Ham Bone Soup is the perfect way to use up your leftover Christmas ham. This easy recipe takes just a few minutes to put into the slow cooker and the results are amazing!
The slow cooker makes for an effortless meal! A flavorful ham infused broth filled with beans and vegetables is like a hug in a bowl.
Serve it with some easy dinner rolls or homemade bread for the perfect anytime meal!
An Easy Soup for Leftovers
We love soups around the holidays. They are not only easy, but so comforting, warm, and cozy.
- This ham bone vegetable soup recipes is so easy to make.
- You probably have all of the ingredients on hand, which means no special trip to the store!
- Add the ingredients to your CrockPot and set it and forget. Let it work its magic.
- This recipe can also be cooked in a dutch oven on the stovetop or in an Instant Pot/pressure cooker if you’d prefer.
- Can be frozen for easy meals.
Ingredients in Ham Bone Soup
Start with a ham bone of course! Save the bone from your leftover holiday ham or spiral ham (just toss it in the freezer until you’re ready). If you don’t have a ham bone, use a smoked ham hock in place.
Broth or some broth and some water will work in this recipe. If you want to boost the flavor even more add in any kind of leftover gravy, and/or homemade turkey stock or chicken stock. Keep in mind ham already has quite a bit of salt so if you’re adding broth, I’d suggest a low sodium or no sodium version.
Canned beans make this easy but you can certainly rehydrate and cook dried beans if you’d like. Use fresh or frozen veggies, I add any veggies I have leftover from my turkey dinner! Sweet potatoes, green beans, navy beans, peas, corn, carrots, squash…. almost anything goes!
What To Do With Ham Bone
Because a leftover ham bone has already been cooked, it will have a ton of flavor.
- Remove most of the meat from the bone to use in leftover ham recipes. I leave a little ham on the bone to flavor soups and also so I can pick it off and add it to the soup.
- Keep the bone in the freezer until you’re ready to make soup. I place it in the slow cooker right from frozen since it’s already cooked.
- Cook it right in the soup below and then before serving, remove it from the soup and pick off any meat. Add the meat back to the soup and discard the bone.
- Do not use the bone for more than one soup, I find it doesn’t have enough flavor left to use it again.
If you have a ham bone to use, making a ham and bean soup or split pea soup are the best ways to put it to good use! With a ham bone, you can easily put it in the freezer after your holiday meal and then just put it directly in the Crock Pot from frozen to make this ham bone soup.
How To Make Ham Bone Soup
This is the best ham bone soup and since it is made in a slow cooker, all you really need to do is a tiny bit of prep.
- Dice, chop, and slice your veggies.
- Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and cook until tender.
- Remove meat from the bone and add it back into the soup.
It really is one of the simplest soups you will ever make. Enjoy!
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Crock Pot Ham (Video)
- Easy Crock Pot Ham and Potato Soup
- Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
- Ham & Cheese Slider Bake
- Broccoli Cheese Casserole with Ham
Did you enjoy this Ham Bone Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Ham Bone Soup (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 meaty ham bone
- 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes diced
- 3 carrots sliced
- 2 ribs celery sliced
- 1 cup corn
- 1 large onion diced
- 15 ounces cannellini beans drained and rinsed (white kidney beans)
- 7 cups chicken broth or water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker.
- Cover soup and cook on high 6 hours or low 9-10 hours.
- Remove ham bone, bay leaves and thyme stems (if using fresh thyme).
- Chop meat from the bone and add back into the soup. Stir and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Soup
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I made this with a honey ham hambone. The results were excellent, with everyone having seconds. I substituted pinto beans that had been soaked for twelve hours covered in lightly salted water and Italian herbs and cilantro for seasoning since it’s what I had. It’s a good idea to add some clean pieces of ham during the last hour. Be careful to not add any rind because it’s salty and smoky
Made this exactly according to the recipe except I didn’t have corn, so I used a cup of frozen mixed vegetables. We really enjoyed it. If I had a ham bone, I’d make it again.
The cooking time was a little different for me as I varied between high and low on my slow cooker but was still great!
This is delicious. I am making it for the second time. This time I did slow cook my ham bone and removed the meat ahead of time as I had 2 bones. Saved the broth and I will use a mix of ham broth and water (to keep the saltiness down). Freeze any leftover ham and broth for another pot! First time I used homemade chicken broth but the soup was loved by everyone and the leftovers gone within 2 days.
We hope you love it, Catherine. Cooking it with the ham bone in is so yummy!
Are you using canned corn?
Hi Lisa, you could use canned corn or frozen corn in this recipe.