Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup
Updated
Updated
Made with leftover ham and canned beans, this easy Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup is a dump-and-go crockpot recipe that’s super easy, but full of incredible flavor. Just add everything to the crockpot, go about your day, and dinner is ready to serve!
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5 STAR REVIEW
Add this crockpot ham and bean soup to your list of super easy slow cooker recipes! The hands-on time needed for this soup is just 5 minutes. It’s literally a matter of dumping everything into the crockpot, turning it on, and coming home to dinner.
This soup is filled with veggies like carrots, celery, and onion, and made with vegetable broth instead of a cream base, so leftovers freezes so well. Serve with a salad and some crusty bread for an easy, satisfying weeknight dinner.
Helpful Tips & Variations
- Ham bone vs Ham hock. I love to make this slow cooker ham and bean soup using leftover ham – especially my crockpot spiral ham – and the ham bone. Including the ham bone provides the absolute best flavor. However, if you’re not making this with leftover ham and you still want all that flavor from the bone, you can purchase a ham hock instead. It will provide a little more smoky flavor to the soup, but it’s so delicious either way.
- Beans. Canned white cannellini beans are my preference for this soup. Navy beans and Great Northern Beans can also be used. If you want to use dry beans, you can, but they’ll need to soak overnight first.
- Broth. I prefer vegetable broth in this soup for a richer taste, but chicken broth can be used instead if that’s all you have on hand.
- Thicken the soup. With the beans, ham, and all the veggies I think this soup ends up with just the perfect consistency. However, if you like your soup a bit thicker, there are a few easy ways to thicken it. See notes below.
Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone, (see note below)
- 4 cups diced ham
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 & 1/2 cups diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 medium diced onion
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients into a 6 quart slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours.
- Remove the ham bone and bay leaves from the soup.
- Serve with your favorite crusty bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
How to Thicken Ham and Bean Soup
If you’d prefer the soup be thicker, try either of these methods:
- Don’t drain the beans. Instead of rinsing and draining the canned beans, just dump it all in including its liquid.
- Use cornstarch. You can combine 2 to 3 tablespoons of broth with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to create a slurry that thickens the soup.
- Blend some of the beans. For a creamier and thicker soup, remove a cup of the beans, blend them, and return them to the soup. The flavor will stay the same, but the soup will be creamier.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite accompaniment to crockpot beans and ham are light and fluffy popovers! Other good options are a slice of Dutch oven bread or cornbread to soak up every last drop of the delicious broth. And, of course, if you want to do a soup and salad combo, a fresh side salad or caesar salad pairs perfectly.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- Storing leftovers. Leftover ham and white bean soup can be stored in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. You can reheat either on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Can you freeze ham and bean soup? Yes! One of the best things about slow cooker ham and bean soup is just how well it freezes. This is a great crockpot recipe to make extras of so that you always have a quick and easy dinner on hand. To freeze, allow the soup to cool completely then transfer to a freezer-safe container. You can freeze in large batches or individual servings. Thaw in the fridge.
- To reheat. The soup will thicken as it sits and chills in the fridge (or thaws, if frozen.) Gently reheat on the stove or microwave. As you heat any leftovers back up, you can add in some water or vegetable broth to thin it out and get it back to soup texture.
More Easy Crockpot Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
- Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
- Slow Cooker Beef Brisket
- Pulled Pork
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
It was EXCELLENT! I used low sodium chicken broth and did not add salt to the recipe. ????
So yummy! I added 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to my bowl of soup and ate it with dinner rolls. Delicious!
Another win from BF! Soup season is upon us and this was the first time I have tried this one and it was so good. It serves for a few days if are cooking for 2-3 or a easily feeds up to 6 with one full hearty bowl per person. I used a ham hock (I keep them on hand in the freezer) which gave it a soft smokey flavor that was just perfect. I don’t often cook a full ham so it took about 1.5 ham steaks to achieve the 4 cups of diced. We loved that it was ham hearty. Some recipes have very little ham and this was very satiating. Served it with BF Cheddar Bay Biscuits (chef’s kiss!). Thanks for more cold weather deliciousness :)
Just finished making Bean Soup. Tastes great!!
I made this today. Used diced ham. No ham bone. Was excellent!
Can I use dry beans
I put 1 lb bag of dried beans in a large pot & cover with cool water. that is 3 inches above the top of the beans. I let them soak for 10 hrs. Drain the beans, put them back in the pot. add the broth & bring to a boil. turn the stove off. Skim the foam, pour beans & broth into crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 8 hrs.
Best ham and bean soup ever! Love the kick of hot pepper and the cornstarch suggestion. And blending some of the beans!
So Good and So Easy to Make
If you want this thicker (and a bit richer), just keep the juice from the cans of beans. I used Red Kidney and Black beans. I kept the juice from the Black Beans. SOLID recipe, thank for posting this. Making my life a lot easier.
This was absolutely delicious, easy to make, and made the house smells so good all day