Learn how to make homemade 15 bean soup with ham with this easy stovetop dinner recipe, perfect for leftover ham. There's so much flavor in this hearty, meaty, filling soup! Fill your bowl with the ultimate comfort food soup.
Cooler months of the year are when I just want to break out all the soup recipes… There's just something cozy about a warm, steaming bowl of ham and 15 bean soup.
15 bean soup is perfect for chilly fall days, rainy days, or days where you just need a bit of down home comfort. And it pairs deliciously with a skillet of buttermilk cornbread.
Why You'll Love This Soup
- It's the perfect way to use up leftover ham in a most delicious way. We usually use a ham hock from a glazed pre-cooked ham we've baked.
- Like I mentioned above, 15 bean and ham soup really is the ultimate comfort food. It's warm and cozy.
- It's also hearty and filling.
- 15 bean soup with rice is a healthy one pot dinner. You've got protein, fiber, fat, and carbs in one big pot of soup.
- It's chock full of delicious flavor, from the beans to the meat to the veggies and seasonings used.
Ingredients and Substitutions Notes:
Speaking of seasonings, let's talk ingredients…
- Garlic and Yellow Onion – You can use fresh cloves of garlic or already minced garlic you can get at the grocery store, usually in the produce section. Yellow onion also gives a nice kick to the flavor.
- Red and Green Bell Peppers – I love the color this gives to the soup, not to mention the flavor. If you need help learning how to dice the peppers, here's how to cut a pepper, including how to dice.
- Ham Bone or Ham Hocks – If you don't have a leftover ham bone, you can always just buy one at a local butcher shop. Or instead you can substitute something like smoked sausage.
- 15 Bean Soup Mix – While you can just use navy beans or cannellini beans, I love a bag of 15 bean soup mix. You get a variety of beans in Hurst's HamBeens, including northern, pinto, large lima, yelloweye, garbanzo, baby lima, green split, kidney, cranberry, small white, pink, small red, yellow split, lentil, navy, white kidney, and/or black bean. You will need to soak the beans overnight in water, but you won't need the seasoning packet.
- Long-Grain Rice – I prefer long-grain rice because it's usually not as sticky, and it falls apart in the soup. Of course, you can always leave out the rice if you don't want to add it to the soup; but I will say the rice really adds to the heartiness of this wonderful bean and rice soup.
- Seasonings – It's pretty simple. You'll just need salt, pepper, and smoked paprika for a good flavor kick.
How to Make 15 Bean Soup with Ham
As I mentioned in the ingredient notes above, be sure to soak the beans overnight, so they're ready to go the next day. Also, be sure to thaw the ham hocks ahead of time.
Then just follow these steps…
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven pan over medium heat, and sauté the onion, garlic, and bell peppers for 5-10 minutes, or 'til softened.
- Add the ham bone or hocks and 15 bean soup mix to the onion mixture in the Dutch oven.
- Cover the ham bone with the water. Cover and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat to low-medium, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove the hocks from the water; then pull the meat from the bone and chop.
- Add the chopped meat back into the water, along with the rice, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or 'til the rice is thoroughly cooked.
Then serve the soup with cornbread or crackers.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container, so it doesn't get freezer burn. It should freeze well for about 3 months.
Store it in an airtight container in the fridge; it should keep for 3-5 days.
Yes, you absolutely can slow cook it. You may need to remove the ham from the bone half way through cook time, which will likely be 4-5 hours on low heat.
There are a few reasons for soaking a package of 15 soup beans… One is to make them more tender and not have to cook quite as long. Another reason is because it helps to make them easier to digest and not cause quite as much gas.
While I feel this soup is already pretty thick, you can use a potato masher to mash some of the beans, and that'll lead to a somewhat thicker consistency.
Variations and Ways to Change It Up
There are a few ingredients you can swap and things you can do to change this bean and ham soup up just a bit…
- Use chopped smoked sausage, Italian sausage, or breakfast sausage in place of ham.
- Add crushed tomatoes, or better yet, diced tomatoes with green chilies for a Tex-Mex flair.
- Add more veggies, like chopped Swiss chard, parsnips, or spinach leaves. You can even add in some shredded carrots for a little more color, flavor, texture, and nutrients.
- Get creative with seasonings… Make it Cajun or Tex-Mex by swapping out seasonings.
- Sub in chicken broth for part of the water to give even more flavor.
More Delicious Soup Recipes
If you love this 15 bean soup recipe, you'll love these soups too…
- Instant Pot vegetable soup
- Slow cooker white chicken chili
- Easy Instant Pot chicken noodle soup
- Creamy potato corn chowder
- Chicken and gnocchi soup
- Hearty V8 vegetable soup
If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. And subscribe to my email list too!
15 Bean Soup with Ham
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large red bell pepper minced
- 1 large green bell pepper minced
- 2 pounds ham bone or ham hocks
- 20 ounces 15 bean soup mix* without seasoning packet
- 6 cups water see instructions below
- 1/2 cup long-grain rice
- 2 teaspoons sea salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven pan over medium heat.
- Sauté the onion, garlic, and bell peppers in the olive oil for 5-10 minutes, or 'til softened.
- Add the ham bone or hocks and 15 bean soup mix to the onion mixture in the Dutch oven.
- Cover the ham bone with the water.
- Cover and bring to a boil; then reduce the heat to low-medium, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.
- Remove the hocks from the water; then pull the meat from the bone and chop.
- Add the chopped meat back into the water, along with the rice, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or 'til the rice is thoroughly cooked.
- Serve ham and 15 bean soup with cornbread or crackers.
I’m assuming you add the rice uncooked???
Kelly, yes, you are correct. Thank you!