This easy Ham and Beans recipe is incredibly tasty and hearty! This is a fantastic meal for repurposing delicious leftover ham and veggies.
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These ham and beans are the kind of recipe that makes you look like a sustainable culinary genius.
It clears your fridge of all the leftover ham, uses affordable ingredients, it’s almost entirely hands-off thanks to the slow cooker, and it tastes amazing!
After making this delicious recipe, if you’re still working your way through leftover ham, check out our other leftover ham recipes like Ham Fried Rice, Ham and Cheese Pinwheels, Ham Pasta, Ham and Swiss Quiche, and Bacon and Egg Rolls.
Ingredients & Variations
You’ll find the measurements in the recipe card below, but I’ll walk you through the ingredients here with some helpful notes:
- Ham bone or ham hocks – you can use some leftovers from an Instant Pot Ham
- Beans – I used navy beans, but great northern or cannellini beans will also work. The cooking time remains the same even if you use other beans.
- Veggies – carrots, celery, onion, and garlic
- Herbs – dried (or fresh) thyme, parsley, and a bay leaf
- Liquid – a bit of chicken stock and water
- Parmesan rind – totally optional, but adds an incredible depth of flavor. Leave it out to make this dish dairy-free.
How Do You Soak Beans For Ham and Beans?
This recipe uses super affordable dried beans. I don’t recommend using canned beans as they will break down into mush during the long cooking process.
You have three options for using dried beans:
- Option one: soak in room temperature water for 12-18 hours.
- Option two: pour boiling water over the beans and soak them for 1-2 hours.
- Option three: don’t soak, but plan to add 3-4 hours of overall cooking time in the slow cooker.
To soak: add the beans to a large bowl and cover with 4 inches of water. The beans will increase in volume as they soak, so choose a bowl that is suitable for the volume expansion.
If you do soak the beans (and I recommend that you do!), discard the water they are soaked in and use fresh water in the recipe.
How to Make Ham and Beans
*I’ll walk you through it with some tips and tricks and photos, and you’ll find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements and baking times.
Start by soaking your beans using one of the methods listed above. I prefer an overnight soak in room-temperature water, but you do you.
Drain the beans and place them and all the other ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
When everything looks incredible and smells amazing, fish the ham bone or ham hock out of the slow cooker. Remove any meat that’s on there and add it back to the slow cooker.
That’s it. Seriously! Life doesn’t always have to be complicated.
How Can I Thicken My Ham and Beans?
As written, this recipe has a pretty thick consistency, and it will thicken as it cools.
But if you want it even thicker, it’s easy! If you have an immersion blender you can blend a small portion of the cooked beans directly in the slow cooker.
You can also remove a portion of the beans to a small bowl and mash them with a potato masher, pastry cutter, or meat masher.
Instant Pot Options
Using a pressure cooker makes quick work of this recipe and you don’t have to presoak the beans.
Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot, lock the lid into place, and set the steam release handle to “Sealing”. Press Manual>High Pressure>40 minutes.
When it has finished cooking, allow for a full natural release. This can take up to 30 minutes.
What to Serve With Ham and Beans
This is delicious with carbs like, Air Fryer Cornbread, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Air Fryer Texas Toast, Stuffing Biscuits, or No Knead Dutch Oven Bread.
And a side dish of veggies like Chopped Cabbage Salad, Roasted Frozen Broccoli, Air Fryer Asparagus, or Green Pea Salad are all great options.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- If you don’t have a leftover ham bone or hock, you can absolutely use diced cooked ham. In a pinch, head to your grocery store’s deli counter, pick out a cut of ham, and ask for 1 slice on their thickest slicing setting.
- If you don’t use a leftover ham bone/hock, use all chicken stock instead of water. It will help boost the flavor that will be missing from the recipe.
- I recommend low-sodium chicken stock and not salting the dish until after it has finished cooking. Ham/ham hocks/ham bones are already fairly salty.
- I usually have a Parmesan rind in the freezer, but many stores with a decent cheese selection will often sell them for dirt cheap. It’s an optional ingredient but gives the ham and beans an extra level of “mmmmmm”.
- If you want to convert this to a ham and beans soup recipe, increase the broth/stock by 2-3 cups at the start of the cooking process.
Ham and Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried navy beans {Great northern or cannellini also work fine}
- 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 3 cups water
- 1 ham hock {or leftover ham bone}
- 2 cups carrots, chopped into large pieces {~3 medium carrots}
- 1 cup celery, chopped {~1 medium stalk}
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup onion, chopped {~1/2 of a medium onion}
- 1 tsp dried parsley {or 1 tbsp fresh}
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme {or 3 stems of fresh}
- 1 bay leaf
- Parmesan rind {optional}
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Add the beans to a large bowl and cover with 4 inches of water. The beans will increase in volume as they soak, so choose a bowl that is suitable for the volume expansion.1 lb dried navy beans
- Soak at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
- After they have finished soaking, drain the beans and discard the water before adding the beans to the slow cooker.
- Place the beans and the other ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir to combine.2 cups low sodium chicken stock, 3 cups water, 1 ham hock, 2 cups carrots, chopped into large pieces, 1 cup celery, chopped, 4 cloves garlic, minced, 3/4 cup onion, chopped, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, Parmesan rind
- Set the slow cooker to low and cook everything for 6 hours.
- Remove the ham bone or ham hock from the slow cooker.
- Remove any meat from the bone/hock and add it back to the slow cooker.
- Stir to combine and serve.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot, lock the lid into place, and set the steam release handle to “Sealing”.
- Press Manual>High Pressure>40 minutes.
- When it has finished cooking, allow for a full natural release. This can take up to 30 minutes.
Notes
- If you don’t use a leftover ham bone/hock, use all chicken stock instead of water. It will help boost the flavor that will be missing from the recipe.
- I recommend low-sodium chicken stock and not salting the dish until after it has finished cooking. Ham/ham hocks/ham bones are already fairly salty.
- If you want to convert this to a soup recipe, increase the broth/stock by 2-3 cups at the start of the cooking process.
- Nutrition values are an estimate only
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Okay . . . this was just too easy. I spent perhaps five minutes on the prep. It was nice to have mirepoix mix in the freezer along with garlic. Because of the the mix, my vegetables were cut much smaller than yours, but that’s the only deviation I made. And I made it in the Instant Pot. I am just finishing my first bowl and planning on having a second! It’s a great evening when dinner tastes this good with a minimum of effort. Thanks, Sarah!
I absolutely LOVE having frozen mirepoix at the ready. It’s my version of looking out for my future self.
I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed it so much. It’s comfort food at its finest.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
Wait a minute, Sarah released a recipe that isn’t a soup? However, it can easily turned into a soup. Suspicious. I kid, of course! I made the soup variation of this recipe today with some modifications (canned beans and about an hour in the stock pot instead of the pressure or slow cooker). We used our frozen and prepped soup veggies, garlic puck, and bone broth from Sarah’s other recipes. The flavors were amazing but the canned beans did have a mushy texture, just like Sarah warned they might. I think I would add the beans later in the process if using canned on the stove top again in the future – that might help! My family ate it with biscuits on the side and no one mentioned the mushy beans.
Haha, there has to be one every few months that isn’t a soup. Nuance. 🙂
I love to hear about your freezer stash that made this recipe easier for you. To me, nothing says self-care like frozen soup veggies.
I tried your ham and bean recipe, and we loved it. My Mom made ham and beans a lot when we were growing up, but adding the celery and carrots really made a difference. Thank you,
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Ann! It’s pure comfort food, and I agree with you that adding veggies really takes it to the next level.