Warming Comfort: Ham and Bean Soup

Baby, it has been COLD outside lately!!! Like really cold! Cold weather – I have to admit, I’m not a fan. I’m more of a warm weather fan. When it gets cold outside, I want to stay inside, put on some slippers, curl up in a blanket and eat a big bowl of warming comfort food. This soup is like slipping on those cozy slippers. It wraps you up in warmth and gives you a big flavourful ham and bean hug.

My other favourite thing to do when the weather gets cold is to fire up the slow cooker. This is a slow cooker soup that requires little prep and has lots of flavour. The beans require no advance soaking. This soup is budget- and student- friendly. It’s a Dinner While You Work recipe that has you coming home to a house that smells great and a meal that’s pretty close to table-ready. This is a main course soup that will give you lunch leftovers for tomorrow.

You can use a leftover ham bone if you have one (keep some meat on your bone) or ham hocks. I went down to St. Lawrence Market to see my normal meat guy and got one of their smoked ham hocks. When I mentioned that I was using it for a soup, they offered to cut it in half for me (one of the many reasons that I love them).

This is a very easy to make, student-friendly and gluten-free meal! Christian made this with me over the holidays and ate the entire amount in about 3 days. He loved it!

Want another quick prep bean soup? Try the very popular Black Beauty Bean Soup.

Note: this soup thickens up a lot after it sits; leftovers are super thick. You will probably want to add some water when reheating to thin it out a bit.

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 6 – 8+ hours; Serves: 8 – 10

What you need:

• 1 lb (about 2 1/2 cups) navy beans (you can also use Northern Beans), rinsed but not soaked (pick out any discoloured beans)
• 1 smoked ham hock or ham bone (mine was approximately 3 lbs), cut in half and trimmed of any obvious fat
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 4 ribs celery, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 cups stock (I used chicken)
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder (you can also use paprika)
• 1/4 pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• green onions (optional, for garnish)

What you do:

• In your slow cooker, add the diced onions

• Add the ham hock/bone

• Add the rinsed navy beans

• Add the celery, carrots, garlic

• Sprinkle with the thyme, chipotle powder, mustard and pepper

• Add the bay leaves (count how many you put in so you can take them all out at the end)

• Add the stock

• Add the water

• Stir
• Cook on low for 6-8+ hours (I cooked mine for 8 hours)

• Remove the ham hock/bone, discard the bones and fat; shred the meat

• Remove bay leaves
• Using a potato masher, mash roughly half the beans in the slow cooker

• Return the meat to the slow cooker and stir

• Serve

• Optional: garnish with sliced green onions and hot sauce

• Enjoy!

• This is thick and stick-to-your-ribs goodness!

• Cold weather comfort food!

• Cozy!

• Wrap yourself up with this warming soup!
• Eating leftovers the next day? This gets really thick as it sits, so you may want to thin it out with some water.
• Bonus! Leftovers freeze really well.