15 Bean Soup with Ham

4.93 from 38 votes

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!

Prep Time1

Cook Time2 30

Total Time3 30

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dinner, ham, soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 109kcal

Author: Tricia

Ingredients

1 package 15 bean mixture soaked overnight (20 ounce package)
1 cup red lentils
1 ham bone fat removed (leave the 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
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 (8oz)
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 will 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 using). Simmer another 30 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp tender.
While the vegetables are cooking trim any meat remaining from 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.

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. Check the seasoning before serving.
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.
We discard the ham flavoring package that comes with the beans as the soup is flavored and seasoned with the ham and ham bone

Nutritional information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered as an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition