Easy Ham Bone Soup
A delicious vegetable ham bone soup that's an easy recipe to make and vary by using up whatever vegetables you have on hand. Choose your favorite way to cook: slow cooker, stove top, or Instant pot.
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 111kcal
Equipment
- Large Stockpot Slow Cooker, Or Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 ham bones, with some meat attached
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 to 2 cups cooked beans* white, red, garbanzo beans, etc.
- 3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables: peppers, carrots, cabbage, kale, spinach, tomatoes, corn, peas, etc.
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- salt to taste**
Instructions
To Make Ham Bone Broth:
- Add ham bone and chopped onion to the bowl of a Crockpot, Instant Pot liner, or stove-top stockpot (it's okay of the ham bone is frozen). Cover with water (in an Instant Pot don't fill more than 3/4 full, though - it's okay if some of the bone/meat is not covered).
- For Crockpot: cook for 4-5 hours on Low (2-3 High).TIP: See shortcut option in notes.
- For Stove Top: cook on the stove top for 1-2 hours.
- For Instant Pot: Press manual (high pressure) and adjust cook time to 30 minutes. The pressure cooker will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure - (cooking recipes with more liquid, the longer it typically takes to come to pressure). When cooking is done, let the cooker naturally release pressure for 15 minutes. Then lay a towel over the knob and turn the seal to quick release the remaining pressure.
To Make Soup:
- Use a slotted spoon to remove all the bone pieces and large pieces of meat to a cutting board. Chop all the meat, removing from bone if needed, and return to the pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients and choose cooking method:
- Crockpot: Cook for another 3-4 hours on Low (or 2 hours on High).
- Stove Top: Bring to boil, then simmer for about 1 hour until the vegetables are tender.***
- For Instant Pot: Lock the lid to seal. Choose "Manual" for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, hit Cancel/Keep Warm and let release naturally for 10 minutes. Lay a cloth over the valve and quick release until all the pressure is out.
- Season with salt and serve warm with a crusty bread.
Notes
*It's easiest to use precooked beans for this recipe - my favorite is to use the cooked beans I keep in the freezer or use 1 to 2 cans. You can cook dry beans with the ham bone, but make sure that they are soaked beforehand and drained fully to lessen the gas-producing enzymes. We learned this the hard way as a family!
**Ham is salty, so taste towards the end of cooking to see if more salt is needed.
***Tip: to keep a bright green color, add things like chopped greens or peas in the last half hour of cooking.
Slow Cooker Shortcut Reader Tip: Throw everything into a crockpot in one step and remove the bone out after 4 hours. Cut the meat off the bone and return to the pot and serve.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 111kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 60mg | Potassium: 291mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2827IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg
