Old Fashioned Crock Pot Ham and beans can be made with a leftover ham bone or a meaty ham shank. Served with corn bread and you’ve got some good old fashioned comfort food.
Old Fashioned Ham and bean soup was a meal that my mom served a lot when I was growing up. It wasn’t something that just appeared after Christmas to use up that holiday ham bone. She made it often, made it year round, and used ham shank or chopped cooked ham. Following her cue, and using her recipe, I’ve probably made this ham and bean recipe in the crock pot hundreds of times. Let’s take a look.
Aside from using the modern convenience of an electric crock pot, this is a very old fashioned recipe for ham and beans.
Table of contents
Why This Crock Pot Recipe Works
- The flavor combination for this crock pot ham and beans recipe is simply outstanding and with creamy white beans, outstanding in texture. Using the crock pot’s expertise for low and slow cooking, insures it’s success.
- If you’re intimidated by cooking dried beans, let your slow cooker do the work. It makes the cooking method virtually hands-off and results in a soft creamy bean.
- You’ll learn how to thicken the broth with a simple procedure smashing some of the beans.
- A long-slow cook is allows all of that ham flavor to penetrate those beans.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients, With Variations and Why They Matter
Best Beans For Ham and Beans
- White Beans: Great Northern White beans are my choice here. Large, plump, creamy once cooked, and perfect for ham and beans.
- Navy Beans: What’s the difference between Navy Beans and Great Northern White Beans? Navy beans are smaller, and have thicker skins. The flavors are similar. Substitute the smaller Navy Beans if you have them, the only difference it will make to the soup will be the size of the bean. Dried cannellini beans are also a popular choice.
- IMPORTANT PRO TIP If you use White Navy Beans, you’ll need to boil them stove-top before adding them to the crock-pot. Some crock-pot temperatures will not cook Navy Beans to a point where they won’t cause stomach and digestion issues.
Ham Options
- Ham Shank: I recommend a nice big meaty ham shank is preferred for this recipe. I like to buy ham shanks from Whole Foods. Seasoned, uncured and excellent in flavor. The meat that comes off this ham shank is superior in quality. A reputable butcher shop is another resource for a nice meaty ham shank.
- Ham Hock vs. Ham Shank: Ham hocks tend to be bonier and have less meat. That’s because they come from the “ankle” part of the leg. Ham shank on the other hand is meatier because it comes from the leg area just below the shoulder and hip. You can substitute ham hocks, they’ll bring that smoky ham flavor to the soup, but with much less meat.
- Ham Bone: And by all means, whether from a spiral cut ham or a ham roast, this is a perfect recipe to use that Holiday leftover ham bone. Crock Pot ham and bean soup is the first thing I make during the holidays, once that ham as been devoured.
Seasoning For Ham and Beans
I love using my Soup Seasoning Mix . It’s a traditional seasoning for 15-Bean Soup and works beautifully for Ham and Beans. It’s a mix of dried herbs and spices that delivers great flavor to any brothy soup.
During fresh herb season, try this combination:
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme,
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary,
- a bay leaf
- and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
Just add them to the crock pot and the great northern white beans soak up the flavor from that sweet salty ham shank. And the rest is culinary history.
Mirepoix: Don’t skip it! Mirepoix is a very common vegetable mixture to season soups. If you’re in culinary school, the ratio is important. Two parts onion to one part each celery and carrots. For this recipe, I used one cup of each. Practice you knife skills and try to get even small cubes for each vegetable. Flavor and texture will be more consistent if you do.
Should You Soak Beans Before Cooking?
- You don’t have to soak dried beans overnight. But here’s the benefit of doing so. Soaking dried beans overnight will simply reduce the time it takes them to cook them to a tender state. Soaking beans overnight will also improve their texture. I always soak beans overnight.
- If you forgot to soak dried beans the night before, never fear, you can always use the heat soaking method. Cover the beans with water, the water level should be two inches above the beans. Bring them to a boil stove-top and cooking time will only be two minutes. Turn off the heat, let them soak for two hours and then start the cooking process.
- What Happens If You Don’t Soak? I must admit, that I’ve added rinsed and sorted dried beans directly to my crockpot and cooked them on low until tender. No soaking at all. It works fine because you’re using a slow cooking method to gently bring those beans into tender goodness.
- Should I Drain The Soaking Water Before Cooking? Yes and No. There are several theories about this. The science behind draining the soaking water and adding new liquid dictates that you’re removing some of the sugar components that cause gassiness. On the other hand cooking the beans in the same water they soaked, can also create a thicker broth. For this recipe, you’re using chicken broth to cook the beans, so yes, you’ll drain the water.
- Water or Chicken Broth? Yes. If you want to soak the beans in chicken broth, you’ll need to place the container in the refrigerator overnight. I usually don’t have that sort of room in the fridge. No need to drain the broth and add new broth to cook the beans.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: Rinse 1 pound dried Great Northern White Beans and sort for misfits. Cover with two inches of water and soak overnight. No need to refrigerate while soaking beans. I use my crockpot insert for this.
- Step 3: Make the Mirepoix: Saute the celery, onions and carrots. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to a hot pan stovetop. Saute the vegetables until just getting tender, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4: Add the drained Great Northern Beans, vegetables, ham shank and seasonings to the slow cooker.
- Step 5: Add the chicken broth and you’re ready to cook. Set the crock pot on low and cook for 7-ish hours. Depending on how fresh your dried beans are, the soup could be ready in 6 hours or perhaps as long as 8 hours. Also, beans that have been soaked overnight will cook faster.
- To Finish: To finish the soup. Once the beans are tender, remove the ham shank. When the ham shank or ham bone is cool enough to handle, using two forks, shred the meat from the bone. Add the shredded pork back into the soup.
Tip For Success
Make sure your dried beans are fresh. If you’ve had a sack of beans in the pantry for a few years, it may be the culprit for the beans not cooking to a soft stage.
FAQ’s
Yes, but the cooking time will be reduced dramatically. Canned beans are already cooked, so be sure not to over-cook or they’ll become mushy. Add the mirepoix, the ha, shank, liquid and seasoning to the crock pot. Cook on low for about 4 hours, add the canned beans and cook until warmed. Remember to drain and rinse the beans before adding.
Use a potato masher. Once the soup is cooked, before serving, use a potato masher to mash some of the beans. This will naturally thicken the soup. You can also use a fork to mash some of the beans against the side of the crock pot.
How To Eat Ham and Beans with Cornbread
- I’m of the opinion it should be a law to serve ham and beans with cornbread.
- Place a good sized slice of cornbread in the plate with the ham and beans.
- Use a spoon to gather a bit of the cornbread, a piece or two of ham and of course some of those soft creamy beans. The flavor combo is divine.
- A sprinkle of raw chopped sweet onions is also a nice addition.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store any leftover ham and beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat stove-top or microwave to reheat.
- Freezer: Ham and beans will keep in the freezer for up to three months. I like to use a freezer zip-lock style bag. Place the leftovers in the bag, squeeze out the air and store flat to take advantage of freezer space. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Recipe for Crock Pot Ham and Beans
And if you’ve been toying with the idea of making homemade cornbread, take a look at my recipe. It’s one of the most popular recipes on my site.
More Dried Bean Soup Recipes
And if you’re a soup fanatic like we are here on the ranch, you won’t want to miss my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of delicious soup recipes. Including the most popular bean soups on my site, Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Beef Chili Recipe.
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Crock Pot Ham and Beans
Equipment
- Crockpot, Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pound Great Northern White Beans sorted for misfits and rinsed. Or you can use Navy beans
- enough water to cover beans by 2 inches
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup sweet onion diced
- 6 cups chicken broth or water
- 1 ham shank or ham bone
- 1 Tablespoon Soup Seasoning Mix or 2 bay leaves and 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- corn bread for serving
Instructions
- Rinse beans and sort for misfits.
- Cover the beans with water. The water level should be 2 inches above the beans. Soak the beans overnight. No need to refrigerate while soaking. The next morning, drain the water.
- Heat a fry an over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the celery, onions and carrots. Saute until until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the beans, the cooked vegetables, the ham shank, chicken broth and Soup Seasoning Mix to the crock pot.
- Let cook on low for 6 – 7 hours on low or until beans are tender.
- Remove ham hock and when it's cool enough to handle, shred meat and return the meat to the crock of beans
- Season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, place a square of cornbread in a soup bowl. Ladle a couple of scoops of ham and beans beside the corn bread and sprinkle with chopped raw onion.
Notes
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme,
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary,
- a bay leaf
- and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
Nutrition
Slow Cooker Old Fashioned Ham and Beans …It’s what’s for Dinner.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Ham shanks for me, please. Love all that meat. 🙂 Ham and beans is a wonderful dish, and the slow cooker is a great way to prepare it. Really nice — thanks.
Hi John! Thanks for your note. Yes, ham shanks or a meaty hame bone = perfect.
Can’t go wrong with ham and beans! I sometimes take my photos the next day (better light) and find that it doesn’t always look quite as good as it did the night before, oh well. It’s all about the food and not the photos!
Looks so good! I am going to have to make this again soon.
Such good news about Honey Baked Ham and those bones. I’ll be making it soon again also. Wish my photo would have been as good as yours.
Bwahahaha. Guess who has a pack of pork neck bones in his fridge for smoking tomorrow? Guess what he’s going to do with them. You got it!
Guess who wishes you were their next door neighbor! 🙂
This comment is meant purely to make you feel better. You think me a baker right? I wish I could attach a photo with this comment. A photo of the Jiffy Corn Bread in my pantry. Boxes of it. So they’ve combined the dry ingredients for us; I have no problem with that convenience! I will make my own cornbread from scratch for Thanksgiving but for a quick meal…well I just spilled the beans didn’t I? Which is somehow very appropriate for this post! By the way…I use Bisquick too. 🙂
My big, huge, amazing find just recently was discovering that Honey Baked Hams sells ham bones. I love using the bone for soups more than I love having a whole ham so this really was huge. Karen recently made White Beans with Ham that I coveted, wished HBH sold bones with meat on them, decided to give them a call…and was delighted to discover they do. So that makes three of us on this bent…and a happy one it was. You make me want to do it again. Like today!
Barb, I recently just found out about HBH also. I was going to mention it in the post and forgot. Yes, great news. And so glad to hear you’ve got that stash of Jiffy. Every time I’m in your pantry, it’s to fetch Abby a treat. Not paying much attention to hidden secrets! 🙂
I guess I’m really a separatist! I’ve never made ham and beans together nor bathed corn bread in either but this sounds so good I’d love to try.
Like I said, my corn bread will never teeter again. 🙂
MMM ham and beans take me back to childhood, too. Love that your mother was an advocate for the wheat farmers! I eat my cornbread separately, but will try some in the beans if you say it’s better that way. Dana sure thinks so. Also going to add jalapenos to my cornbread next time – that sounds right up my alley. And I, too, love that spoon. I collect mismatched silver and like the way it photographs.
Well, I really liked the corn bread covered in those beans. You should try it. I ate mine so fast that the corn bread never got soggy. 🙂 i have several mis-matched pieces of silver. There’s only one fork server that I take the time to polish. I always look for them in antique stores.
A fine southern dinner served at homes around the south when I was growing up. So glad you didn’t put a lot of sugar in the cornbread.
Sam
I’m surprised that I didn’t put sugar in that cornbread. 🙂 I’ve tried putting honey in it before and I just wasn’t impressed. I think I was trying to recreate Marie Calendars version.
Oh, that is a dish for my husband’s taste buds! I wish the beans would agree with me a little better. I really like them.
Okay, next get together will be at my house and we will be baking corn bread from scratch, agreed? 🙂
You’ve got a deal! Too funny. I knew you’d cringe! 🙂
I’ve got a ham hock in the freezer – definitely making this when I’m back from my trip!
That ham hock definitely wants to be made into this when you get back from your trip! 🙂 Have a great time Michele.
Oh you are a cook after my own heart. This is definitely food for the soul. Personally, I prefer my beans the next day after cooking. This looks just perfect to me. By the way, love that spoon.
So glad you enjoyed The Help. You made me want to go and watch it again.
I’ve got several mismatched pieces of silver. When I saw Toni using them, I said to myself…”why aren’t you using them?” 🙂 Karen, I’m going to watch it again this morning before it gets sent back to Netflix. Just a fabulous movie, and there better be some academy awards given out for that one.
ham and beans is a huge favorite of mine!
I don’t know why I don’t make it more often.
You must like yours a lot drier than me, was my first thought when I saw your pic. You don’t have to be a baker to make cornbread from scratch as it’s nearly as simple as the mix. Thanks for the kind words.
Well, I was just snapping away when I noticed how dry they were. Trust me, they were “souped up”. As far as “scratch” goes, Larry you have to remember, I’m the one that ruined the Rhoades frozen rolls at Thanksgiving. :/