Navy Bean Soup with Ham

Navy Bean Soup with Ham and Cornbread

This can be a delicious vegetarian meal, and it pretty darn nearly was. (Which is not a bad thing, really.) While prepping the soup, I didn’t even notice there was no ham in any of the photos. It was only after I got the soup in the crock pot that I realized I forgot it. AND, when I looked in the freezer for the bag of ham chunks, I found it was dark turkey meat instead. I rummaged around some more and came up with two small chunks.

Soaked Navy Beans

Now I am all for a meatless soup, but I just love ham in my navy bean soup. I added the small amount of ham, and drove to the store later for a ham steak. My husband suggested adding some Italian sausage we had instead, but that did not sound appealing at all. So ham steak it was! I ended up with a pretty largish ham steak, but I wanted a good quality one and this was the smallest one and it was made fairly local, in Pendleton, Oregon! Now I have a half of ham steak in the freezer for a future use.

Navy Bean Soup Ingredients ~ Minus the Ham

Navy Bean Soup with Ham

1 pound dried navy beans
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
2 bay leaves
Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb, to taste
Lots of ground black pepper, to taste
6 to 7 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
1 1/2 cups diced ham
1 pint jar of tomatoes, drained and diced, or 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes

Veggies, Spices, and Beans Ready for Broth and Ham

The Missing Ham

Rinse the beans then cover with at least an inch of water, and soak overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse the beans again and add to a large crock pot (slow cooker). Prep all the vegetables, then add the rest of the ingredients (except the tomatoes) to the pot. The acid in the tomatoes will prevent the beans from softening properly if you add them at the beginning.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. In the last hour or so, add the tomatoes. Remove the bay leaves. To make a thicker soup, you can smash some of the beans against the side of the pot, or remove some from the soup and puree in a blender. We served this with Skillet Cornbread. A delicious, filling soup for a chilly fall evening!

Navy Bean Soup with Ham and Cornbread

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