Slow Cooker Bean and Ham Soup

I always wondered why people kept ham bones... now, I know!  They make SERIOUSLY delicious soups!!!

This bean and ham soup recipe was made in an effort to replicate my father-in-law's recipe - he makes the most delicious bean and ham soup!  My husband grew up with it and I wanted to be able to make it for him whenever he wanted it. I was pretty darn successful!

We really enjoy the natural flavoring of the ham bone and enjoy this soup just the way the recipe is written. A couple of people said they felt this soup didn't have enough flavor, so if you're into "heavy" flavoring you may want to add more salt when you make this soup. (We watch our sodium intake around here!)

If you don't have a leftover ham bone, go to your local meat market and ask for a ham shank or ham bones. I bought a bag of ham bones for super cheap one time! They don't appear to have much meat on them, but as they cooked, they had a ton!  

I hope you enjoy this soup, we've made it a handful of times this past year and a and LOVE it!

Bean and Ham Soup

Ingredients:
10-14 cups water (depending on the size of your crock)
1 lb. dry navy beans, soaked overnight, rinsed
1 meaty ham bone or shank
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup mashed potato flakes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 bay leaf 

Directions:
Make sure your beans have been soaked overnight.  Drain and rinse them.  Put the beans, onion, garlic, celery, potato flakes, salt, pepper, nutmeg, oregano, basil, bay leaf and ham bone into your crock.  Add the water. 

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (or more!!!!!!) or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.  When you're ready to serve your soup, remove the ham bone and scrape all the meat off and return it to your slow cooker.  Remove the bay leaf.  Serve and enjoy! 

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For more great Slow Cooker recipes, please visit www.slowcookeradventures.com.

Happy Slow-Cooking!
Hope