A hearty soup is an easy meal and the perfect way to enjoy leftover ham.
This hearty homemade ham and bean soup recipe is easy to make – no soaking required! A mixture of beans, ham, onion, and broth simmer in the crockpot for a meal that is as easy as it is delicious!
Serve it with a piece of cornbread or a crusty loaf for dipping.
I am excited to have partnered with Hurst’s HamBeens® 15 BEAN SOUP® to bring you this belly-warming bean soup recipe.
Hearty Homestyle Goodness
- A hearty family meal, this crockpot Ham and Bean Soup recipe is easy to prepare.
- This simple soup requires few ingredients, starting with Hurst’s® HamBeens® 15 Bean Soup®, onions, and ham – no soaking required.
- Budget-friendly, this soup can be made with leftover ham or a ham bone from Christmas or Easter dinner. You can also use smoked turkey or a ham hock.
- This soup freezes perfectly and reheats well.
Ingredients for Ham and Bean Soup
Beans – This ham and bean soup starts with a blend of dried beans. I use Hurst’s® HamBeens® 15 Bean Soup® as it has a great variety of beans including great northern beans, navy beans, and more. They are sold in the dry bean section of almost any grocery store or online.
Seasoning – Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup includes a seasoning packet to flavor. If you don’t have the seasoning packet add a cube of bouillon (any flavor). You can also add dried herbs or bay leaves if you’d like. You can add a little bit of thyme or some minced cloves of garlic if you’d like.
Ham – If you have a leftover ham bone from baked ham add it to the soup while it’s cooked for extra flavor. If you don’t have a ham bone, ask the butcher or deli for either ham bones (they’re usually inexpensive) or ham hocks. If you don’t have either, leftover chopped ham works beautifully in this recipe, too.
Broth – As the ham adds a lot of salt, I prefer a reduced sodium broth in this recipe.
Vegetables – Canned tomatoes are great in this recipe and can be replaced with canned tomatoes with chilis (like Rotel) to add a little bit of spice. Sliced celery or carrots can be added.
How to Make Ham and Bean Soup
- Rinse beans and add to the slow cooker with onions, ham, broth, and seasonings (per the recipe below).
- Cook on high for 5 hours (or low for 7-8) or until beans are tender.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Easy peasy! Serve warm with cornbread for dipping.
Important: Do not add acidic ingredients, like canned tomatoes, until the beans are soft.
Tips for Bean Soup
- Rinse the beans well and check for any debris. No soaking is needed when using a slow cooker.
- If you have already soaked the beans, you can reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1 cup.
- IMPORTANT: Add acidic ingredients (such as canned tomatoes or lemon juice) after the beans have softened (these ingredients can sometimes interfere with rehydration).
- For a thinner consistency, add one extra cup of broth or water to your slow cooker. For a thicker bean soup, remove a cup or so of the beans, blend them, and add them back into the soup.
Storing Leftovers
Fridge: Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Freezer: This ham and bean soup recipe makes a large batch and it freezes well. I divide it into individual portions so it’s easy to thaw as many portions as needed. Thaw in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
More Favorite Bean Soups
Did your family love this Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package HamBeens® 15 BEAN SOUP® with seasoning packet
- 8 cups reduced sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 meaty ham bone or ham hocks, diced ham or 1 lb. cooked sausage
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder optional
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juices, 1 can
- 1 lemon juiced
- hot sauce or red pepper flakes to taste, optional
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and drain. Sort any unwanted debris and set seasoning packet aside.
- In a 6qt crockpot, add the beans, broth, ham bone (if using), onion, garlic, and chili powder in a 6qt slow cooker. Do not add lemon or tomatoes until the beans are softened.
- Cook on high for 5 hours (or low for 7-8) or until the beans are tender.
- Once the beans are tender, remove the ham bone (if using), chop any meat left on the bone, and add it back to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, ham seasoning packet, and lemon juice.
- Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pork, Slow Cooker, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I am excited to have partnered with Hurst’s HamBeens® 15 BEAN SOUP® to bring you this belly-warming recipe. While I was compensated for this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Working with great brands I love allows me to keep bringing you the great recipes you love!
I’ve made this a couple times and I get a ton of compliments on it. I add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and a couple sliced carrots and celery to up the vegetable factor. I love Holly’s recipes. They’re just plain old good food that everyone likes!
I’m using Navy beans (my hubby prefers) so no seasoning packet. What spices would you recommend?
I would recommend a bouillon cube or two – beef or chicken are great in this recipe.
The Best Soup I have ever made had people complement me on it too
5 star. it would only let me leave 4 lol. I’ve had 2 bowls and realized I forgot lemon juice and season packet (I’ll do that now)… but it is sooo amazing! not soaking beans was awesome!! I added 2 dashes of cayenne pepper and it’s perfect and not too spicy. thank you!!
Turned out excellent and so easy to put together in the crockpot.
It was as good as I remembered! Easy in a crockpot. Used the broth I made from the Thanksgiving turkey and ham bone from Thanksgiving as well. It’s a keeper with plenty to share.
can’t wait to try recipes
Made this for the first time and it turned out good. Husband loved it! I decided to soak the beans overnight after seeing comments about them turning out crunchy. Cooked on high for 5 hours and they were fully cooked, some fell apart which resulted in thicker soup but we like that! Although the recipe does not require soaking them, this step takes little effort and will speed up your cooking time. Tomatoes were a wonderful addition. I omitted lemon. I feel like canned tomatoes provided enough flavor and acidity. I used 4 cups of diced ham (no bone) and that was a little too much for my taste. I would suggest 3 cups if you’re only using diced ham. I added ground pepper and salt to taste. I recommend doing this at the end.
While I do love Hurst’s 15 bean soup, I was out. I used one pound of dried Blauhilde beans from my garden and it came out great!!! Thanks for the inspiration!
I must of done something wrong. Has this going in my crockpot for over 8 hours while at work and beans were still hard?
Did you add any acidic ingredients to the beans before they were softened? (Lemon juice, tomatoes, vinegar etc)?
I make a lot of soups and this looks wonderful. Just wondered if you could use a can of diced tomatoes instead of the fresh one?
Hi Frances, we use 15 ounces of canned diced tomatoes in this recipe. I hope that helps!
Made this tonight and it was a smash hit! Only thing I did differently was add a bag of fresh spinach. A keeper for sure!
Absolutely superb.
I made this yesterday, and it was delicious! I used 2 ham steaks about 8 ounces each. Perfect amount of ham. Make sure you get Hurst’s beans with the seasoning packet.
I may be wrong, but I have read that you cannot cook kidney beans in the crockpot as it does not come to a boil. Kidney beans contains a chemical that is harmful unless they are boiled for ten minutes. I do not know if any of the other beans included in the mix need to be boiled.
Hi Carol, for this recipe we use 1 package Hurst’s® HamBeens® 15 Bean Soup® which is designed to be used in a crockpot. I hope that helps!
Do I ABSOLUTELY need to add the tomatoes & lemon juice? I know my husband wouldn’t like these.
I take care of my granddaughter & am gone during the week & home on weekends & need some fresh recipes that he can eat while I’m gone & this will be PERFECT this Fall & Winter!
While I have only made this recipe as written it should be okay to leave them out. It will just alter the flavor.
This is the best bean soup I have ever eaten! I’ve made it several times now and we absolutely love it. It freezes well too, so on a cold nasty day I can pull out a container and heat it up and it’s a fast comforting dinner. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Legumes contain phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, and require a careful soak before cooking. Phytic acid blocks mineral absorption and enzyme inhibitors reduce the amount of nutrients available. In order to get nutrition from the beans and prevent intestinal distress they must be soaked with an acid, a little lemon juice or cider vinegar in the water. It is very easy to soak them and this recipe is very good after!
Hi Amy! I wanted to clarify for the newer cooks. I am assuming you are cooking with the Weston Price Foundation nutritional guidelines—certainly cannot go wrong there! But beans are a tricky food, and don’t always benefit from adding an acid to the soaking water. Some do—like black beans, lentils and fava beans, but others, like split peas, kidney beans, cannellini beans and other white beans need a neutral to slightly alkaline soak. Or they will stay hard.
So for the 15-bean soup, the plain water is best, as it uses a variety of beans. I am older, and speak from hard-won experience—it is very disappointing to spend all day cooking a lovely, great-smelling soup that no one will eat because the beans are hard! Lol! It was confusing to me over the years because I had a black bean soup that cooked with tomatoes and was fine. I had no idea different beans needed different treatment.
This is a wonderful soup recipe and I am tucking it into my planned rotation for fall. Loving all the soup recipes here—and especially your photographs! I am glad I found your site!
Geez! It’s absolutely delicious! Make it or don’t make!
This was the best bean soup I ever made! The lemon brightened the flavor and making it in the crockpot was a breeze!
Can I use regular white beans if I can’t find the Hurst package. If so, what seasonings would I add.
The seasoning packet can be replaced with a bouillon cube of any flavor you like. Hope that helps! If Hurst doesn’t ship to your area, you can also buy them on Amazon so that might be a possibility. Hope that helps!
I only find Hurst beans at Vons. hope that helps.