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

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.
Recipe Source: MelissaKNorris.com