Ham and Bean Soup with lots of vegetables is a totally delicious, different and healthy way to use leftover ham from your earlier ham dinner.
About Ham and Bean Soup
A ham dinner is special and often the meal of choice at the holidays, but usually you buy too much of it and now after your amazing dinner, what to do with all that leftover ham?
This healthy Ham and Bean Soup is a perfect solution because in addition to the Cannellini beans, it’s full of vegetables.
Not only is this a totally different meal from your earlier Ham dinner, but one bowl of this soup is a meal in itself.
And I have to tell you the flavor is absolutely amazing and it’s due to my new love, Aunt Lou’s Special Seasoning, This amazing seasoning is full of flavor with garlic, salt and a perfect blend of herbs, plus a slight kick of cayenne.
So let’s make it.
Ingredients of Ham and Bean Soup
- Olive oil: For health and flavor
- Shallot: The first ingredient in a Mirepoix for great soup
- Celery: The second ingredient in a Mirepoix
- Carrots: The third ingredient in a Mirepoix
- Ham: The Star of the Show
- Aunt Lou’s Special Seasoning: Find it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/43xXdlF
- Cannellini Beans: The Co-star of the Show
- Low sodium chicken broth
How to Make Ham Soup with Beans
This soup is actually very easy to make. Like all good soups, the hardest part is waiting for all those wonderful flavors to simmer together but trust me, it’s worth the wait,
The first step is to caramelize the vegetables for extra depth of flavor.
Begin by adding olive oil to a soup pot over medium high heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently to keep the vegetables from burning.
Then add the Aunt Lou’s Special Seasoning. With it’s garlic, onion, salt, herbs, orange peel, and a touch of cayenne, it’s perfectly wonderful in this recipe.
Next, add diced ham and chicken broth. Then reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pot.
Let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes and then add the drained Cannellini beans. Cover the pot and let the soup simmer another 30 minutes.
Notes on the Ingredients
Cannellini beans, the Mediterranean long white beans, are best in this recipe, but if you can’t find them substitute Great Northern White Beans.
I wouldn’t keep this soup over 2 days in the refrigerator, but this soup freezes beautifully.
Make sure the soup is cooled first, then either pour it into small plastic freezer containers or even use quart sized zip lock freezer bags.
Just fill them up, zip them up securely and lay them flat in your freezer.
When your ready to reheat the soup, just thaw the bag overnight in your refrigerator and pour it into a pan over medium low heat.
Aunt Lou’s Ham and Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Shallot Diced
- 3 Stalks Celery Diced
- 1 Cup Baby carrots Cut
- 1 Cup Ham Cut into bite size pieces
- 1 1/2 Tsp Aunt Lou’s Special Seasoning Find it on Amazon or Walmart from Culinary Spice Merchants
- 32 Oz Low Sodium Chicken Broth Manischewitz is best
- 1 14 oz can Cannellini beans Drained
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a medium sized pot over medium high heat. Then add shallots, celery and carrots and cook 4-5 minutes to caramelize stirring frequently.
- Then add ham, Aunt Lou’s Special Seasoning and chicken broth. Cover and turn heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
- Add drained beans and continue to simmer, covered, for 30 more minutes.
- Ladle into serving bowls and enjoy!
Nutrition
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