This Ham Soup recipe is made with beans and vegetables in a savory broth with the best combination of seasonings. It’s freezer-friendly and easy to make on the stove top or in the crock pot!
Be sure to try my Ham Casserole recipe next!
Ham Soup
This ham soup recipe is definitely one of my favorite ways to use up leftover ham. It’s a breeze to make on the stove top or in the crock pot, and I love that it’s freezer-friendly. It’s also light yet satisfying, and filled with vegetables like spinach (or kale), which makes me feel good about eating it!
Unlike my ham and bean soup recipe (which is made with dried beans), this recipe is made with canned beans, which makes this soup come together quickly and easily.
The combination of seasonings and flavor enhancers in this soup take it over the top for sure!
BONUS: In this recipe, we first fry the ham in the soup pot which makes it nice and crispy, enhances it’s flavor, and adds “fond” to the pot which is deglazed with wine to transfer flavor into the broth!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Fry the ham in olive oil until golden and crisp. Set aside and deglaze the pot with white wine. Reduce by half.
Add the butter, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, seasonings, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the ham back.
Simmer for 30 minutes, partially covered. Stir in the spinach. Serve!
Pro Tips
- The hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder are flavor enhancers in this soup that can’t be tasted outright. The hot sauce doesn’t make it spicy. I use Frank’s Hot Sauce.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc are great in this recipe. Chicken broth can be used if you don’t cook with wine
- Beans: Any canned bean that you enjoy eating can be used in this soup, including Great Northern, Cannellini, Navy, or a combination of beans.
- To use dried beans, try this ham and bean soup recipe.
- Sodium: Ham is generally pretty salty, and canned beans also have sodium added. Therefore, I recommend that you use low sodium chicken broth. If you only have regular broth, you can give your beans a quick rinse to remove a little salt.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This soup freezes very well.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 4.5 quart Dutch oven– This is a great size for this recipe.
- Food Storage Containers– These are what I use to freeze this stew, they are leak proof, microwave safe, stackable, and BPA free.
- Pinch Bowls– For measuring out seasonings ahead of time.
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I use to make broth. It takes up very little storage space!
- 16 oz. storage containers I use these to store/freeze my soups. They have 8 oz. sizes as well. They’re stackable, leak proof, and dishwasher/microwave safe.
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Ham Soup
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ½ cups ham, diced
- ½ cup white dry white wine, see notes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- ¾ cup carrots, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 32 oz. pinto beans, (Two 16 oz. cans) Drained but not rinsed.
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup heavy cream, optional
- 2 cups spinach
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon EACH: dried oregano, basil, parsley, mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: ground sage, pepper
For Serving
- Fresh grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the ham and cook until golden and crisp, 1-2 minutes per side. Set aside and dice once cooled (if not already diced), I crisp whole slices of ham and dice it after.
- Turn the heat off and add the wine. Set the heat to medium and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the pot. Let it bubble gently and reduce by half, about 4 minutes.
- Melt the butter and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add the onions, carrots, celery, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and seasonings. Stir to combine and soften for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the drained pinto beans, then the chicken broth and heavy cream, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the ham back. Let it simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. (Run a silicone spatula along the bottom every 10 minutes or so, to lift any ingredients settling to the bottom.)
- Add the spinach and let it wilt, about 3 minutes.
- Taste, and adjust any seasonings as needed. Transfer to serving bowls and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- Add all ingredients except the spinach to the slow cooker (omit the wine). Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3-4.
- Add the spinach during the last 5 minutes, or until wilted.
- Optional: Fry the ham and deglaze the pot with wine as outlined in the stove top method if desired. Many crock pots allow you to brown meat right in the crock pot insert.
Pro Tips:
- The hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard powder are flavor enhancers in this soup that can't be tasted outright. The hot sauce doesn't make it spicy. I use Frank's Hot Sauce.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc are great in this recipe. Chicken broth can be used if you don’t cook with wine
- Beans: Any canned bean that you enjoy eating can be used in this soup, including Great Northern, Cannellini, Navy, or a combination of beans.
- To use dried beans, try this ham and bean soup recipe.
- Sodium: Ham is generally pretty salty, and canned beans also have sodium added. Therefore, I recommend that you use low sodium chicken broth. If you only have regular broth, you can give your beans a quick rinse to remove a little salt.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This soup freezes very well.
The nutritional information is an estimate and is per cup. There are approximately 10 cups in this recipe.
This was delicious. A very different recipe from what I would have made and I loved it. Nicely balanced and blended flavors. I was going to make ham soup last night, but was invited to a friend’s house and she served ham soup. The beauty is no two soups are the same and this soup was very different from hers and there was no issue with hame soup two nights in a row. 🙂
I’m so happy you liked it Monica! That’s so funny , what are the odds you would have two ham soups in a row like that!? Thanks so much for the great review!❤️
Very good recipe. I was looking for something to do with my leftover ham. I was tired of pea soup so this was perfect. Will make again.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and leave a review Muriel! I’m so happy you liked it!❤️
Can’t wait to make. I bought a small ham for dinner tonight, no bone so was thrilled to see your recipe and read all the wonderful reviews! Thanks.
I will give it 5 stars! Made other recipes and all yummy!
Carol
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and review Carol! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipes!❤️
Made with leftover New Years day ham. It was amazing!
Perfect Haley!! I’m so glad that you made great use of leftover ham and that you loved the soup, thank you so much!!
This soup is excellent and so flavorful! We really loved the addition of the spinach. We didn’t top with Parmesan cheese because it was so tasty without it. It’s an excellent way to use up the leftover Christmas ham. Thanks for another winner of a recipe!
I’m sooo happy that it was a hit Codie!! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review, THANK YOU!!!
Really good recipe! It has good flavor and was simple to make. Thank you!
You’re very welcome Valerie! I’m so happy you enjoyed the Ham soup, thanks so much for the great review!
Delicious, quick, and easy! There’s plenty of flavor despite no ham bone to season the broth. An 8 oz ham slice works well for half the recipe. I also added one small, diced potato and substituted cannellini beans and half and half. A few presses of a potato masher or a few seconds with an immersion blender will help thicken the broth. Thanks for a “keeper” recipe!
Nice work! My immersion blender is one of my favorite kitchen tools. I’m so happy you enjoyed this one, thanks so much for the great review!🩷
This soup is absolutely delicious, and so easy to make! I didn’t deglaze the pan in between the ham and veggies After sauteing the veggies, we added the spices and a tablespoon of tomato paste (personal preference) then deglaze the pot and continued with the recipe as written. Everyone at the table asked me to save the recipe to make again 😋
Nice work Trish! I’m so happy everyone asked you to save the recipe, always a good sign!🩷 Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Loved this soup. Very tasty. Loved the flavors. Next time I am going to add another can of beans
I’m so happy to hear that Dru! Thanks so much for the great review!🩷
Absolutely delicious. I made this soup for 10 serving and needed to double worcheshire & hot sauce to 2 teaspoons each, 2 tablespoons of chicken Better than Bouillon, and i cup of uncooked orzo at the end.
Thanks so much for the great review Carol, sounds like you nailed it, nice work!🩷