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    Home » Recipes » Soup Recipes

    Easy Leftover Ham and Bean Soup

    Published: May 17, 2022 · Modified: May 17, 2022 by Daniela Apostol · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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    A quick and easy Leftover Ham and Bean Soup that is healthy and filling, just perfect for a chilly day. The soup takes about 25 minutes to cook, and it's a great way of using up any ham leftovers you have after a big celebration or a good Sunday Roast. A hearty midweek meal for the whole family.

    A white bowl with bean and ham soup

    Whether you make your own ham or get a ready-cooked one for family feasts like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinners, leftovers can always be put to great use. I'd rather cook a bigger meal and have leftovers, than not cook enough. Especially if you have guests over.

    Soups are the perfect way of using up any leftovers you have, not just meat leftovers, but also veggies. I cooked this ham and bean soup with fresh vegetables, but if you have any roasted veggie leftovers, by all means, throw them in, the more veggies, the better.

    I would not say that ham is a hard-to-digest-meat, but it's pretty filling, so using lots of vegetables in this soup restores the balance, so you get a healthy and nutritious dish that screams perfection.

    Little seasoning is needed here, the ham is already flavourful, but there is one herb that makes the perfect match with beans and ham: thyme. If you have fresh thyme, that's perfect, otherwise the dried thyme works just as well. Plus fresh parsley, which it's a must for any soup.

    Jump to:
    • HOW TO MAKE LEFTOVER HAM AND BEAN SOUP
    • COOKING THE SOUP IN THE CROCKPOT
    A pot with ham and bean soup

    HOW TO MAKE LEFTOVER HAM AND BEAN SOUP

    I never buy dried beans, I don't have an instant pot, and I can't possibly be bothered with soaking and cooking them for hours and hours. I guess if you have a large family, dried beans work out cheaper, otherwise, a good old tin of cooked beans is all you need. And that tin is really cheap too.

    • start by peeling and chopping the onion and carrots, and peeling the red pepper and celery stalks.
    • add them to a pot together with the stock (broth) which can be anything you have: vegetable, chicken or beef stock. Or just water, and add a small stock cube to it.
    • cover the pot with a lid and leave to boil for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender - having the lid on speeds up the process
    • add the ham cut into cubes, beans, tomato puree, salt, pepper and dried thyme, and cook for a further 5 minutes
    • turn the heat off, and garnish with fresh parsley

    That's it! It can't possibly get any easier than that, it's a super speedy soup that can be made before dinner time, so you can enjoy it nice and hot.

    Collage of 4 photos to show how to make leftover ham and bean soup

    COOKING THE SOUP IN THE CROCKPOT

    Now, this soup is really easy to cook on the stove top, but if you'd rather set up your slow cooker in the morning and come back home to a cooked meal, nothing easier.

    Just add all the veggies, beans and leftover ham to the crockpot together with 3 cups of broth, and set if either on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. The seasoning, thyme, parsley and tomato puree can be added at the end, no need to add them from the start.

    Carrots and celery take their sweet time to become tender in the slow cooker, that's why we have it set up for so many hours, otherwise the beans and ham are already cooked.

    The reason we won't need to use all the 5 cups of broth used for cooking the soup on the stove top is that very little liquid is lost in the crockpot, where on the stovetop more than a quarter of it is absorbed during cooking. So start by pouring 2 cups of broth first, and if it's not enough after adding the other ingredients, add the 3rd cup.

    Overhead shoot of a white bowl with ham and bean soup

    If you’ve liked my EASY LEFTOVER HAM AND BEAN SOUP or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM  and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.

    4.07 from 15 votes
    A white bowl with ham and bean soup garnished with fresh parsley
    Print
    Easy Leftover Ham and Bean Soup
    Prep Time
    5 mins
    Cook Time
    20 mins
    Total Time
    25 mins
     

    A quick and easy Leftover Ham and Bean Soup that is healthy and filling, just perfect for a chilly day. The soup takes about 25 minutes to cook, and it's a great way of using up any ham leftovers you have after a big celebration like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter or just a good Sunday Roast. A hearty midweek meal for the whole family, this ham and bean soup is the perfect comfort food. Kids will love it too, as it's so tasty and colourful.

    Course: Soup
    Cuisine: International
    Keyword: leftover ham recipes
    Servings: 3 servings
    Calories: 135 kcal
    Author: Daniela Apostol
    Ingredients
    • 1 ½ cup leftover ham, cubed
    • 1 tin cooked white beans (400 g, 13oz)
    • 1 onion
    • 2 carrots
    • 2 celery stalks
    • 1 red pepper
    • 5 cups stock/broth either vegetable, chicken or beef
    • 2 tablespoon tomato puree
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
    Instructions
    1. Peel and chop the onion and carrots, and chop the red pepper and celery stalks.

    2. Add the stock to a pot together with the vegetables, and cover the pot with a lid.

    3. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes or until the the veggies are tender.

    4. Add the beans (drained and rinsed) and cooked ham, tomato puree, salt, pepper and thyme, and leave to cook for a further 5 minutes.

    5. Remove the pot from the heat and garnish with chopped parsley.

    Recipe Video

    Recipe Notes

     

    If you 'd like to cook this soup in the slow cooker, just add all the veggies, beans and leftover ham to the crockpot together with 3 cups of broth, and set if either on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

    The seasoning, thyme, parsley and tomato puree can be added at the end, no need to add them from the start.

    Carrots and celery take their sweet time to become tender in the slow cooker, that's why we have it set up for so many hours, otherwise the beans and ham are already cooked.

    The reason we won't need to use all the 5 cups of broth used for cooking the soup on the stove top is that very little liquid is lost in the crockpot, where on the stovetop more than a quarter of it is absorbed during cooking.

    So start by pouring 2 cups of broth first, and if it's not enough after adding the other ingredients, add the 3rd cup.

    Nutrition Facts
    Easy Leftover Ham and Bean Soup
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 135 Calories from Fat 18
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 2g3%
    Saturated Fat 1g5%
    Cholesterol 31mg10%
    Sodium 2754mg115%
    Potassium 384mg11%
    Carbohydrates 18g6%
    Fiber 3g12%
    Sugar 11g12%
    Protein 12g24%
    Vitamin A 9156IU183%
    Vitamin C 59mg72%
    Calcium 39mg4%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. GARY KING

      November 03, 2020 at 10:43 pm

      This is a good soup made as writen

      Reply
      • Daniela Apostol

        November 05, 2020 at 2:14 pm

        I am glad you liked it!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Daniela,the blogger behind My Gorgeous Recipes, welcome to my kitchen! I absolutely love cooking and baking. I love good food that is healthy (and not so healthy), delicious and nutritious.

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