Julie Clark
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15 Bean and Ham Soup
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Save the Christmas or Easter Ham bone for ham bone soup! This 15 bean and ham soup is a great way to use up leftover ham. It’s hearty and comforting.
Last week we shared our ham noodle soup and ham and bean soup recipe. This delicious soup is very similar, but instead has Hurst’s Hambeens with a mix of 15 beans as a base. This 15 Bean and Ham Soup uses a leftover ham bone to create a hearty soup with great flavor.
Don’t let the time needed for this 15-bean soup frighten you away. It’s mostly hands-off time and you’ll find that it really is an easy bean soup recipe!
Ingredients for 15 Bean and Ham Soup
- Hurst’s Hambeens. You’ll fall in love with the beautiful colors of these beans! According to Hurst’s Hambeens, 15 bean soup mix contains a variety of beans: Great Northern beans, Pinto, Large Lima, Black-eyed Peas, Garbanzo, Baby Lima, Green Split, Kidney, Cranberry, Small White, Pink, Small Red, Yellow Split Peas, Lentil, Navy beans, White Kidney, Black Bean, Yellow Eye.
- Ham Bone. This is a hambone from a leftover holiday ham, or maybe one you’ve kept in the freezer. An alternative to ham bones is ham hocks. A smoked ham hock will give a deliciously smoky flavor to the soup.
- Carrots, Celery and Onion. One of my favorite soup hacks is to buy Mirepoix, a frozen mix of soup ready diced onion, celery and carrots. It makes soup prep so much faster.
✨ See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients. ✨
How to Make 15 Bean and Ham Soup
Plan about 2 ½ hours to make this ham bone soup. Much of this time is “hands off” while the soup simmers, so you’ll have lots of time to throw a load of laundry in or whip up some homemade biscuits, crusty bread or garlic bread to go with the soup.
- Presoak the beans overnight. Discard the seasoning packet that comes with the beans, or use it for another recipe.
- Pour the chicken broth into a large stockpot and set to medium high heat. Bring to a boil, add the beans, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender (this takes about 1 hour).
- Add the hambone, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaves. Bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce heat again and simmer until the veggies are soft (about another hour).
- Add ham and mustard powder. Stir and simmer another 30 minutes.
- Remove the ham bone and bay leaf from the soup and discard. Season with salt and pepper.
It’s really that easy! Serve with a side salad for a complete meal.
Storage Instructions
This soup may continue to soak up the liquid as it sits, but it is still delicious served the next day. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you buy a ham bone?
Yes! Buy a ham bone at Honey Baked Ham or you can ask your local butcher for a ham bone. Imagine the deliciousness of Honey Baked Ham soup. The slight sweet would add delicious flavor to the soup. Try our copycat recipe for honey baked ham. 😋
Do you have to soak soup beans?
Soaking the beans is called “degassing” the beans. Soaking the dry beans helps to get rid of some of the indigestible sugars on the beans. Allow the beans to sit in cool water at least 12 hours, but up to 24 hours. Then rinse them and drain them well before starting the soup.
If you don’t have time to do 12 hours, soak them for as long as you have and then rinse. Any amount of soaking will help.
Can I freeze a ham bone for soup later?
Yes. If you don’t want to make soup with your ham bone right away, you can freeze the ham bone for later. Wrap it well in an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Next, try our ham noodle soup!
15 Bean and Ham Soup
Save the Christmas or Easter Ham bone for ham bone soup! This 15 bean and ham soup is a great way to use up leftover ham. It’s hearty and comforting.
Servings 10
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Rinse Beans 8 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 8 minutes
Ingredients
Plan ahead to soak beans:
- 16 ounces 15 bean soup mix (Hurst’s Hambeens brand)
For the soup:
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 ham bone (with some meat left on it)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground mustard
- salt and black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Soak the beans:
- Place the dried beans in a 9×13 baking pan. Pour cool water over them so that the bean mix is covered. Allow the beans to sit in cool water at least 14 hours…but up to 24 hours. When you're ready to make the soup, rinse the beans and discard the soaking liquid.
Make the soup:
- Pour the chicken broth into a large stockpot or dutch oven and set the stove top to medium high heat. Bring to a boil, add the beans, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender (this takes about 1 hour).
- Add the hambone, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaves. Bring the soup back to a boil, then reduce heat again and simmer until the veggies are soft (about another hour).
- Add the chopped ham and mustard powder. Stir and simmer another 30 minutes.
- Remove the ham bone and bay leaf from the soup and discard. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making a little over 10 cups of soup, with 1 serving being a generous 1 cup of soup. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 557mg | Potassium: 941mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2155IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 3.2mg
I made this today. It is absolutely delicious,
Did you use the flavor packet that came with the beans?
You can buy ham bones at Honey Baked Ham, they’re awesome!! So you can have ham and bean soup all year long!!
Sounds Sooo good! Soon as I find the bean mix I’ll be making it. I’ve always made ham (bone) bean soup like my mom did with Northern white beans, water, onions, potatoes & carrots season with pepper little salt & bay leaves. Cooked till soft and creamy.
This recipe sounds absolutely fabulous! Am currently snowed in (haven’t been out in a week!), but as soon as I get a chance I am making this up! Thank you so much for sharing! 🤗