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Slow cooker ham and bean soup with navy beans, ham and carrots in the crock

Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup

Navy beans, a leftover ham bone and sweet vegetables simmered all day in the slow cooker until the broth is smoky and rich. The day-after-the-holiday soup Grandma lived by.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Calories: 325
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb dried navy beans about 2 1/4 cups, picked over, rinsed and soaked overnight
  • 1 meaty leftover ham bone or ham hock about 1 lb
  • 2 cups diced cooked ham
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 3 medium carrots peeled and sliced into rounds
  • 3 celery ribs diced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
  • 7 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
  • Salt to taste (added at the end)
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley optional, for serving

Method
 

  1. Pick over the beans and throw out any little stones or shriveled beans. Rinse, cover with plenty of cold water, and soak overnight (8–12 hours). Drain and rinse again before cooking.
  2. Put the soaked beans in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the ham bone right in the middle, then the diced ham, onion, carrots, celery and garlic.
  3. Pour in the water, then add the bay leaf, thyme and black pepper. Don't add salt yet — the ham will salt the pot as it cooks.
  4. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours (or HIGH for 3 1/2–4 hours), until the beans are completely tender and starting to fall apart at the edges.
  5. Lift out the ham bone and bay leaf. When the bone is cool enough to handle, pull off every bit of meat, shred it, and stir it back into the soup. Throw the bone and bay leaf away.
  6. For a thicker, creamier broth, mash some of the beans right in the pot: press a potato masher in a few times, or scoop out 2 cups of soup, blend until smooth, and stir it back in.
  7. Taste, then salt a little at a time until it tastes right — every ham is different. Rest 10 minutes off the heat, sprinkle with parsley if you like, and serve hot with cornbread.

Notes

Make ahead: this soup is even better the next day, once the flavors have had a night to get acquainted. Make it a full day ahead and reheat gently.
Stovetop version: simmer everything in a Dutch oven over low heat, covered, for 1 1/2–2 hours, stirring now and then and adding a splash of water if it gets too thick, until the beans are tender. Finish the same way.
Leftovers keep 4–5 days in the fridge (the soup thickens as it sits — thin with a little water when reheating) and freeze beautifully for up to 3 months.
No time to soak? Cover the beans with water, boil 2 minutes, rest off the heat 1 hour, drain, and cook as directed, adding 30–60 minutes to the slow cooker time.
Nutrition is an estimate per serving.