Creamy Ham Bone Soup with Beans Recipe

It is a Ham Bone Soup made utilizing the sluggish cooker which is probably the most easy solution to cook dinner leftover ham bone. Set, neglect, collapse meat, flavour infused soup!

You’ll love the creamy broth (however no cream!), and the way the tender beans take in the flavour. Go away a few of the ham tender and juicy, pan fry some to make it crispy. It’s one of the best of each worlds!

Leftover Ham Bone Soup!

Ham bones are extremely coveted in my circle . Annually, I collect as many as I can and stash them in my deep freezer.

The Christmas simply gone, I went one step additional and gifted a number of Glazed Hams underneath the guise of being a considerate good friend.

In reality, these presents got here with the situation that I get the ham bone!! 😂 I’m utterly shameless.

So hopefully, a few of you stashed away your leftover ham bone within the freezer, simply ready for the correct time to make use of it. For those who didn’t, don’t fear – this may be made with a retailer purchased ham bone! 😇 (Right here’s a photograph comparability of retailer purchased and leftover ham)

Not your standard ham bone soup

You’re in all probability used to seeing ham bone soups with a transparent broth or generally, a tomato based mostly broth. I actually tried to get enthusiastic about these variations (and possibly it’s one thing that comes with maturity? 🤷🏻‍♀️) however I simply wished one thing extra.

One thing completely different.

This creamy (but cream-less) Ham Bone Soup with crispy golden ham bits is my concept of various. 🙂

The leftover ham bone

Right here’s one of many ham bones that boomeranged again to me after gifting it. My good friend was form sufficient to depart loads of ham on it. It weighed 1.1 kg / 2.2lb.

But when yours has been picked clear, don’t fear! You’ll nonetheless extract loads of flavour from the bone and non-edible components of the ham. Simply buy some additional ham meat to toss into the soup – or bulk up on extra veggies as a substitute!

Find out how to make this creamy Ham Bone Soup

This Ham Bone Soup has just a few extra steps than these “chuck all of it within the sluggish cooker” soups – however the additional steps are value it:

1. Gradual cook dinner dried beans with aromatics and the ham bone – the ham bone flavours the water to create the soup broth, the ham meat turns into “collapse tender” and the beans cook dinner;

2. Pan fry shredded ham till golden. This little additional step you don’t often see is 100% value it as a result of golden crispiness = extra flavour and texture!

3. Make soup thickening base in the identical pan by mixing milk with cornflour/cornstarch. This step additionally will get all that flavour from frying the ham bits caught on the underside of the skillet into the soup broth = even extra flavour.

See? I promised this ham bone soup was a step above the standard! Increasingly unimaginable flavour in each step!!

Gradual cook dinner ham bone with dried beans

The carrot and celery that was used to flavour the ham broth is fairly smooth after 8 hours of sluggish cooking however within the spirit of this leftover recipe, I like to cut it up and throw it again into the soup.

Make soup thickening base & add greens

That is the step the place we make a cornflour thickened “sludge” which is used to make the ham bone broth good and creamy. I additionally wish to get extra greens into the soup by beginning off by sautéing onion, carrots and celery.

And right here’s what you find yourself with:

✅ Wealthy, creamy broth, absolutely loaded with unimaginable depth of flavour – and we’ve used no cream!

✅ Crispy ham bits – the crowning glory

✅ Creamy smooth beans which have absorbed unimaginable flavour whereas sluggish cooking

✅ Loads of greens so it is a nice properly rounded one-bowl meal

Now, I do know beans are a starch so including a facet of bread for dunking is perhaps thought of carb overkill…. however who ever says no to soup dunkers??

Soup Dunkers

Fast Tacky Garlic Bread

World’s Best Yeast Bread recipe – Artisan, NO KNEAD crusty bread

Sandwich Bread WITHOUT yeast

Higher-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread

World’s finest No Yeast Bread – Irish Soda Bread

Savoury Cheese Muffins

Breads

The great factor about this recipe is which you could make it in levels. I made it just a few occasions after Christmas 2018 and stored getting distracted mid-cook by essential issues like assembly mates on the seashore, pressing Yum Cha outings and so forth.

So apart from stopping halfway via the sluggish cooking of the ham bone, you possibly can just about cease at any level on this recipe, then take it up once more when it fits.

Finish end result was all the time simply nearly as good!! ~ Johnsat x

PS The opposite actually nice use of leftover ham bone – Chinese language Ham Bone Congee. 3 Ingredient magic!

Gradual Cooker Ham Bone Soup
Watch Find out how to Make It

Creamy Ham Bone Soup with Beans Recipe

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Serves: 6

Nutrition facts: 352 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 1.2kg / 2.4lb leftover ham bone OR store bought ham hock / meaty bone (Note 1)
• 2 carrots , peeled cut into 3 chunks
• 1 celery stalk , cut into chunks
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 3 sprigs thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1.5 – 2 cups dried white beans , no need to soak (Note 2)
• 2 litres / 2 quarts water (8 cups)
• 2 tbsp (30g) butter or oil
• 1 onion , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 3 celery ribs , chopped
• 2 carrots , chopped
• 2 cups milk , any fat %
• 2 tsp Vegeta or other stock powder (Note 3)
• 60 g / 2 oz baby spinach (Note 4)
• 1/2 cup extra milk , any fat %
• 1/3 cup cornflour / cornstarch

Instructions

1. Place the Ham Broth ingredients in the slow cooker. Slow cook for 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.
2. Remove ham bone. Shred meat and discard bone. Return half the ham to the slow cooker (remainder is pan fried).
3. Discard thyme sprig.
4. Remove then chop carrot and celery, return to slow cooker.
5. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add half the ham and cook until golden and crispy.
6. Transfer most to slow cooker – hold back a few for garnish.
7. In the same skillet, melt remaining butter. Add onion and garlic, cook 1 minute.
8. Add celery and carrot, cook for 3 minutes until soft.
9. Add 2 cups milk, stir.
10. Mix cornflour and extra Milk. While stirring, pour into skillet. Mixture will thicken quickly.
11. Once very thick and paste-like, scrape into slow cooker.
12. Add Vegeta into slow cooker. Stir to dissolve paste.
13. Add spinach, push down into liquid.
14. Slow cook 30 minutes on low or 20 minutes on high until spinach is wilted and broth is heated and slightly thickened.
15. Serve garnished with crispy ham and a sprinkle of parsley, if desired!

Notes

1. Leftover Ham Bone – If your ham is looking a bit skimpy, you might want to buy some ham to dice up and throw into the soup. If the bone won’t fit into your slow cooker, try break the knuckles with your hands or take it to your friendly butcher to cut in half (or dig out your saw). Can also use store bought ham bone / hock.
2. White beans – More beans = chunkier soup. Great northern, cannellini, navy. No need to soak because we’re using the slow cooker.
Canned beans will also work but dried is better because it absorbs more flavour as it cooks and you can control the texture better. Stir drained canned beans into the soup when you add the shredded ham back in. May need extra cornflour to thicken broth (as dried beans soak up more liquid than canned)
3. Vegeta is a type of stock powder sold in supermarkets. Vegetable or chicken stock powders will also work nicely here, or crumble in a bouillon cube.
4. Greens – about 2 to 3 handfuls. Or use chopped normal spinach, silverbeet or kale.
5. General: – Soup colour will differ depending on your ham bone. More skin (leathery brown stuff) = browner broth (and more flavour) = off white soup. Less skin = whiter soup. – Soup is not intended to be a really thick soup as I find it makes it too heavy (it’s quite rich). But if you want a thicker broth, simply add more cornflour/cornstarch mixed with equal amount of water/milk – add a bit at a time, as soup heats it will thicken.
6. Storage – store in fridge for 3 to 4 days. If you freeze, cornflour will lose it’s thickening power so you’ll need to add more when reheating to re-thicken soup (see Note 5). Works perfectly, I tried it.
7. Nutrition is a guide only. It’s virtually impossible for a non-scientist to calculate the nutrition in the ham bone broth, I’ve done my best!

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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