Ham Bone Soup (Slow Cooker)

Ham Bone Soup is the perfect way to use up your leftover Christmas ham. This easy recipe takes just a few minutes to put into the slow cooker and the results are amazing!

The slow cooker makes for an effortless meal! A flavorful ham infused broth filled with beans and vegetables is like a hug in a bowl.

Serve it with some easy dinner rolls or homemade bread for the perfect anytime meal!

An Easy Soup for Leftovers

We love soups around the holidays. They are not only easy, but so comforting, warm, and cozy.

• This ham bone vegetable soup recipes is so easy to make.
• You probably have all of the ingredients on hand, which means no special trip to the store!
• Add the ingredients to your CrockPot and set it and forget. Let it work its magic.
• This recipe can also be cooked in a dutch oven on the stovetop or in an Instant Pot/pressure cooker if you’d prefer.
• Can be frozen for easy meals.

Ingredients in Ham Bone Soup

Start with a ham bone of course! Save the bone from your leftover holiday ham or spiral ham (just toss it in the freezer until you’re ready). If you don’t have a ham bone, use a smoked ham hock in place.

Broth or some broth and some water will work in this recipe. If you want to boost the flavor even more add in any kind of leftover gravy, and/or homemade turkey stock or chicken stock. Keep in mind ham already has quite a bit of salt so if you’re adding broth, I’d suggest a low sodium or no sodium version.

Canned beans make this easy but you can certainly rehydrate and cook dried beans if you’d like. Use fresh or frozen veggies, I add any veggies I have leftover from my turkey dinner! Sweet potatoes, green beans, navy beans, peas, corn, carrots, squash…. almost anything goes!

What To Do With Ham Bone

Because a leftover ham bone has already been cooked, it will have a ton of flavor.

• Remove most of the meat from the bone to use in leftover ham recipes. I leave a little ham on the bone to flavor soups and also so I can pick it off and add it to the soup.
• Keep the bone in the freezer until you’re ready to make soup. I place it in the slow cooker right from frozen since it’s already cooked.
• Cook it right in the soup below and then before serving, remove it from the soup and pick off any meat. Add the meat back to the soup and discard the bone.
• Do not use the bone for more than one soup, I find it doesn’t have enough flavor left to use it again.

If you have a ham bone to use, making a ham and bean soup or split pea soup are the best ways to put it to good use! With a ham bone, you can easily put it in the freezer after your holiday meal and then just put it directly in the Crock Pot from frozen to make this ham bone soup.

How To Make Ham Bone Soup

This is the best ham bone soup and since it is made in a slow cooker, all you really need to do is a tiny bit of prep.

1. Dice, chop, and slice your veggies.
2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and cook until tender.
3. Remove meat from the bone and add back into the soup.

It really is one of the simplest soups you will ever make. Enjoy!

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