Hambone Soup Recipe (Slow Cooker) - About a Mom (2024)
This slow-cooker ham bone soup is a great way to use up any leftover ham from Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any time! The meat and veggie combo offers a main course loaded with nutrition, too!
Ham is a traditional meat served at many holidays. It’s also great for any family dinner, especially when you have a guests — so several mouths to feed!
We really like to have our Slow Cooker Apple Cider Hamevery now and then. It is delicious and can be served with so many sides, like our Crock Pot Mac and Cheeseor Crock Pot Green Bean Casserole. Plus, it leaves everyone at the table feeling satisfied.
I especially like it when leftovers from dinner lend themselves to a new recipe. We usually have a bit of ham leftover when I serve it, so it’s easy to make this slow cooker ham bone soup to serve for the next few lunches or dinners.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Serves: 16
Ingredients
1 meaty ham bone
3 potatoes, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 small onions, diced
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
8 cups chicken broth or water
2 bay leaves
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp thyme leaves
½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a large slow cooker.
Stir everything around the ham bone to combine.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 9-10 hours or cook on the high setting for 4-6 hours.
Before serving, remove the ham bone and bay leaves. Remove the meat from the bone, cut the meat into bite size pieces, and return to the soup.
Variations
As with most soups and stews of this nature, you can add/remove/substitute any ingredient you like. The ingredients I have listed here work well for my family but you can adjust to suit you and yours however you like. Some popular items to add include pasta (bow-tie would work well here), kale or collard greens, cabbage, corn (frozen corn kernels), or rice. Most of these additions can go into the pot with 30 minutes left but check up on them regularly to ensure you don’t overcook them.
Yep. In a large pot, saute the vegetables for several minutes, then add everything else. Bring it to a boil then turn it down and let simmer for a couple of hours. That’s basically it. For the finer details, adapt the steps from the recipe above.
How can I thicken the soup?
You can mash a couple of potatoes and add it to the soup. Rice will work similarly. You can also puree some vegetables and add to the soup. You can also add cornstarch (mix it with cold water first) or mix flour (2 tbsp), melted butter (2 tbsp), and 1 cup of the soup broth together, then add it to the pot.
How To Store Slow-Cooker Ham Bone Soup
Cool the cooked soup and place in freezer safe bags or airtight containers for up to 3 months. To prepare from the freezer: For best results, thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Warm in a stockpot over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Slow-Cooker Ham Bone Soup
About a Mom
This slow cooker ham bone soup recipe is a great way to use up any leftover ham from Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or anytime! The meat and veggie combo offers a healthy main course loaded with nutrition too!
Combine all of the ingredients in a large slow cooker. Stir everything around the hambone to combine.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or cook on the high setting for 4 to 6 hours.
Before serving, remove the hambone and bay leaves. Remove the meat from the bone, cut the meat into bite size pieces, and return to the soup.
Notes
Freezer Tip:Cool the cooked soup and place in freezer safe bags or airtight containers for up to 3 months.To prepare: For best results, thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight. Warm in a stockpot over medium heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
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Instead, freeze the ham bone so you can use it later to add flavor to a soup or make homemade ham broth or stock. A ham bone will keep in the freezer for at least a few months. That buys you some time to make full use of it and you have a few days to properly prepare it for long-term storage.
Slow cookers can transform a few simple ingredients into the most delicious soups by simmering them for hours. This low and slow cooking allows the flavors to mingle, creating rich, flavorful soups perfect for chilly days, nights, or any day you want to enjoy a bowl full of goodness.
Whole cured hams last in the refrigerator for up to a week. However, fresh ham only lasts a few days in the refrigerator, about three or four once you've cooked it. It doesn't matter if the ham is whole or sliced; the lack of preservatives allows it to spoil more quickly.
Of course there are many options, but one thing you should not do is let it sit too long in the refrigerator. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ham is good for three to five days in the refrigerator after it is cooked.
Simmering animal bones in water releases collagen and other proteins into the broth that may have health benefits, although more research is needed to validate these claims. Now, a new study has shown that ham bones contain peptides that could have cardioprotective effects.
Most slow cooker meals take 8-12 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high, but there are also recipes for slow-cooked meat that take up to 24 hours. If you want to avoid overcooking your dish, follow the given guidelines as closely as possible.
Editor's Tip: Can you overcook soup in a slow cooker? It's a common question—and the short answer is yes. Ingredients like veggies, pasta and rice can get very mushy if left in the slow cooker too long. Many meats will toughen, too.
Recipes with meat like chili and pork shoulder are best when cooked for six hours minimum or up to ten hours. Vegetarian recipes are best cooked for around four hours, but can do a minimum of two hours or maximum of six hours (after which the vegetables start to get unpleasantly mushy).
You can use flour, cornstarch, arrowroot or potato starch as a thickening agent; whisk up to 4 tablespoons with a cup of hot broth and add it to the pot. You can use a slurry in conjunction with a roux but in that case, choose a starch for the slurry other than flour.
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
Soup Mix is shipped sealed and has a recommended shelf life of twelve months. Store in a cool, dry place with packaging tightly closed. Approximately 3 hours cooking time. Ham or ham bone is sold separately.
An uncooked, cut country ham can be refrigerated for two to three months or frozen for one month. A cooked Country Ham should be refrigerated for seven days and or frozen for one month. Freezer storage time is for quality only. Frozen hams remain safe indefinitely.
Yes! Ham bone can easily be frozen and used later for soup. It's nice to be able to throw it in the freezer after hosting family and friends for a nice dinner or holiday. You can freeze the ham bone for 1-2 months.
Ham hocks are usually cured with salt and smoked, making them perfect for adding a rich, bacon-like flavor to any dish. After you've bought your ham hocks, you should store them in the refrigerator and try to use them within about a week — but always double-check the expiration date sticker to be sure.
Remove the sliced ham from its packing and place it on top of the paper towel. Place another piece of folded paper towel on top of the ham, close the container firmly and place in the fridge. As a guide shaved or sliced ham should last three to five days in the fridge. You can also freezer your sliced and whole hams.
Spiral-cut hams and leftovers from consumer-cooked hams may be stored in the refrigerator three to five days or frozen one to two months. Keep your refrigerator at 40 °F or less and your freezer at or near 0 °F. See also Ham and Food Safety.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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