Ham and Bean Soup

I don't know about you but my family does leftovers usually about once and then I have to get creative to make it over to another dish.  For Christmas this year we did a big spiral ham and roast beef so we had already done our one leftover night of ham and still had plenty leftover.  I didn't know exactly what to do with it so I went through my cupboards and fridge and decided I was going to make some ham and bean soup.  This winter I feel like we have soup at least once or twice a week for dinner but it's easy and my kids and family love it so I'm not complaining.

This soup was so super simple because I didn't really have a plan and then just used the ingredients in my house so please if you want to add or subtract some stuff, feel free!  It's your stomach, it's your family, it's your recipe.

First we started with thawing out the ham broth that I had made a couple days ago with the ham bone.  Then I started dicing up all the ingredients.  Luckily my helper came out and wanted to work on his knife skills!


As you will see I used red onions, I usually wouldn't use those in this soup but again it was what I had and it was cold and didn't want to go to the store with 3 kids just for a sweet onion so we made do.  It actually worked out well.



As we got all the vegetables diced up I took my large soup pot, added some olive oil and threw in all the veggies and ham and cooked for about 5-7 minutes.  I just love the smell of celery, carrots, and onions cooking!!



I then threw in the minced garlic and cooked for a minute before adding in the beans and broth.   We let that cook for about 10-15 minutes before the veggies were tender.  I used 1 can of cannellini beans and 1 can of garbanzo beans since that's all I had, but pick what kind of beans your family will eat.

If you like your ham and bean soup more thick, try the navy beans, since they get creamy when cooked and don't hold their shape as well.



My kids like soup more brothy and where they can see all the ingredients, so they can pick out what they don't like that day.



Hope you all enjoy this easy recipe on such a cold cold day!!

Easy Ham and Bean Soup

1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1c. Diced carrots
1c. Diced celery
1c. Diced onions (I usually use white but red worked fine this time)
2c. Diced ham
2 cloves of garlic,, minced
2 (15oz.) cans, white beans, drained (cannelloni, navy, great northern, garbanzo)
8-10c. Ham or chicken broth
Pepper to taste

In a large stock pot add the olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, and ham and let it cook on high for 5-7 minutes until the onions start to be translucent and the aromatics of the pot start filling up the air.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, then add in the two cans of beans, and ham or chicken broth.  Turn to medium low heat and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are fork tender.  Season with pepper for taste and serve!