[Foodie Friday Recipe] Easy & Frugal Bean & Ham Soup

Rose S. | March 29, 2019 | Real Food Recipes

This simple bean & ham soup is filling, tasty, and super easy to make!

This hearty and tasty meal is a great way to feed a crowd on a budget, and it’s very easy, too, as the crockpot will do most of the work for you. (You can also make this on the stove top if you don’t have a slow cooker or crock pot.) This healthy recipe is packed full of fiber, vitamins, and other good stuff, and the whole pot can be made for under $10 if you use a leftover ham bone, especially if you grew some of the ingredients yourself!

For the most budget-friendly option, use dry beans, and soak them for about 8 hours with a pinch of baking soda, then drain, rinse, and cook as directed below.

After about 10 minutes of prep work, you can let the soup cook for about 2 hours with just an occasional stir on the stove top. If you are cooking it in a crock pot, cover and let cook on Low for 6-8 hours – no stirring required.

Enjoy!

Frugal Bean & Ham Soup Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 2 hours
Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

1 ham bone with meat
1 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup chopped rutabaga (or parsnips)
1 cup sliced celery
4 cups white beans
4 cups water
Dash of salt and pepper

Instructions:

Chop all of your vegetables up in fairly even size, so they cook evenly. Put your ham bone in a large stock pot, Dutch oven, or slow cooker. Dump in all your vegetables.
Add the beans, undrained if using canned, drained if you soaked dried beans the night before. Pour in 4 cups of water.
Bring to a low simmer on the stove top. Allow to simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every now and then.
Once meat is falling off the bone, transfer bone to a plate. Using tongs, pick off any good chunks of meat remaining on the bone, and put meat back into soup. Add a dash of pepper and salt. Serve.

Note: If cooking in the slow cooker, cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or high for 2 hours.