Ham and Bean Slow Cooker Soup – Recipe

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When it’s cold outside, we are often making a hearty soup. Soup warms a person up like nothing else can and it’s usually very inexpensive to make. We love this Ham and Bean Slow Cooker Soup!

January and February are always low spend months here for us. A slow cooker full of healthy hearty soup is a perfect way to have a cheap but filling meal.

Ham and Bean Slow Cooker Soup Recipe

There are so many different ways you can make this soup – it’s a great way to use leftover vegetables sitting in the fridge. My ingredients for this soup are:

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Soup:

1 ham steak

2 cups dried beans

2 pint jars homemade tomato sauce (just use commercially canned if you don’t preserve your own)

1 quart homemade chicken broth

6 (or 36) cloves garlic (however much you want!)

1 onion

salt

pepper

dried lovage or parsley

extra virgin olive oil

Start by soaking the dried beans in water (to cover) for 12 hours. I put my beans in water after we eat dinner, then set them in the fridge overnight. Then rinse them well and set aside.

Start your soup by dicing the ham steak into pieces. Make them as small or big as you like.

Small kids? Cut the pieces small. Just for hungry adults? Dice the pieces larger.

Turn your crock pot (or slow cooker, whatever you call it) onto high. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil on the bottom.

Dice the peeled garlic cloves and toss them in.

Add the cubed ham.

Let it all cook about 30 minutes.

Add your rinsed and drained beans. You can use premixed soup mix or a 9 bean mix like I got from Costco.

Now add 1 quart of chicken broth. Stir well.

In goes 2 pint jars of homemade tomato sauce. This is going to add a wonderful hearty flavour, especially along with the chicken broth.

Your work is done – just leave it to cook

Stir well and leave to cook. Heading off to work for the day? Turn your slow cooker down to Low before you go.

If you are around, give it a good stir every couple hours. Or not….it doesn’t matter!

Six or eight hours later, here’s the finished result. If it stays in the crock pot longer, that’s fine. There is nothing finicky about this recipe.

Which is what makes it so easy! It’s so nice to come home at the end of the day and dinner is ready, right?

Serves 6 people easily along with buns and a side salad. Have more people to feed? Add water or chicken stock and another can of tomato sauce.

Got leftovers? Transfer the soup into a smaller container and pop in the fridge. Or, put it in a freezer container for a super easy, ready to heat meal for another busy day.

Slow Cooker Bean Soup Recipe

Ham and Bean Slow Cooker Soup - Recipe

Yield: 12 cups

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 9 hours

Additional Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 21 hours 30 minutes

A super healthy and hearty soup. Great for a family or a crowd and easy to make in your slow cooker or crock pot. *Soaking the beans adds 12 hours to this recipe*

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Ingredients

• 1 ham steak, diced
• 2 cups dried beans, lentils or peas
• 2 jars tomato sauce
• 1 jar chicken broth
• 6 cloves garlic (use as much as you like)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp lovage or parsley
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Put dried beans into a large bowl. Cover with water and let sit for 12 hours. Rinse well and drain before using.
2. Turn slow cooker onto High, add the olive oil.
3. Add diced garlic.
4. Add diced ham
5. Add diced onion
6. Stir well to coat with oil and let cook for about 20 minutes.
7. Add rinsed beans
8. Add the chicken stock and stir well
9. Add tomato sauce and stir well.
10. Season with salt, pepper and herbs
11. Turn slow cooker to Low and cook for 8-10 hours
12. Serve with side salad and buns

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 192Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 1089mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 9gSugar: 11gProtein: 11g

You can add almost anything you like to this soup. Skip the tomato sauce and have the soup with the chicken broth base.

Or don’t add the tomato sauce until after your first meal! When you reheat the leftover soup, then add the tomato sauce.

You will be changing up the entire flavour of the meal. Add diced celery, carrots or any other vegetables you like.

The variety is endless and only depends on what you have in your fridge or cupboard at the time.

Want to read more of Country Living in a Cariboo Valley’s Recipes? You can find them all right here.

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