Ham and White Bean Soup

Here's a cooking question for the ages: is it possible to take a classic, tried and true recipe and improve upon it? Is there a quintessentially perfect basic blueberry muffin, for example, or pot roast, and is it a sacrilege to modify them? Or how about a ham and bean soup? As far as I know, Americans have been making ham and bean soup since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. (Or at least once they figured out how to not starve–go read Nathaniel Philbrick's excellent bookMayflower for a lesson on how the Pilgrims were kind of boneheads when it came to agriculture.) Anyway, if not since Plymouth Rock, ham and bean soup has been an American staple at least since the 1980s–I know because there's a recipe for it in my very own passed-down Better Homes and Gardens "Red and White" cookbook.

BHG red and white cookbook

Which, come to find out, is now going for 90 bucks on the Internet. Sweet!

If a recipe is in the red and white cookbook, I consider it a classic. But to tell you the truth, last week when I read through the Ham and Bean Soup recipe in the BHG Bible, it just didn't excite me. It used water instead of broth, had minimal seasonings, and called for dried navy beans when I wanted canned. The one thing that DID match my criteria was that it used a ham bone, which I had saved from our Christmas Ham-fest. Still, that wasn't enough to give it the pizzazz I was hoping for, so I decided to tempt fate and tinker until I came up with something a bit more interesting. Adding chicken broth, carrots, dry mustard, and nutmeg gave this hearty soup enough flavor to eliminate the need for added salt–always a plus, if you ask me. And cutting out the dried bean soaking time got it from prep to table in under an hour. After two bites, my 7-year-old proclaimed it his new favorite soup of all time.

So, if I dare say it, I think our family has a new classic Ham and Bean Soup. Try it out and tell me if you feel the same.

Ham and White Bean Soup

Ham and White Bean Soup

A hearty soup to warm you from the inside out!

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 55 mins

Servings: 8

  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
  • 6 carrots, diced
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ham bone
  • 2 15-oz. cans great Northern beans, drained
  • 2 c. chopped ham
  • 1 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard
  • 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 c. chicken broth
  • 4 c. water

  • In a large stockpot, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and ham bone and saute until vegetables have softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 30 seconds.

  • Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer at least 30 minutes.

  • Remove ham bone and bay leaves and serve.