutely delicious! I feel so satisfied. My toddler also loved it, and she is the pickiest person alive. I can’t believe I found something besides french fries and chicken nuggets that she will eat!
Yummy. Great light soup to follow-up a huge dinner yesterday.
This is a delicious easy to make soup I had never done it before and a year or two ago when we had leftover hambone I was sitting around and my wife was out I tried this and we loved it and now whenever we have a bone-in ham we have bone delicious bone soup
Really cold yesterday and I wanted a hearty soup for the evening. This was really easy to assemble and cook. My daughter and son in law said it was delicious after coming home from the gym in the evening.
I used 2 smoked pork chops, canned corn, and Mexican oregano because that’s what I had in the house. Definitely making this again.
So Yummy! I love the different textures and that it has a hint of sweetness from the corn to balance out the savory ham. Like a warm hug for the soul! Everyone in my family (even the picky ones) approves. I add a package of diced ham since I typically only have a bone leftover but basically follow the recipe as written other than all dried seasonings.
Excellent with a little doctoring. I didn’t drain the beans and used 2 cans of great northern and/or cannellini the second time I made it and it was better. Used more ham and 1 cup + of corn and liberal salt and pepper. I also added 1/4-1/2 tsp of dry mustard.
Really good, easy and quick recipe to use up that bone and leftover ham!
My son asked me to make soup with his leftover ham with bone. I found your recipe for leftover hambone soup. Made it according to your directions. His wife says, “BEST SOUP EVER” and I make a lot of soups. Thank you kindly for the recipe.
Awesome! Froze our hambone from Christmas. I ended up needing more liquid so added a qt of chicken stock to the ham bone stock. Also had to Texan it up a little- added a chopped poblano and serrano at the time the onion was added. Threw in a can of fire roasted tomatoes b/c it started looking like tortilla soup. Will be trying your other stuff
Soooo satisfying!! Did a little tweaking from other reviews, my personality of experimenting and of course NEVER having all of the proper ingredients . A just healthy enough, warm your soul, comfort food that I needed today and most definitely again. And I have no doubt the leftovers will be even better! A KEEPER!
It sound wonderful and I’m looking forward to making it as I made a ham today for Sunday dinner. I just wish you had included nutrition information. Thanks.
Yum. Single widow guy says thanks.
Quick easy and very tasty. Well done
This came out amazing. I made a few tweaks because I avoid regular potatoes because of my stomach. I subbed fresh diced butternut squash, about a cup give or take for the potatoes, and food processed about two cups of veggies and broth before adding in the diced ham and corn. It took me a little longer, but I had the time. It was so creamy and delightfully fulling. Thank you for an easy delicious recipe!
Outstanding recipe and so easy. We can’t wait to have it again.
Will definitely follow damn delicious for more great recipes.
Had a hambone leftover from Christmas and made this soup and it was “damndelicous”. I added a 1/2 tsp fresh dill and a can of peas and it was delicious. Will make again at Easter when we have our next ham.
Delicous
Delicious and easy ! I added celery but that’s the only change I made.
This was really good, I added kale and fresh herbs to mine.
Delicious. I used a leftover ham bone from a ham I had smoked in my smoker which added a smoked flavor.
I also added celery and boiled the ham bone for 4/5 hours otherwise followed the recipe.
A new favorite for our family!
Absolutely delicious!
I had two frozen ham bones in the freezer, used them both. One had a decent amount of meat left on the bone. Perfect amount for this.
Let the ham bones cook for about 4-5 hours until the marrow released. Highly recommend doing that for a creamier / more flavorful stock!
Added celery, and thickened with corn starch / water mix at the end. Otherwise followed to a T. This will definitely be my new go to for using up ham bones!
If you know anyone (friends or family) that throw away their ham bones, ask them to save them for you! Vac seal them and just chuck them in the freezer! Such a great thing to have in the freezer in the winter. Easy to use what you have in the fridge / pantry to make a hearty healthy meal! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Whole family loved it!
Followed the recipe pretty close, with only the minor addition of some celery salt and extra garlic, and it turned out amazing!
If you are in a rush, only simmering the hambone for an hour or so works perfect. It came out amazing and adding in the ham meat adds that awesome boost of flavour, especially if it was cured!
Made this today and it is damn delicious I must say. I boiled the ham bone for 6 hours so that the bone marrow released and made a creamy soup. We all loved it. Will make again for sure! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper.
Hambone soup is always a crowd pleaser
Excellent soup, easy to make and came out delicious! The whole family loved it.
This is a very flavorful soup. My adult daughter could not get enough of it. I added a couple of parsnips and a small white turnip because I had them on hand and they totally complemented the gentle sweetness of the soup.
The base of the soup is great but I added and changed some things to make it pop more. Instead of water, I used 6 cups of chicken stock (low sodium) to marinate the bone in along with a whole quartered onion, celery leaves, chunks and fat of the ham. I let the stock simmer for 6 hours before I started the soup. I used a sieve and strained the stock, removed the bone and reserved the ham for my dogs (can’t waste ham). I made the soup as directed but used 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced up, one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, a small bag of frozen kale, celery leaves and diced celery in addition to other ingredients listed. I seasoned with white pepper and salt and the seasoning was spot on. Simmered for an additional 2 hours and then had it for dinner. Very filling and excellent.
you are too funny….this is a totally different recipe! It does sound good though!!
I thought the same thing! A completely new recipe. Sounds good though.
This is our favorite soup! The kids are always excited when I buy a ham because they know Ham Bone Soup is coming up. Thanks!
I have made this multiple times. I rarely follow it to EXACTLY anymore just bc leftovers are different each month. I’ve even gone to our local butcher got the bone for around $2. So much flavor and so economical!!! I highly, highly recommend!
Made this with ham hocks instead of a ham bone and it had that extra smoky flavor. Great recipient!
I’ve made this several times now and it is absolutely PERFECT! In fact, my family looks forward to this soup after holidays than the ham itself! Great recipe! Simple and delicious.
simple but delicious. we ate with hot homemade biscuits.
Delicious! I’m making for the third time!
This soup was great, the whole family enjoyed.
Best soup ever! Only time I have ham is after Easter. So I make this once a year. But i could eat it every day. So good!
Ham bone soup DELICIOUS.
This recipe was fabulous!! I didn’t have beans so I added some peas towards the end. I followed the recipe as written, except I added a dash of Worchestershire sauce. So delicious. Thanks!!!
This soup is so delicious and budget friendly! I did not except to get so much comfort from this bowl of soup.
my son and husband really enjoyed it, easy to make just let it cook.
This is amazing! I’ve made it 4 times now. It is so flavorful. It tastes just fine with dried thyme if that’s all you have on hand. I like to add a little chopped celery & also a 15 oz. can of italian style diced tomatoes. It’s very simple to make & made with staple ingredients that I normally always without having to run to the store.
Wow, this was delicious! I wasn’t sure if I should veer from my family favourite recipe but this is my new favourite! It is really delicious and I will definitely cook it again and again. I did use some of the ideas suggested in the comments: added celery, a spoonful of chicken stock, and I did three quick whizzes on a hand held blender to slightly thicken it. It is a very, very, very tasty soup! Thank you!
Fantastic. Will use again. Think it needs a little “kick” of something, but its perfect the way it is! Thank you for sharing.
I love this recipe. It’s my go to recipe for hambone. I add in celery. It’s delicious. Thank you so much for such a great recipe
Relatively quick and very easy to make! My husband and I loved it. I’ve made turkey and rice soup after Thanksgiving but had yet to try a soup from our Christmas ham. This one was so much easier! Thank you.
Will be making this every fall and winter going forward,
Easy to make, recipient very easy to follow, and absolutely delicious!
Have been doing this for years we let this simmer for 8hours, we do the same with turkey carcass , beef steak and rib bones just endless combinations.
Wow! Made this tonight and was incredibly full of flavor. I only let the bone simmer for 40 minutes and the rest was followed to a T. Was worried the ham bone wouldn’t give off much flavor but I was so surprised. No need for salt. Ingredients were a perfect match. Thank you!! Definitely going to make this after we have a ham!!!
Outstanding!
I was happy to find this recipe for hambone soup. I love to cook ham for Sunday dinner a couple of times a year. I hated to waste the leftover bone and small pieces of ham. This recipe solved that . It was easy ! I thought soups took all day and since I work I typically make dinner in about 30 minutes. The soup was delicious as written and I had all the ingredients in my pantry. Super easy and delicious.
Great! And so easy!
This soup was so good and so easy. I loved being able to use up all my leftover vegetables into this delicious soup. (I added a can of condensed potato soap, mixed with about a cup of half & half. I like a creamy soup so I used was I had on hand.)
I made this soup last week between Christmas and New Years and it is fantastic! My substitutions were using dry navy beans that I cooked separately for another meal and fresh corn that was leftover from the garden. As with any soup, I think it’s better the next day than the day of. So good!
Omg! Sooo good. Who knew that such a simple soup would be sooo delicious. I added more carrots and extra fresh thyme. The ham stock made it amazing!
I made this in my Instant Pot and added more veggies – otherwise used this recipe. It was absolutely delicious and the ham bone made such a wonderful stock! I hate to waste any food, so really appreciate this one. Thanks for an easy recipe.
I always like to simmer mine for longer, so the potato can be mashed down to create a lovely creamy texture, but still with some chunks of veg through it.
I made this soup after Christmas, I was looking for a soup other than pea soup! This soup did the trick! It was very easy to make, loaded with vegetables and “damn delicious”!
Making this right now, I have never made a soup before, let alone a ham stock. It’s super easy. I added some extra veggies, extra ham, and some more beans. I also let the hambone simmer for 4 hours with 2 bay leaves, and extra water (totaling ~ 8 cups), I did this because I have a HUGE ham bone – per other comments you can cook the ham bone over night, or for a few hours. I believe 1 hour is plenty though, the house became soo fragrant at the hour mark! I also added a bit of leftover chicken stock I had laying around (maybe about 1.5c or so). This recipe is super easy, and will be a great “base” for future soups I make. It seems like you can thicken it up relatively easy for more of a “heart stew” as well!
This soup is just ridiculously good! We always make a ham at Thanksgiving and Christmas and we made two hams at Christmas this year so I’m making a double batch and my mouth is already watering!! So simple and so good!
This is an amazing soup, one of the best I’ve ever tasted. The broth is Smokey and absolutely delicious. I look forward to making a ham, just to get the bone for this!
Made this tonight with the left over ham and it was SO good! Thanks for the great recipe. The only thing I did different was a boiled the ham bone in my crockpot for 24 hours to get more of a bone broth.
I made the Leftover Hambone Soup today and it was great! I followed recipe other than added peas instead of corn. Was a delicious hot treat for a cold winter day. Definitely will make this soup again but will add more veggies.
I love this soup. Only substitutions were a can of corn and a can of great northern beans since it’s what I had in my pantry. There is so much flavor. I just sent this link to my mom.
This is my go to ham bone recipe every time. Love it. Thanks.
I made this last night with bone from honey baked copycat. It was soooo…. delicious, sweet and light, comforting . Thank you.
Made this last year with a Harry and David spiral ham and then again with vegetable broth and ham… so yummy. Making it again this year and got a H&D ham just for the soup! Best Damn Ham soup!
My first ham bone soup and it was simple and delicious! This is a keeper. Is it true that Honey Baked Ham sells ham bones? Thank you so much for the great recipe. After seeing a few of the modifications, kale would be a great addition.
Yes! I just bought a ham bone from the Honey Baked Ham store yesterday for $8. Great deal! Still had plenty of ham at the bottom and it was a perfect size for this recipe. Making leftover ham bone soup tonight!
EXCELLENT!!!!
Yes it is good, I made a few substitutions. I used diced tomatoes in lieu of carrots, and 1 can black beans and one can white kidney beans and skipped the corn (which I am sure would be good. I used 1 beer and chicken stock to the ham stock. Also I added crushed red pepper to my potato, garlic onion stir fry.
Great soup! Found last year for Xmas and was so looking forward to a thanksgiving ham so I could make it again. Easy to make and smells so good cooking on stove. Will be outdoors most of weekend and looking forward to warming up with this at end of day.
Just took this off the stove. I made the bone broth in the instant pot with garlic and bay leaves, then made the rest on the stove. I added some leftover glazed ham drippings too. I can’t even explain how good the broth is and how the ham flavor just permeates everything! So hearty and so good!! I also didn’t need all the broth, keeping some on the side to drink. Quite easy to make and reduces waste. Thanks for the recipe!
Just what we were looking for! Thank you for this perfect recipe! We added kale and instead of potatoes, served it over mini-bowtie pasta. Chef’s kiss!
Very tasty and satisfying! I’ve only made soup from a hambone a couple of times, and a long time ago, so this was surprisingly easy and fairly quick to come together. I used a full can of beans, and threw in some frozen chopped kale for color/extra veggies for the kids. Good recipe to have on hand.
Great recipe! Easy to make with simple ingredients!
This is an awesome soup and very easy to make. It’s a keeper!
Delicious! Used veg from the garden added a bit of cornstarch to thicken and it was like a meal in a bowl!
With all soup, I scrape as much ‘meat’ from bone that I will add to the soup last. I don’t like the taste of ‘boiled’ meat. I always cook my stock overnight in my crockpot. I add a half chopped onion, the celery leaves and bay leaves. I get up in morning and shut it off. Put in fridge when cool enough. Scrape the fat off, strain it, and continue with the rest.
This is a very versatile recipe. Thank you for inspiring my dinner menu. Cheers.
Thank you, Lana…I can’t believe you’re the first one to mention the FAT from boiling the ham bone!! I was beginning to think it must be part of the recipe, no one was mentioning it…even the original recipe!
Love this recipe! I always make enough so that I can freeze about 3/4 of the mixture. I am a senior!.
I love shiitake mushrooms which I add, thinly sliced. Believe it or not I add some FINLY sliced Kale! I guess for colour. Also when I freeze the leftovers I add some 1/2 cooked diced potatoes so they are perfect when I reheat.
Followed the recipe except used dried thyme instead of fresh. Delicious. Thanks!
I skipped a lot of stuff, since I was improvising (no carrots, onions, fresh garlic). Can’t wait to try it with a full roster of ingredients.
I froze a ham bone from our Easter ham and have been searching for a yummy soup to use it for that everyone in my family would like. We can eat soup any time of the year, but we live in FL where its already in the 90s daily, so a thick and hearty soup wasn’t really something that appeled to me.
This soup was delicious! Seriously, it felt like a warm hug (which is very comforting during this Covid pandemic)
I followed the recipe almost exactly with the exception of using corn I had previously grilled on the cob. I also added a little chopped celery simply because I had some and my Thyme was dried rather than fresh.
I just had 2 bowls for lunch! I’ll serve it to my family tonight with hot biscuits and I am confident they will live it as much as I do.
This will be in my permanent soup recipe rotation!!
I was thinking the same thing it’s so hot but I’m in the mood for ham soup. Ft Myers here hon. To dang hot. But soup is what the dr or rather mom ordered. Turn the ac low and have soup. Did you tweak it or left as is? I have 2 ham bones. So I’m gonna ham this up..
We made this soup with leftover Easter ham.
Smoky and sweet deliciousness! Quick to prepare.
Thank You “Google Home”!
I made this soup last week with the hambone left over from Easter dinner. It was so amazing!!! We ate half of it and I froze the other half because we had already eaten soooo much ham for several days. But, I’m starting to crave it, so I’ll probably pull it out of the freezer next week for lunches. So easy and sooooo yummy! Thanks!
Awesome meal. Thank you!!! I plan to make it again, but next time I’ll add some flour or corn starch to thicken the liquid, cover it with biscuits, and pop the whole thing int the oven for a bit to make it a ham bone soup pot pie. Can’t wait!
This was amazing. Made from my leftover Easter ham bone that I’d normally toss. When I made the stock I was worried would be too greasy. But no. Just awesome, smoky deliciousness. Made it one day, then served the next. I added extra carrots potatoes and ham and used a bit more water for stock so we’d have leftovers. Will definitely make this again.
I was looking for a ham-bone recipe that did not require a pre-made soup. This fit the bill. OMGosh – this was fantastic. It way exceeded my expectations – extremely flavorful. I used garbanzo beans (for the white bean), I didn’t have any corn – so that was left out … suggestion to 1st time makers – if you want to boil/simmer for an hour – I would add more water in the beginning stage. This recipe has already been shared! Thank you.
This was great! Everyone loved it even the picky toddler. Thank you!
Thanks for the awesome recipe. It was quick and easy with ingredients normally on hand. The only thing I would do differently is increase the carrots and potatoes because it was so good!
AMAZING SOUP!!! I have to say it’s literally my favorite soup I’ve ever made and had. Only change I made was adding more potatoes and carrots (I love both so no such thing as too much). Absolutely amazing. So easy to make too, ham bone stock is a must.
This is a very hearty soup. I added chicken stock and 2 cups of shredded ham added great northern beans instead of kidney, celery, garlic, onion and carrots and used red potatoes. I did not add corn. Came out delicious. Thank you.
This soup is a “10!”
Love this soup but the recipe is now missing from this page! Can you please repost it? Thank you!
It is back up! Thanks!
I did add celery with the onions and garlic …smells so good..came out very yummy for the tummy..
Great! I subbed a sweet potato for the russet and added some kale at the very end. Thumbs up!
Followed the recipe exactly tonight and it was delicious! Added to my Fave Soups recipes box – can’t wait to make it again. Highly recommended!
I made this in the slow cooker with lots of root vegetables (and added rice). It was amazing. I started the bone, water, root veggies in the slow cooker for 4 hours, then removed the bone took ham from the bone and cubed back into the slow cooker, added kidney beans and some leftover cooked jasmine rice. Turned slow cooker to high for another hour and it was so… satisfying. Serve with some crusty bread (if you indulge) and a salad and you’ve got dinner!
Really great recipe. Only change was peas since no corn, and 4 sprigs thyme and those wee taties since I’m lazy. Just had to fish out the seems with the bay leaves. Happy Holidays
This was first time using a ham bone for soup and I was impressed. I didn’t have kidney beans so I used green beans. It doesn’t matter what you use because the ham bone makes the broth so savory. This is a keeper for my Christmas ham bones.
I always thought rule of thumb was one teaspoon fresh herb to 1/2 teasoon dried
If you want to increase stock amount you can use canned chichen or veg broth and a gelatin slurry to imitate the ham stock mouth feel from the bones. Also I used the small peewee white potatoes so no peeling required. Really great recipe.
I want to try this recipe after Christmas but I am wondering if I can use dried thyme instead of fresh one. If so, how much should I put?
I’ve noticed that many of the responses to the questions (If the questions are even responded to to begin with – note my prior comment) in the comments are generic, canned responses so I thought I would be helpful with a couple tips.
Normally I like to cook recipes from blogs where the folks who are answering questions try to provide helpful feedback, obviously within reason but I really thought this recipe sounded wonderful so here we are!
For those of you who maybe want to make this recipe without boiling a hambone (or even double it), I found that 5 1/2 cups of hambone broth worked wonderfully for the soup! Also, Better Than Bouillon makes a Ham Base and I used it in my doubled portion with great results. If you’re not able to find it in a local store, I know Amazon carries it.
I’m glad that I am not the only one annoyed when the blogger doesn ‘t bother to respond to questions. Why even have the option for folks to leave a comment?
For what it’s worth, I make my ham broth the day before and refrigerate it overnight. That way I can scrape the fat right off the top. Add whatever kind of beans and veggies you like.
In the bloggers’ defense, this recipe was posted six years ago and they did respond to many questions during the first couple of years. Eventually it does become the same questions asked over and over, and resolution to a problem identified by a commenter today may well be found in posts and responses made in tbe past. It’s not unreasonable to expect blog readers to browse the comment history first before asking an old question anew. Bloggers move on in time just as we do and it’s unrealistic to expect them to review years-old posts again and again just in case a question turns up.
I agree with Pennyaline
Agreed, but glad to know the post is still going strong! Must be an epic recipe!!!
Hi! If I’m wanting to double the recipe but still only using 6-7 cups of water to cover the hambone, should I use chicken broth for the doubled portion of broth and what’s the total amount of liquid between my boiled broth and the added broth that you would recommend? Can’t wait to try this! 🙂
Great soup!!!!
I’ve been making this recipe during the holidays and keep coming back to it year after year. Mine has become a bit of a Paleo/low carb version. We cut up carrots, celery and onions and usually leave out the potatoes, beans and corn. It’s really tasty with cauliflower rice and spinach as well. Just pour the soup over fresh spinach
Excellent! I pretty much stuck to the recipe (put in extra vegetables, extra garlic, and replaced kidney beans with garbanzo beans) and it was perfect.
My family LOVED this recipe! I used a honey baked ham and made the broth, then refrigerated it overnight. I skimmed the fat the next evening and followed the recipe with extra garlic and pepper. I substituted fresh green beans for canned white beans. Adding the ham at the end left it tender and delicious. Thank you for the fabulous recipe!
My family LOVED this recipe! I substituted fresh green beans for canned white beans. Adding the ham at the end left it tender and delicious. Congratulations on another fabulous recipe!
Wow! This is the best soup I’ve made in a while! A few adjustments I made were to double the garlic, double the bay leaves and used a drained can of corn instead of frozen. I precooked the bone broth the night before and scraping off the fat before combining into the soup mix was an added health bonus. I also let it cook for 30-45 min over all so the flavors could really meld together. I can’t wait for leftovers today!
Awesome Soup… I’ll never throw away a ham bone again. Just an idea, I ask added a half can if crushed tomatoes…. Yummy
Yes it was simple and very delicious. Even if not a ham lover think hearty vegetable soup. Add more garlic! Mark
This soup is fabulous! I put a frozen honey-baked ham bone in a pressure cooker on high for 30 minutes. I had also added water, carrots, celery and 2 bay leaves. When it was done, I discarded the bones and mushy veg and put the meat from the bones in a dish in the fridge. I then refrigerated the stock overnight to skim the fat off the next day. After that, I followed the recipe. I had a box of veg stock to use if the ham broth was too sweet, but it wasnt so I didnt use it. Thank you so much for a wonderful, hearty soup recipe! Outstanding!
This was amazing. I followed almost exactly…I did do the first step to make the broth in the InstaPot for 30 mins prior to finishing the soup. I find that the InstaPot does a wonderful job getting all the flavor out of bones for stock. It did NOT disappoint.
yummy! I threw in chopped leek, handful of peas and a little turmeric to give some nice color! Get’s nice and thick on it’s own.
I am not one to waste food so after eating the ham for dinner I wanted to use the hambone for something. I am so glad I came upon this recipe for leftover hambone soup! It was easy and delicious, with so many fresh vegetables and other easily attainable ingredients. Can’t wait to share it with my neighbor and family.
I keep coming back to this soup as the way to use the leftover ham bone. It comes across as a good soup with beans, rather than a bean soup (this is a good thing, as far as my hubby is concerned). Thanks!
You’re so welcome, Carolin!
Fantastic soup!! Nice and hearty plus a change from all the split pea and ham recipes out there. Only substitution I made was to switch out the regular potato for a sweet potato.
I substituted garbanzo beans for the white beans. I added twice as much carrots, potatoes and 2 cans of corn. This is because it was what I had on hand and….This is delicious!! My hubby’s response was “Just like my mom used to make!!” Enough said!! 🙂
It was good but I added some ingredients… extra carrot, extra garlic and potato, leek instead of onion (white part only) and a generous dose of a homemade sodium free “lawrey’s” or “Johny’s” type seasoning. Also my daughter wanted me to add egg noodles. Makes it go further when you have a crowd.
Good base recipe though, thanks!
This became a fast family favorite!
Awesome!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I’ve made it many, many times. I always choose to serve ham at the holidays so I will have a leftover ham bone to make this soup 🙂
Could the ham stock be made in an Instant Pot before proceeding with the rest of the recipe? If so, how long would you recommend at high pressure?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Love it, I did the ham bone with some dried beans in the instant pot for an hour then made the soup in a regular pot, also added leftover peas from our ham dinner, delicious!
GLAD TO SEE THIS RECIPE BECAUSE I ALWAYS MAKE PEA SHOP AND WILL TRY THIS NEW WAY I WILL LET YOU HOW IT COME OUT.
This soup was sooo good and a nice change for leftover ham. Everyone loved it!
Delicious
This is the best. I didn’t have a potato so I cut up Mrs. Bs Frozen biscuits after thawing. So great, gotta go get another bowl. oxo
This is the second time my hubby has made this because we got some half hams for $9 each. Every time we made a half ham, we have plenty of ham left over to make hambone soup AND package some up for sandwiches for hubby’s work lunch’s. (Just hubby, toddler and I so plenty of leftovers!). This recipe is so delicious! We use canned or frozen carrots and corn. We’ve had it with white kidney beans & red kidney beans, both ways were delicious! Also we add more garlic and onion to ours.
YUM!
Making the hambine soup per the recipe and then the ham vegetable soup was fantastic!! Just made it this evening 11/9/2018 and it was perfect…and the house smells amazing!
I just made this and it is YUMMY!
I look for recipes on occasion but have never bookmarked a particular site. After browsing through yours, I bookmarked it and plan on using a ton of your recipes! Just wanted to say THANK YOU, Chungah! You’re helping many of us cooking-challenged peeps to impress our loved ones with simple, easy to use recipes that taste delicious! Your site name is well deserved!
This soup is amazing! I’ve been making it for 2 years after every thanksgiving and Christmas ham we have from the honey baked ham. HBH also sells ham bones year round so it makes it easy to make this soup without having first eating a whole ham!
Soup was very tasty. Need to watch salt content as stock can be very salty depending on your of ham. I put in a couple of sacrificial potatoes to absorb the excessive salt.
You can always use low sodium broth to help keep it down. Thanks for your feedback!
This looks great but cooking for two leaves leftovers. Can you freeze this without it going into mush?
Freezing sounds like an amazing idea but unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Any idea how to fix overly sweet soup? I used a honey baked ham bone and although the hubs enjoyed dinner immensely, it’s a bit sweet for me
I know exactly what you mean, Jette! It really depends on the type of ham you use so a honey baked ham would definitely yield a more sweet taste than a standard ham without that much sweet seasonings on it, if that makes sense! 🙂
Put in a couple splashes of garlic vinegar to reduce the sweetness, and it also brings out the flavors.
I substituted great northern beans for the kidney beans and added a cup of frozen peas,…so delicious!
Awesome, great substitutions.
Great recipe! My whole family loved it, including my 2 picky toddlers Thanks for sharing!
You’re so welcome! Thanks Amanda.
Love the soup idea as I have TOO MUCH leftover ham.
I cook for a group that has certain dietary restrictions. One person has a carrot allergy; another can’t do corn.
Any suggestions for substitutes? I was thinking either sweet potato/butternut squash and green beans.
That sounds amazing!
Can this be made in a crock pot/slow cooker? I’d prefer a one-stop shop.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hi! Do you think this could go in the crockpot?
Yes, of course.
I loves this ham bone soup and added more veggies and just a few potatoes. Down side-both my husband and I were EXTREMELY hungry two hours later! Never felt that way before and was surprised he felt the same way.
Does the ham bone have to come from a baked Ham? I have a ham that isn’t cooked yet and I was just going to cut off slices of it for lunch meat and was going to use the leftover and the bone for soup. I was wondering if it would be more flavorful after baking or if it would be the same just throwing it into the water as it is? Any ideas? Thank you.
A baked ham would be ideal but I haven’t tried this with an uncooked ham bone so I can’t say with certainty – sorry!
This soup has been a post-Christmas staple since I started making ham for Christmas dinner in 2013. I just made it again today for the 5th year running. We don’t eat a lot of ham outside of the holiday, but I look forward to this soup every year in early January, and I usually make enough so that we can freeze a batch for sometime in Feb or March, too. It’s 9 degrees here in Ohio with negative temps predicted for tomorrow. I made a large pot of the soup so we will have it tonight and tomorrow, at least, then one more time later this winter. I have always made the recipe as written and it is just outstanding. I follow your blog and Pinterest page and have made many of your recipes – never made one I didn’t enjoy, but this one is among my top 3!! Thank you!
Would this be good with black eyed peas?
Yes, absolutely!
Used my leftover ham bone [ham tasted great] and followed recipe exactly . It was very bland. what did I do wrong. Have tried some of your other recipes Great!
It’s hard to say – did you season the soup?
I have making this soup for years! It is one if my favorites. I used to throw away hambones…gasp… because I they were only good for mushy split pea soup. Thank you.
I have ham but no ham bone. Any suggestions on how to make this without the ham bone?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Another good used of a leftover ham is dumplings. My family like the ham dumplings better than chicken dumplings. I will definitely making this soup!
Great soup. Traded out the kidney beans for navy beans and the corn with ditalini pasta. Because of the pasta addition I added more water when making the stock. Came out great. This soup is very easily adaptable to varied tastes.
Hi, I am making the ham stock ahead of time so I can chill it and remove the excess fat, I want to triple this recipe, to do the ham stock broth would I just add the triple amount of water (18-21 cups) or would you recommend me just doing the 6-7 cups of water and then adding more later on?
Also do you think I could triple the recipe with just one ham bone?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
18 -21 cups of water vs. 6 -7. I would think that would water down you’re broth a bit, 12-14 cups is a lot. Adding that much more water to kool-aid or sun tea would be a huge difference without more teabags or surgar and flavor pack.
But it may not depending on the size of the bone, maybe stopping by the local butcher or grocery store butcher, he may have one…just a thought.
I love cooking at home and finding delicious recipes I can make for my son. My grandma always use to make soups and I am know addicted to making them too! This recipe was really simple but the flavors came together nicely. I followed it to the T, except for the white kidney beans(I used navy beans) and found it to be delightful. I also toasted torn pieces bread with a little olive oil to add as a topping for a little texture. Great recipe to add to the pile-Thanks
I made this today. I found it to be delicious but a tad too sweet from the ham. I used a leftover Honeybaked ham bone. I did add zucchini (needed to see some green and little chopped red bell pepper. It’s very good!
this was damn delicious! i actually said that while telling my sister about the recipe! i didn’t have the
beans, and was still great!
This came out awesome! The only thing I did differently was add peas and about 1 tsp or so ground cloves. The salt from the ham was plenty, it needed no additional salt. Thanks for the great recipe.
This is a wonderful soup! It has become our New Year’s Day soup, using the leftover ham bone from Christmas dinner. Every year since then, our extended family comments on how much they look forward to it and how good it is! This year, going off of some other reviews, I’m trying out slow cooking the ham bone for 18 hours to get a good bone broth. It took 8.5 cups of liquid (including 2.5 c. low sodium veggie broth and the rest was filtered water) to cover the ham bone completely. I added onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, dried rosemary and thyme and set it to low. As for veggies, I plan to follow the recipe with the exception of carrots; I’ll probably add peas instead. Also, I’ll add some extra garlic and onion, and gold potatoes instead of russet. I plan on taste testing before adding any salt to make sure it isn’t too salty. Of course, we still have some leftover pineapple brown sugar glazed ham we will add to it near the end. Hoping this version turns out just as good as the prior years! Happy New Year to All!
Ok. Hilarious to use Kosher salt in hambone soup.
What’s “hilarious” about it? Kosher salt is a name, the product itself isn’t usually “kosher” in the Jewish sense (although it is possible for there to be kosher kosher salt). There’s no irony in using kosher salt in a recipe containing pork.
Loved it. Made a couple of changes – used acorn squash instead of potatoes, used garbanzos (chick peas) instead of kidney beans and added leftover green beans (w/ bacon).
Hi Chungha , Your soup looks very good. I always make soup from ham bones and will be making it from my turkey carcass again to. I love making soups, I find it very relaxing and satisfying. I make Potatoes, Clam Chowder, Veg Beef, Beef n’ barley, Italian sausage, kale and white bean, lemon rice, wonton soup, ….love making soup….so healthy and cleans out the fridge to..lol. Happy New Year everyone.
Would this taste OK using the hambone from a honeybaked ham?
Yes, absolutely!
That is a fantastic way to use leftover ham. Nice work (:
Looks so yummy and healthy. Thanks for sharing. Happy New Year!
This soup looks so good. I just made some stock from my ham bone and I’m going to make the soup tomorrow. What do you think about substituting butternut squash for the potato? Would it completely change the taste?
Not at all!
I made this last night and it was very good. First of all, to answer Gina’s question, you can use a pressure cooker. I used a 6 quart pressure cooker and a large very meaty ham bone. I added water to cover the bone and cooked it for an hour. I opened it up and added the veggies and then cooked for 45 more minutes. I used two cans of Great Northern white beans in lieu of a potato. I left out the corn. I did not add any additional ham since mine had so much meat on it which just fell off the bone. I used a gravy separator to reduce the amount of fat in the broth. The outcome was all that I hoped for. Served it with home made corn bread and it made for a great dinner! I recommend this recipe with or without the minor variations mentioned.
Do I use all the water I cooked the hambone in as the stock?
Yes, absolutely.
The first time I made this, I forgot the corn. It was so incredibly good that I haven’t had the heart to add the corn on the 2 more times I’ve made it since then. My children are bean haters so they of course were not fans but picky-ness is frowned upon in our home so they ate it anyway(someday their taste buds will grow up and they’ll thank me for all the times I made them “enjoy” beans). But my mama, with a palate so picky it makes me cuh-RAZY!! absolutely LOVES this and so do my husband & I!
PS- I found out my daughter had ham on her menu and I begged her for the bone JUST so I could make this soup again. Shameless I know but it’s that good!
Hello! Excited and anxious to try your recipe! Quick question, my ham stock ended up not yielding what I think will be enough liquid when I boiled it last night. As I am throwing it together today, can you recommend what I should add if I need to increase the liquid? Thank you for your help!
You can add more water as needed.
We made this last week and served with buttermilk biscuits and it was so so so good. My husband had three bowls! It was amazing! Curious if it would be as good as a creamy soup? Have you tried?
Hey Lindsey – are you maybe referring to a different recipe than this one here?
The only thing I would add to the instructions is to chill the broth and skim the fat. We had SO much fat in our ham and I’m glad we didn’t end up eating it. Make it a longer process, but worth it I think.
This was AMAZING!!!! I made corn bread muffins and crumbled one up in the soup and it was REDICULOUSLY delicious!!!!
Thanks everyone. Gonna try but I’m gonna add a bit of sauerkraut as well typo earlier
Great recipe! Tweaked what I had to because of what was available in my pantry but will definitely make this my go to over split pea soup
I have frozen butter-beans and corn from the garden (blanched), what are your thoughts on that substitution? Anyone used butterbeans or lima beans in it??
That sounds like a great idea! Yum!
Made this with black beans instead of white beans because that’s what we had in the pantry. Served it with corn bread and it was delicious! Great recipe, very easy.
How much stock do you put in? My family and I are a fan of every recipe we’ve tried from you, can’t wait for this!
Alissa, you want to add enough water to cover the bone halfway, about 6-7 cups.
Thank you for this recipe. I made it today with our Christmas ham and it was so, so good! easy, too!
How many servings does it make?
The amount of servings is listed in the recipe.
I used left over mashed potatoes.
We have soup once a week and my husband said this is top 5! Pleasant surprise !
This was SO good- thanks for the recipe! I found the broth a bit bland at the end, so I added some chicken Better Than Boullion and that zipped it up.
what temperature you put it on for severl hours? 325???
Natacha, this was set on the stovetop so there is no set temperature.
@chungah how do you prepare your whole ham the day before? I’d love to see the recipe.. Unless it’s already here somewhere and I’m just missing it lol
Jill, here is my recipe using a slow cooker.
Thanks for this – great recipe!!
U followed recipe
I changed to white navy beans
Added cabbage maybe 1/3 head
And a pinch of crushed red pepper
Turned out awesome
Very good. Omitted the beans. My husband said he wasn’t sure about eating it. He loved it and ate it for 4 days. Will make again. Thank you!
My son found this recipe while wandering around the web. He doesn’t like beans so we used the farro we had on hand. It was amazing! The only thing I would say is you need to add more liquid if you use a grain as they suck up a lot of juice.
wow this was great made it twice! I made a few addition by adding three tbls of unsalted butter and added a can of diced tomato and two tbls of sour cream. I used frozen green beans in place of the corn. So good! Will be trying more recipes froM YOU!
I found this labeled 27 crockpot recipes #16.. If I want to make it in the crock how long and do I use low or high?
Also do the potatoes dissolve if the are on a long time.
I do use a ham bone for Canadian Style pea soup (Yellow Split peas) but haven’t experimented with potatoes!
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to be used in a slow cooker without further recipe testing. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide: http://www.thekitchn.com/5-tips-for-converting-recipes-to-the-slow-cooker-189343.
Looked up on net for recipe and found this. Sounds great and will be back for more. Thank you ! Den
Great recipe, I made this for the hubs as I don’t eat ham. The broth looked a little thin so I made a quick rue with a bit of paprika added to it. I added some celery tops to my broth and put some chopped celery ribs into the soup. I’ll definitely keep this recipe for ham bones down the road.
Making it today can’t wait though I did already simmer my ham bone and cooled it overnight in frig
This was better then I expected. Will make again. I added a bag of raw pea pods along with the corn.
Fantastic. Just made it. Tweaked a bit by adding coconut milk, dumplings and local herb pepper. Also substituted chive for onion. Best soup I ever made. Thanks!
Thank you for this fabulous recipe!!!! Great soup for cold winter nights and family game night. I added fire roasted tomatoes for some extra kick.
Thanks again
Thanks for the recipe! I was looking to use a hambone for something for the first time and this was perfect. I’ll admit, I tweaked it a bit to accomodate my own tastes and preferences, but it worked perfectly and I was very pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. Its always a huge plus when its received well by my troops too…a 12 year old son, a 6 year old son, and a meat-and-potato loving husband. We all enjoyed your soup tonite, on this snowy and cold nite in the Philly area!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It worked great for leftover ham and my husband really enjoyed it! I substituted cooked parsnips for the beans and served it topped with cheddar cheese. I liked the suggestion of serving with cornbread, so I served it with corn pudding and biscuits.
Great recipe, very tasty!
Only tweak I made was to add a dash of red pepper and a bit of smoked paprika to bring out the natural ham flavor. I also did increase the beans to a full can and increased the ham as others suggested.
Will make it again for sure.
This is delicious!!! Definitely a keeper.
Made this today with half a cup of rice instead of the beans and it was delicious! Thanks!!!
So delicious! I cooked the hambone in the crock pot using this recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/ham-broth-slow-cooker-508820 since it used similar ingredients as this recipe. I used 10 cups of the ham stock for the soup and also added leeks to the recipe. I didn’t have enough ham from the bone to fill up the soup so I bought a Farmer John ham steak and just cubed that up in to the pot. I also made gluten-free corn bread to go with it. Very good soup and very filling!
Very tasty recipe! Thank you. My husband doesn’t like peas, so I had to search for a recipe other then split pea to use with my Honeybaked Ham bone. He also likes thicker soups, so here is what I did: I used 2 potatoes, 4 carrots, one heaping cup of corn, and I added fresh parsley at the end. I didn’t salt it too much because of the ham and because I added oyster crackers before serving. The extra potatoes and the crackers increased the thickness without my having to emulsify the soup. Next time, I will add peas for the rest of my family. Since the ham was pricey, I felt like this recipe allowed me to get more of my money’s worth!
Had the ham bone from Christmas. Love your recipes. Followed almost exactly. I’ve never used a ham bone and didn’t know what to leave on it. Mostly “skinned” like your photo but in making the broth, I got nervous in the reduction amount. Added chocked stock. Anyway, I have 4 precise eaters(my husband and 3 girls). Two don’t like ham, two don’t like beans. I made this with some extra of the veggies (because I was wrong about the broth). All loved it. Melted to their knees good!!
Really excellent recipe! Looks like I’m with the group who had a leftover ham bone this holiday and googled up “Ham Bone Soup”. I’ve started to look around your site and see some other great looking recipes too – I suspect I’ll end up being a frequent re-creator of your concoctions! Great work!
Great recipe. I used sweet potatoes instead of carrots, dried herbs, and spiced it up a bit with my freshly ground hot peppers. No salt needed as the ham was salty enough. I think next time I will double the beans. Needless to say,DELICIOUS!..
Thanks for the great recipe and website. I will be coming back for more as I like what I have seen thus far. Keep the recipes coming
Made this with leftover ham from Christmas and it is amazing! It’s so simple but it’s great. I made the broth in a crock pot last night (ham bone with a little meat left, 7 cups of water, 2 bay leaves, 4 whole cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and about 20 whole peppercorns, cooked on low for 7 hours… did not skim fat) and then made it today. So quick and simple! Only substitution was northern beans for kidney beans because I read the recipe wrong. This will be my go to recipe for day after Christmas from now on! Thanks for helping me start a new tradition.
This is SUPER tasty!! So glad I found your site! I have a few recipes bookmarked to try later!!
Happy New Year!
A friend gave me a half of ham with bone and i had to find something to do with it, I am trying your recipe mainly because i think your pretty and i have a ham bone, the recipe looks good and so do you, i am cooking it now smells so good thanks
So glad I found your recipe.Sounds great! Put the bone in the freezer Christmas night and so ready for this now. Happy New Year Everyone!
I LOVE your blog and your food. You can cook lady!! Your site is my go to site for anything Im looking for. I did this one tonight, from yesterdays Christmas ham and it may have been the best soup I have ever made//tried!! WOW
I made this soup today for supper using the ham bone left over from lunch. I didn’t have kidney beans. Instead, I used navy beans. The soup is fabulous. My seven-year-old daughter ate two bowls full. We’ll make this again. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I just made soup over past couple of days using the ham bone left over from thanksgiving that had been sitting in a plastic bags the fridge Turned out beautifully & I used baby butter beans (10oz bag dried) instead & threw in some sweet potato (yam) too!
we had a bone in ham for thanksgiving and want to make soup the thing is we left the bone in a plastic bag in the fridge not the freezer can we still make the soup or is the bone no good
Larry, it really depends on your best judgment if this ham bone is still okay to use after all this time.
I look forward to trying this recipe! I’ve never made a ham and bean soup, but I love to eat it. I will be cooking this for a large crowd. To double or triple the recipe, do I use multiple ham bones or use the one bone, add more water, and simmer longer to make more broth base?
You can do either or – use more bones or simply add more water as needed. It’s up to you!
I make ham bone soup with white kidney beans, garlic, and chopped escarole. Of course , I also season with salt and pepper to taste. I add a hand full of small pasta shells and grated cheese during the last 10 minutes and let it sit for about 20 minutes before serving . I put a Crustini in the bottom of the soup bowl, add the soup and the final addition is a drizzle of olive oil (if desired) My family loves this soup.
Thank you for the delicious recipe. Google rocks! I didn’t read the “white” kidney beans, so I used the regular ones. I also had kale in the fridge so just pored the hot soup over it, and a perfect meal. Mahalo, as we say in Hawaii.
I use canned tomatoes and fresh onions then add macaroni. It turns out red and delish
Dear Chungah
Just made this ham bone soup for lunch and it is fantastic. I used fresh thyme, carrots and potatoes from our garden. The ham bone was cooked a little longer in a slow cooker and the sauteed vegetables and herbs were added to the pot for an hour. Perfect!
Thanks so much
Keith
Damn this is delicious! I never made anything like this before and it exceeded any expectations. I bought a ham steak and cubed that up and threw it in at the end since my ham bone wasn’t terribly meaty. Probably because i made the ham stock and then i reboiled the bone to make more for the soup. I made the stock the night before so i could skim off the fat. Thanks for the recipe!
-LL
Absolutely delicious! I just finished having this for dinner. It got the approval of the boys. 🙂
I thought I knew every soup out there and was racking my brain what I could make with left over ham. This was SO AWESOME!!! Even my 8 and 5 year old boys loved this soup! This is a keeper! I had already simmered the leftover bone/ham in my slow cooker and de-boned. Used chicken broth to boil the carrots and potato, then added the diced up ham, corn, and beans. This was perfect for our North Country rainy spring day! Thank you so much!
I’ve read all the comments, seen all the substitute beans, was hoping someone would say they tried chick peas. The only can in my pantry, other than peaches.
Yes, someone did mention they replaced the potatoes with Garbanzo beans.
Did you use fresh or dried thyme? If fresh, do you know how much dried you would use to get the same taste generally?
I used fresh thyme for this recipe. The ratio for fresh to dry is generally 3 to 1. Hope that helps.
I found your recipe because I had a leftover ham bone and remembered that when I was a kid my dad used to make a soup with ham and kidney beans that I loved. I added cabbage because I had some in the fridge, and a cup of barley. I omitted the corn. It was delicious. BTW, my dad first had this soup when he was a young man in Korea working with the US Army right after the war. He got to eat in the Army’s canteen and that was his introduction to American food. He came to the states knowing how to make several American dishes… most of which involved spam or ham 🙂
Started with your recipe but didn’t have carrots or beans, so used a few more potatoes (small reds), some baby bell peppers and mushrooms. I then saw the post on the angel hair pasta and remembered I had some roasted spaghetti squash left in fridge and added about 2 cups. Boy, did this soup hit the mark! Can’t wait for the next holiday ham.
I ran across this recipe via google since we just had a ham for Easter. I have pretty much kept with your recipe. It is simmering right now. Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work.
I had ankle surgery last week and am out of commission in the kitchen for the next month or so. Your soup was the first recipe I had my husband make me, and although he’s not too much of a cook, it turned out perfectly! Thank you for sharing!
Pingback: 12 Delicious Leftover Ham Recipes #HoneyBakedEaster |Plugged In Family
I suspect you will be getting a lot hits to this page after Easter. We had our dinner a week early and cooked this recipe (w/tomatoes & wo/beans). It was simple and plain, but it was very good. I hope I have some Italian Parsley to serve with this next time.
….And I thought you could only make pea soup with leftover ham bone! Will try this tonight and let you know how it turns out. Thank you for this wonderful sounding recipe!!
I just wanted to add a tip for those whose hams and Christmases occur in summer. I freeze my ham bone (as long as it hasn’t been hanging around in the fridge very long) until it’s cool enough for soup weather. You can then make and freeze your soup. It turned out great this year but I would love to have tried your recipe instead.
I am a greatgreat-grand mom, I make”bone soup” all winter long, my grand kids and great grands. Always want some. I never use recipes just through whatever in the pot,it always comes out wonderful? I do look at recipes just to get new ideas, then I go from there. )love this recipe, it sounds wonderful.
I tried this today and it was fantastic! It was comforting, complex and hearty. It made good use of a ham bone I had left over.
I saw an earlier comment about making this in a crockpot; this is how I prepared this and am very pleased with the results. I cooked the ham bone on high for two hours and then tossed in the remaining ingredients for an additional six hours. I used Great Northern rather than white kidney beans because that was what I had on hand. I was pleased with their smooth and buttery texture in this dish.
Served with skillet cornbread, this was an excellent dish for a cold, wintry night.
John, did you remove the ham bone after 2 hours? Did you just add everything else or did you sautée the veggies first?
This is exactly what I’m going to this evening. If you have a crockpot, use it!
It never fails to amaze me how people don’t know how useful bones are in the kitchen (and unfortunately it doesn’t help that the bones are often removed from the meat before selling.) Yes, the ham bone is excellent for soup. The carcass of a roast chicken can be stewed (I use a crockpot) to make a good base for soup, as well. I scour the meat departments for beef bones and I’ve read that many chefs save the bones from fish for stock. Bits and pieces left from chopping vegetables? Vegetable stock for vegetable soup. Waste not, WANT not.
Well, I had a boneless ham to use but no ham bone. I had some salt port in the freezer so I just lightly sautéed it for few minutes and add the same amount of water to the package of salt port and simmered it with an onion for about an hour. The soup was still absolutely delicious. I did add about a cup of milk thickened with heaping tablespoon of flour toward the end to thicken it up a little and make it more of a “white” soup. This was hardy and incorporated different flavor than we typically eat so was a nice change. I did add a little hot sauce and cumin toward the end and a dollop of sour cream on top. Thanks for delicious recipe!
Any idea how many calories, etc?
Unfortunately, as I am not a registered dietician, I am not comfortable sharing nutritional information of my recipes. Please use online resources to obtain such information.
I made this yesterday night, and the hubby really likes it! I sub pinto beans for the kidney beans since I had a ton of those. Everything else was the same.
My husband is a red seal chef , he’s amazing at soups therefore he is usually the only one who makes them . He has his own cookbooks basically just soups and thought , nope not gunna look through them ill try “Google”
I stumbled across this one and I’m super stoked to try it .
Myself Im adding small amount of cooked beet greens and and cooked angel hair pasta to the bottom of the bowl just before serving and garnish with very fine chopped green onion.
That sounds amazing! I’ll definitely have to try your adaptations!
Had plenty of ham left over from new years dinner that I made both the ham bone soup and ham potatoe chowder. Both are amazing! Thank you for the tastey ideas, but I need to freeze one. Whitch do you think woyld hold up better in the freezer?
I’m so glad you had a chance to try both! I would freeze the ham bone soup since the chowder is thick and the consistency may be affected.
Thanks for this recipe! Google led me to this recipe, trying to see what I can do with my leftover ham bone!
Do you think I can use the pressure cooker to boil the leftover ham?
I’ve actually never used a pressure cooker before so I’m not too sure about this one.
Would sweet potatoes be ok to use instead of a white potato?
Yes, absolutely, but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed.
Added a bam…broath was kinda lame so I added chopped tomatoes and a small jar of spag sauce….alittle more spices…..and it was the bomb…needs a kick..def…came out sooooo gooood!!!
This is an excellent recipe, very easy to follow, and the pictures are beautiful. Thank you! My soup is simmering on the stove right now – smells delicious!
The aroma is absolutely amazing. Let me know how it turns out!
One of my favorite things about holidays is all of the delicious ways to use leftovers. This recipe is perfect!
My family and I just finished eating this soup for lunch with cornbread. It is the best soup I’ve ever made according to my husband. The aroma carried through the whole house. My 17 year old son just came and stood by the stove to breath in the flavorful scent. I followed the recipe as is, but added sliced onions and sofrito, a Spanish seasoning. I also added leftover ham from Christmas along with its drippings. I am so glad to come across your blog and recipe. I look forward to making it again.
I’m so glad you had a chance to make this! And serving alongside cornbread is genius. I will definitely have to do that next time!
My mom used to make my what she called “Ham & Beans” nothing about it being a soup. She always used dried pinto beans, ham or chicken broth & the Ham Bone with a few onions. Do you have any thing that is similar to that ? I know she probably also used salt & pepper
That sounds similar to this recipe! 🙂
I didn’t have any white beans so I used black beans. Also I replaced the potatoes with garbanzo beans. It turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Although there is a Print button, this site will not print. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I’m not too sure, Karen. The print button is working fine on my end. Please try a different browser.
Just finished getting it all into dutch oven, took a taste and it tastes really nice, bet it will be even better once veggies meld
Anyone know the calorie count on this recipe?
Lisa, you can obtain nutritional analysis using online resources such as calorie count.
I dont have a pot wide enough for the ham bone to lie down in. if I stand it up in a tall pot do I just add more water to try to cover it halfway up?
Covering the pot halfway to the bone should be more than sufficient. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the inspiration, I will be making this today. One comment about freezing: In my experience potatoes and carrots get weird when I freeze them unless they are pureed/mashed. So I either do that with those ingredients if I know I am going to freeze the item, or I omit those two items and add to the thawed dish before serving. Carrots are easy to add to a dish because I don’t mind them barely cooked. What I do is chop them fine then toss them into the cold dish before I reheat. I don’t eat a lot of potatoes, but they are also easy to quickly cook up to add to anything if you really want them – it only takes minutes to cook diced potatoes in a glass measuring cup in the microwave(covered with plastic wrap, couple of tablespoons of water too).
Thanks again.
Cheers, and Happy New Year.
Hey…do you think a can of black-eyed peas would work instead of the kidney beans? I was thinking it would be a good New Year’s Day soup to do that and throw in a little spinach at the end for prosperity in the New Year! 🙂
Black-eyed peas sounds like a wonderful substitution. Happy new year!
Love your recipe as always. Thank you for sharing with us.
Hi Chung-Ah-I wanted to let you know I made your soup recipe last night using a leftover ham bone and from Christmas. Oh my goodness, is it ever delicious! I made it last night and refrigerated it overnight. The fat rose to the top of the stock and was easily scooped off. Had a bowl for lunch on this rainy day-this is gonna be great for lunches this week.
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you had a chance to use up your ham bone!
And it used up the leftover ham too-that word I forgot to add in the original post…….sheesh. Thanks again for the great recipe.
You mention the white kidney beans, I am assuming this is canned based on when you add them to the soup. Just wanted to double check. Sounds delicious!
Yes, the “white kidney beans” refer to canned beans. Be sure to drain and rinse before adding to the soup. Hope that helps!
Wonderful, fragrant and filling soup! Just made this and my house smells wonderful. I had fresh dill on hand and added a generous amount to the pot. Made a huge pot and kids loved it. I will freeze some as well. Thanks! (I used to throw out my ham bone – NEVER again!!!)
: 0 )
I love that you used fresh dill on this – definitely need to try that next time!
What a brilliant idea to use the leftover ham bones! Love this kind of simple but hearty soups. Thanks for sharing!
The leftovers and the bone are the best part! I love this soup, even though its like a billion degrees in LA today (ummmm, 82 mother effing degrees on Dec. 27th), I still want some of this soup.
Jackie, I’d like to say I feel bad for your weather related woes but…. It’s -17 without the wind chill right now in NY. So I’ll trade with you! I’m pulling everything I can find from my pantry that can go in this soup (I have a ham bone but no carrots and no beans) because this sounds great and I’m not leaving the house.
can I cook this in a crock pot and how long
Kathleen, I have never made this in a slow cooker so unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure if this can be made in the crockpot.
I actually made it in the crock pot. I just let the hambone in the crock pot with water overnight and then found this recipe the next day and moved forward, just adding it all to the crock pot. It worked wonderful!
How much water did you use? What temp setting also?
You can, but its a little tedious. You’ll need to leave the hambone in the crockpot for 6-12 hours, on high for the first half, then low for probably about the second half. The crockpot will probably have to be totally full of water to cover the bone sufficiently. You will need to remove some of the broth after, to make room for the other ingredients, but it can be saved in the fridge or freezer for later, to make rice or cook other things in for extra flavor.
After you remove the bone and pick the meat off, you can add the other ingredients to the crock pot. The soup will take 3-4 hours on high OR 6ish hours on low….you can add the carrots/garlic/onions/potatoes, and probably the beans (after soaking). I wouldnt add the ham and corn until maybe 30 minutes before serving.
Do I cover the pot while letting the ham bone simmer?
You can leave it uncovered.
I like to cover it but it’s a matter of preference really. I also freeze it in zip locks laid flat then you can easily stack them in the fridge. It can easily last months.
sounds like a really yummy soup!
LOVE using the leftover hambone for soups! Looks incredible Chung-Ah!
Soups are the best way to use that leftover ham bone!
I added the drippings from the cooking of the ham to the stock. I let them cool in the fridge overnight and pulled off the fat that rose to the top. mmm.. tasty recipe.
Just found your blog by searching for what to do with the amazing ham bone i have!
Love your blog, btw…..
Off to make this……it looks so dang good!!
that’s how I found it too. I know my mom never wasted a ham bone and I had no idea what to do to make soup with it but this was awesome!!
Love this recipe! I’m not usually a big fan of ham, but this recipe has so many vegetables with the ham and looks so hearty. It sounds delicious to me! Thanks for sharing such a great idea on using that leftover ham bone and ham!
There was a time when I would read a recipe like this and be frustrated that I did not have a ham bone but then one day a couple of years ago I had an epiphany. Honey Baked Ham sells sandwiches; wonder what they do with those ham bones?
A quick phone call and I discovered that they do indeed sell those bones; loaded with meat too. Which means that despite not having ham yesterday I can still make this soup today! YES!!
I can’t believe they sell the bones! I’m so glad you told me because I honestly can’t wait to just make this soup once a year during this time of year!
Thank you for the nice soup recipe.
Love what a hambone does to soup. Can’t beat that salty smokiness! Looks so good!
Does this soup have diced tomato? You mention it in a reply
This recipe is an updated recipe from the archives. I have tweaked the recipe a bit and have omitted the diced tomatoes this time around. But you can by all means add 1 can of diced tomatoes to the soup when adding the diced ham.
This looks delicious and hearty. I don’t have a leftover ham bone, but makes me want to go out and get a ham just to make this 🙂
How can I adjust this to make it a white based soup as opposed to a red?
You can omit the can of diced tomatoes and use cannellini beans instead of kidney. However, it will not be a complete white soup unless milk or cream is added, which may completely change the taste of this soup.
I do not see diced tomatoes listed in the ingredients…sounds good though
made me do a double take, cause I didn’t either and it said white beans anyway, not red. I made this soup the day after Christmas with my leftover ham bone and I’m making it again today since I’m already craving it again. The first time I made it I didn’t have any beans but it was delicious without it. I am using light red kidney beans this time. I think it will be yummy!
This looks delicious! In the picture, it looks like you have angel hair or spaghetti noodles – when do you add those?
I think you might be referring to the corn. I actually didn’t add any angel hair or spaghetti noodles to this soup but feel free to add them to taste!
Can I use barley in place of the kidney beans?
You can most certainly use barley but I can’t predict how this will change in texture/taste.
I don’t care for kidney beans – what else would you suggest instead?
Thanks
Feel free to omit the beans. There’s a ton of other goodies in this soup. Although I should tell you that I don’t really care for kidney beans either but loved it in this soup!
Simple, healthy & yum – my favorite combo! I omitted the beans (didn’t have them in stock) and just added a little extra potato, carrot & celery. We had extra ham slices as well so I cut and added more ham. Family of four said it was delicious. Served with corn bread muffins and my 6 & 9 year olds devoured it. Plenty for another few lunches (in the fridge) and another entire meal (freezer). Thanks for sharing. This will be a post holiday /midwest winter staple indeed!
One more thing…I sautéed the chopped onions, carrots and celery in olive oil and garlic (about 6 garlic pieces) before adding to ham bone stock.
You can use barley, or lentils
You show carrots but do not have them on the list of needed ingredients.
thanks
Thanks for letting me know. Fixed!
Turned out great, but much more than I can use in the next couple of days. Any idea how long it will keep in the fridge or if I can freeze it (and any tips if so)?
thanks.
It’ll probably keep in the fridge for a couple of days. You can most definitely freeze the leftovers in individual servings. Just be sure to thaw in the fridge overnight.
Thank you.
My husband makes a ham and bean soup with the ham bone! We will keep it up to four or five days in the fridge. We also freeze some, usually in half pint or pint mason jars. It will keep great for six months or longer! And it’s delicious reheated.
By the way, places like Honeybaked Ham will sell you ham bones when they have them; they’re $5 to $7 in our area. And there’s a good bit of meat on them, for a tasty, hearty soup!
I get a whole joint for that
Hi. I’m trying to get away from freezing every thing and trying to can things. How did you do the soup in the Mason jars.
Did you use a pressure canner or just the ordinary way with boiling water.
Thanks. Ian from canada
I love using olive oil, but had some left over bacon fat from this morning, used it instead – awesome! A wonderful hearty meal! Thanks!
I didn’t have any potatoes in the house, so I substituted it with jasmine rice.
Recipes are pretty much the only comment section I will dare to read anymore. There’s usually some great ideas that are very handy and helpful in addition to the featured recipe. This is one of those tips!! Several others sound good too, but I will enjoy trying it with jasmine, basmati, or some kind of wild rice possibly next time. And there will be a next time I can already guarantee from the smells coming from the stove top now! Thanks to the author and all the commenters!! 😀
it says 2 carrots peeled and diced read it again
The author said that it was corrected…the original excluded the carrots…read the whole thread again.
2 carrots peeled and diced – 5th ingredient
I just want to add I smoked a ham for Easter and followed this recipe and turned out wonderful as well
I made it with potatoes and barley. Loved it!
If I want to double the recipe, can I double the water in the stock base and still have a flavorful base?
Yes, of course.