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Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

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Cooking this soup makes me feel like my life is very “together”.

Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

You see, this ham hock soup is insanely easy to make. But, you have to soak the dried beans overnight. And any time I know what dinner is going to be the day before, I feel like a rock star.

I do not meal plan. At all. Dinner is usually thought up around lunch time, or worse yet on my way home from work. Which means I go to the grocery store about every single day.

Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

Unless my husband is my hero and offers to go for me, to which I quickly text back, “OhmygoshyesPLEASE!”, followed by most well organized grocery list where I list out all the ingredients in order of aisle in the store so he won’t have to run around too much. But mostly so I know he won’t forget anything.

I wonder if he knows I do that? He will now, since I signed his email up to subscribe to my blog, so every time I post something new it goes straight to his inbox. I make life so easy for him. (Hi Shawn!)

Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

I love this soup because it requires so little active prep work. You just soak the beans in water overnight (I usually do it for about 24 hours), chop up a few veggies, add all the ingredients to the pot, and let it cook for a few hours and make your house smell delicious. You can even make it in your slow cooker. And hello affordable meal! This ham bone soup can easily feed 6 people and costs less than $10.

Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

When I eat this soup, it makes me feel like I’m in The Little House on the Prairie, eating a soup that was cooked all day in a large kettle over the fire with the scrap meat. I should be eating it out of a tin bowl and huge oversize spoon, just for effect.

Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

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Mixed Bean and Ham Hock Soup

★★★★★ 4.9 from 9 reviews
  • Author: Tastes Lovely
  • Prep Time: 12 hours
  • Cook Time: 3 hours
  • Total Time: 15 hours
  • Yield: 6 people 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 20 ounce bag mixed dried beans
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 carrots, chopped into 1/4″ thick half moons, about 1.5 cups
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped into 1/4″ thick half moons, about 1.5 cups
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped medium, about 1.5 cups
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 2 smoked ham hocks
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, soak the dried beans in cold water for at least 12 hours, removing any debris that floats to the top. I usually soak mine for 24 hours.
  2. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add in the olive oil and cook the carrots, celery and onion with just a pinch of salt until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, cooking until fragrant for another minute, then add in the chicken stock and ham hocks. Strain the beans from the water and add to the soup. Do not add in any more salt since the beans absorb the salt and can get too salty. Season with salt at the end of cooking.
  3. If you are cooking in a crock pot, add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. If you are cooking on the stove, reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 3 hours.
  4. After the soup is done cooking, skim any fat from the top of the soup. Remove the ham hocks, and shred any ham meat. Add the ham meat back to the soup, discard the skin, bone and any fat. Taste and season for salt and pepper.
  5. Serve warm immediately. Will keep an an airtight container for 1 week.

Notes

If you don’t have time to soak your beans overnight, you can do a “quick soak” by cooking the beans in unsalted boiling water for 5 minutes, then covering, turning off the heat, and allowing to sit for 1-2 hours.

Nutrition

  • Calories: 340
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 81.5 g
  • Fiber: 15 g
  • Protein: 39.5 g

 

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Lovely comments so far...

  1. This soup looks so warm and comforting—I love any soup that cooks itself all day so this is right up my alley! I can only imagine how good it would be with some crusty homemade bread. :)

    Reply

  3. Hi Natalie, I plan my meals the same way, the only time I make a real list is around the holiday. Great soup, love white beans.

    Reply

    • I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t meal plan! I’ve learned the hardway that a list is very important. Otherwise I’ll go to the store to buy ingredients for homemade pizza and forget to buy cheese and yeast. True story. That happened to me a few weeks ago. Idiot alert.

      Reply

    • This is a majorly “husband approved” soup. Carl would love this, you should definitely make it for him ASAP! Perfect for a cold, snowy night : )

      Reply

  5. This soup looks delicious! And you posted it on a rainy day…might just have to make this tomorrow :)

    Reply

    • Thanks Nicole! It’s one of my favorites, and one of Shawn’s *super* favorites. He’s been eating the leftovers all week, and he never eats leftovers. Haha!

      Reply

  6. Totally digging this Natalie! Haha I can see how it would make you feel like the Little House on the Prairie. Definitely has that country twang to it. It is hard to plan out meals for the week! I go to the grocery store frequently…almost daily. Kinda annoying! Need to get myself a husband to help :) Thanks for the recipe, Happy FAT Tuesday!

    Reply

    • Thanks Kelly! Definitely a “pioneer feeling” soup. Glad you go to the grocery store almost daily too. Having a husband definitely helps, especially when he surprises you with your favorite ice cream that wasn’t on the list. Haha! Happy Fat Tuesday to you too!

      Reply

  8. Omg, I usually write my grocery lists in the order of where it is in the store too! I think it’s yet another OCD thing but I like your reason better. :)
    Love how hearty and delicious this soup is! Yay, for helping husbands! :)

    Reply

  9. This look fantastic! And I totally understand what you mean about a meal making you feel as if your life is in order. Whenever my husband and I can muster up the strength to prep and get a meal in the Crock Pot at 6:30 a.m. before work, I feel like an absolute rock star. We made bean soup a few months ago with a ham hock left from Thanksgiving, and it was so good! Must make this!

    Reply

    • Thanks Meg! You’re better than me putting meals in the crock pot first thing in the morning. A little trick I do to avoid “cooking” in the morning for a crock pot meal is I prep all the ingredients, get everything in the crock pot, cover it in saran wrap and throw it in the refrigerator overnight. That way, all I have to do in the morning is pull out my crock pot bowl, drop it in the crock pot and turn it on. And my fingers won’t smell like onion all day, hurray! You should try it sometime. A lifesaver : )

      Reply

      • That is such a great idea — and you’re so right about the onion smell! Sheesh. I need to get myself more organized and do all that the night before.

        Reply

    • Thanks Kelly! Definitely warm and comforting. It has been raining the last few days, so it’s been nice having the leftovers for lunch : )

      Reply

  11. Cooking soup makes me feel like I have it all together as well. It’s very comforting, especially when it involves beans. I make ham hock bean soup on a regular basis around here. Kurt and I can eat beans every day. I love this recipe, it is very close to mine. :) Yummy

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Beans make such a great soup! I should really make ham hock soup more. I was stumped on a dinner idea, and shawn asked for “that beans and ham soup”. Clearly he loves this soup : )

      Reply

  13. I swear we were separated at birth! Just you wait until my post tomorrow. It features the same ingredient. :) OH, and I always, always organize my grocery list by aisle. It’s just how my brain works. Haha!

    I love ham and bean soup; it’s always so filling. Yours looks amazing. There’s a blizzard outside my window now, and I wish I could drown my sorrows in a big ol’ bowl of soup. Fun fact: I’m just minutes away from where Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family lived when they were South Dakota. I think you could pull of the prairie girl thang!

    Reply

    • I love how similar we are. Seriously. I can’t wait to see what you’re making tomorrow. My guess is ham and split pea soup? If I’m right I will fuh-REAK out!

      Glad I’m not the only OCD person who organizes the grocery list by aisle. It just makes life so easy. The worst is when they rearrange the store, or I go to a store I’ve never been to before. yipes!

      That’s so cool you live by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family lived! Do they have the original house there? That would be a neat tour.

      Reply

  16. Love warm and comforting soups that you can easily throw everything together in the pot :) This looks so delicious and hearty and perfect for all these cold days we’ve been getting. I can only imagine how good a big bowl of this would taste :)

    Reply

  17. I LOVE this soup…and so will the hubs! He is obsessed with all things ham. Ham for breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Snack. It’s ridiculous.
    I used to be a total dinner planner. I literally had a little white board in the kitchen with out weekly menu that I planned out the week before.
    Then…I realized that this girl don’t got time for that.
    Now, we eat cheerios for dinner. A lot.

    Reply

  20. Ooh, I could almost smell this as I was reading, Natalie! I love that it’s made with so few ingredients … and the idea of that ham! I bet it makes the soup taste beyond amazing. I laughed at you going to the supermarket nearly every day … I do that too! I can never get myself together enough to write a long list like a sensible person and just go once a week.

    Reply

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  30. Well, I was searching for a hammock bean sit-up recipe and I found it. I’m going to make this tonight along with some cornbread. I shared it on Facebook too and found your page there as well. All these creative, amazing ladies that have blogs. I seriously could spend hours just looking at recipes and reading all your blogs. Thank you for sharing! :)

    Reply

  31. Well, I was searching for a hamhock bean soup recipe and I found it. I’m going to make this tonight along with some cornbread. I shared it on Facebook too and found your page there as well. All these creative, amazing ladies that have blogs. I seriously could spend hours just looking at recipes and reading all your blogs. Thank you for sharing! :)

    Reply

  32. Can you tell me the manufacturer and name of the flatware in the picture?
    I have been shopping for flatware for some time and it looks nice. Has it
    been dishwasher friendly?

    ★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Janet! You know, I actually took these pictures at a house we were housesitting last year. I’m not sure who makes the flatware. But it was definitely dishwasher friendly. Sorry I can’t help more : )

      Reply

  33. I made this soup for dinner last night and the flavors took me right back to Memaw’s house. As a child, Memaw would make big pots of bean soup and this recipe hit home. This was a perfect dinner for a Fall Kentucky evening served with cornbread. Thanks for sharing. My Kentucky home loved it.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • I am so happy to hear that Tammy! We always make this soup for New Year’s Eve. I heard that pork and beans is good luck for the new year. Not sure if it’s true, but a great excuse to make a delicious soup! I love that you served it with cornbread. I am going to have to try that next time. Now you’re making me crave this! I haven’t made it this year yet. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know you liked my recipe. You just made my day!

      Reply

  34. I was just trolling sites looking for a recipe with actual ham hocks. I make mine with Randall beans from the glass jar, however from time to time I will soak dried beans. Fall is a great time to make soup as I love the smell in the house of home made soup. Thanks for the recipe, I will be referring to it again in the future.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  35. The last mixed bean soup recipe I made had tomatoes …. sounded good …. but I had to force myself to eat it so as not to WASTE it!!
    I am making this recipe today …. looks delicious, and no tomatoes!!!

    Reply

  36. I just finished preparing this soup and it is cooking right now. It tastes amazing already…. Can’t wait to share this pot with my friends tonight. It was easy to prepare, Thank you for such easy to follow directions.
    Connie

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • I am so glad you liked it Constance! And thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked my recipe. You just made my day! Hope your friends enjoyed it too. Such a favorite in our house, especially on rainy Sundays : )

      Reply

  37. I did not use this recipe but it is the same recipe I use from my head….it is so amazing and nutritious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  38. Absolutely Delicious. Turned out Great. Only thing I did different from the recipe was I used the 3 cups of liquid i had left in the crock pot after cooking the ham, and just subtracted that 3 cups from the chicken stock called for. Making this again this week. Thank you so much for the Awesome Recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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