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15 Bean Soup with Ham

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15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables - a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots and plenty of spices. This soup freezes beautifully! www.savingdessert.com

15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables is a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind-of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, diced tomatoes, fresh onions, celery and carrots with plenty of spice and flavor.  And, this soup freezes beautifully!

First, ham and bean soup has been a staple in our house for all the years we’ve been married.  Every time we buy a bone-in ham, we make this giant pot of soup.  Sometimes I think we look forward to this soup more than the actual ham.  It’s that good.  It may look a little overcooked and mushy, but that because I add extra red lentils.  The lentils breakdown and give this soup a thick, creamy texture.  The vegetables are added at the end so they stay crisp tender.

 

 

15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables - a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots and plenty of spices. This soup freezes beautifully! www.savingdessert.com

This soup will be great even if you don’t have a ham bone.

If you don’t have a ham bone, no worries. Use plenty of ham and the flavor will be there. When we have a ham for the holidays, we often leave a lot of ham on the bone so our soup will be on the meaty side. Once it’s cooked for a few hours, the ham just falls off the bone.  My mom always made ham bone soup but she only used navy beans.  We like the variety of the 14, 15 or even 16 bean soup packages.  You can find packages of bean soup mixes in the dried bean section of your local grocery store.  But no worries – use a package of navy beans if you can’t find the other!

 

 

15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables - a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots and plenty of spices. This soup freezes beautifully! www.savingdessert.com

Can I freeze this soup?

Yes indeed! This soup freezes beautifully and will last about 6 months in your freezer. When you’re ready to serve thaw overnight in the refrigerator then warm gently on the stove top. There’s no need to boil the soup. Finally, this soup is great served with cornbread or corn muffins, but crackers work well in a pinch too!

 

15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables - a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots and plenty of spices. This soup freezes beautifully! www.savingdessert.com

 

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A bowl of 15 bean soup with ham

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5 from 3 votes

15 Bean Soup with Ham

Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
Yield: 10 servings
Course: Soup
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
15 Bean Soup with Ham and Vegetables - a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup loaded with heart healthy beans, fresh onions, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots and plenty of spices. This soup freezes beautifully!

Ingredients

  • 1 (20 ounce) package 15 bean mixture soaked overnight, 20
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 1 ham bone fat removed (feel free to meat on the bone)
  • 1 cup ham cut into cubes (if there is enough ham left on the bone – no need to add additional chopped ham)
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes with juice (regular diced tomatoes are fine too)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • several sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions

  • Place the package of 15 beans in a large soup pot and cover with clean cool water by 3-4 inches. Cover the pot with a lid and soak the beans overnight or at least 8 hours.
  • Pour the soaked beans in a colander and discard the soaking water. Rinse the beans and place them back in a large soup pot along with the lentils. And add enough clean, cool water to cover the beans and lentils by two inches. Add the ham bone and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat.
  • While the soup is cooking, you may need to skim any foam that forms on the top. You can use a very large serving spoon to make this easy. Discard the foam.
  • Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for two hours, stirring occasionally.
  • Next, remove the ham bone and set aside to cool.
  • Add the onion, tomatoes, chili powder, lemon juice, garlic, celery, carrots, broth, thyme and pepper (and additional chopped ham if adding). Simmer another 30 minutes until the vegetables are crisp tender.
  • While the vegetables are cooking trim any meat remaining on the ham bone. Return the chopped ham back to the soup and stir to combine. Discard the ham bone.
  • Serve soup with corn muffins, cornbread, or crackers and a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Recipe Notes

We don't add salt to this soup as ham typically is salty enough. Better to be on the safe side with this dish.
This soup freezes very well.
Ham bones become brittle when cooked so they are not suitable for dogs. The bones splinter easily and can damage their mouth and teeth.
Preparation time does not include soaking overnight.

Here are a few more soup recipes you might enjoy:

Everybody needs a big pot for making soup – here are a few of my favorite kitchen tools (photos are clickable for more information)

a big soup pot with lid  a set of three strainers

The small print: If you decide to purchase something at Amazon after following my affiliate link, I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog.

Well that’s it for our pretty little holiday ham.  But that’s okay – I’m ready to move on to some meatless Monday dishes and vegetable heavy simple casseroles and soups.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tricia

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69 Comments

  1. Sharron Cox says

    When I make this soup, I boil the ham bone ahead of time to make a broth. I then cool and skim off any fat and clean off the bone and add to the broth. Then I use the broth instead of water in the recipe. Adds a bit more ham/smokey flavor and the broth can be made ahead of time and frozen if you want.

    reply to this comment >

  2. Eve says

    5 stars
    I hope to try this; it looks so good!

    The directions are the best I’ve seen; very explicit!
    I so appreciate that as I am one who likes things clearly stated.
    I will save this recipe…..
    Thanks so much!
    Eve

    reply to this comment >

  3. Cathy says

    Hello! I just recently made this soup for a very large group and tripled the recipe. In so doing, there is an overwhelming sour lemon taste to the soup now. Any ideas what I can add to offset this?

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Cathy. Not sure why the lemon flavor was so prominent. Perhaps you accidentally added too much? Potatoes are great for helping remove too much salt. Not sure if that would work for lemon. Maybe add a small amount of brown sugar to a bowl of soup and see if that helps? If it does, you can add more to the entire pot. Good luck.

      reply to this comment >

  6. anne johnston says

    I MADE THIS IN CROCKPOT TODAY USING SMOKED SAUSAGE SINCE I HAD NO HAM. FOLLOWED THE RECIPE EXACTLY EXCEPT I SAUTEED THE VEGETABLES FIRST. COOKED 4 HRS ON HIGH, ADDING VEGETABLES THE LAST 30 MINUTES. TURNED OUT QUITE GOOD.

    reply to this comment >

      • Melanie Talley says

        5 stars
        Finally a recipe that reminds me of my Great Grandmother. The only thing I changed was the chopped garlic. My Grandmother used to put whole pieces of garlic and who ever ended up with one didn’t have to help with the dishes. My Grandmother used to make sure I got a garlic clove because I always helped with the dishes. Yes I was that kid. My family loved the soup and my Aunt started crying. She was so happy that I found a recipe that was a family favorite for generations. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING.

        reply to this comment >

  9. Joann Rowe says

    I hate when people want to change recipes but this one has me drooling.
    I have leftover ham in the freezer but no bone. Does the soup turn out
    well without a bone but lots of ham? I really want some even tho the
    temps haven’t started to fall. Thanks for sharing it is so different from
    the old stand by.

    reply to this comment >

  11. Embo in RVA says

    I just have to tell you that this is the BEST ham-15 bean soup I have ever made.
    I now tend to bake a spiral ham over the long holiday season, too — and with this soup to look forward to, you can bet that tradition will continue! I especially like adding the vegetables near the end of cooking, as that keeps them distinct and flavorful; your spices and other flavorings (esp. the lemon juice) are also spot-on and make for a more sophisticated taste.
    The one thing I may try next time is adding more chicken broth; my batch turned out fantastic, but with barely any spare liquid at all.
    Kudos! (Will next check out your coconut chicken with spinach and lentils soup . . .)

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Outstanding! Thanks so much for the feedback and yes we make this year after year and it never disappoints. Good to know about the chicken broth – sometimes it boils down and more broth is needed. Thanks again for trying it and for the feedback 🙂

      reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Hi Bill – no I do not use the flavor packet when using real ham and the ham bone. If you don’t plan to add meat, then I would use it. Thanks for the great question. I hope you love it as much as we do. Thanks for trying our recipe 🙂

      reply to this comment >

  13. Monica says

    We have been sick here – on and off – but everyone’s still always hungry. This soup would totally hit the spot, particularly this past weekend when the fellas were out shoveling snow and I was trying to nurse my head cold. I do love ham and beans – this hearty soup is right up my alley!

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      I can’t seem to get rid of this crud either Monica – nothing worse that being sick. We got about 3 inches of snow but since we have the bitter cold temperatures, nothing is melting. But it supposed to be in the 60’s by Friday. Crazy weather! Get well soon 🙂

      reply to this comment >

  19. Karen in Michigan says

    Can’t wait to try this delicious looking soup this weekend–I’m sure it will be wonderful. I’ve tried several of your soup recipes and they’re all delicious, especially the minestrone, which I made several times last winter. Everyone who’s had it loves it. Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes and I just want to say the photos on you site are wonderful–of all the food blogs that I follow, yours is my favorite.

    reply to this comment >

    • Tricia Buice says

      Oh my gosh Karen in Michigan!!! You have made my day, my week, and my month! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know you like our recipes. I am so pleased you’re going to try this soup. If you have a really big ham bone and lots of meat – feel free to double the recipe. I can’t believe how sweet you are! Please let me know if there is every anything you are looking for. I would be happy to test a new recipe for you. Thank you for continuing to visit and for trying our recipes. The minestrone is a favorite of mine too. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hope you didn’t get too much snow – and feel free to send some down here to Virginia.

      reply to this comment >

      • Karen in Michigan says

        Tricia, I’m so glad I was able to brighten your day a bit; your comment definitely made me smile. Believe me, if I could send you some snow I gladly would. It’s beautiful but it’s really cold up here–some blue sky and sunshine would be nice for a change. Have a happy day!

        reply to this comment >

  20. tanna says

    I think the best thing about having a ham is all the wonderful things you can do with the leftovers! LOL! This looks perfect for the weather we are having. Arggghhh… I’m not much on the really COLD, but I do enjoy a good hearty soup when we have to endure a cold front! Sending blessings and hugs ~ tanna

    reply to this comment >

  22. Chris Scheuer says

    This soup looks wonderful, love wonderful variety of beans. I just happen to have a ham in the fridge and always love a new bean soup recipe! Hope the snow they’re predicting for the weekend becomes a reality – this would be so perfect to have simmering on the back of the stove!

    reply to this comment >

  23. Monique says

    My kind of soup..I have to say I love many soups except sour drop soups..
    w/ an egg in them..blech.
    no eggs in my soup.
    I have a big container of many beans specifically for these soups..ham adds such a salty goodness:)

    reply to this comment >

  27. John/Kitchen Riffs says

    We’re into high soup season at our house! Had it last night, and the night before. 🙂 It’s cold! And just seems so right at this time of the year — after all the rich food we’ve been gorging ourselves with since Thanksgiving. Thanks for this. And Happy New Year!

    reply to this comment >