Simple Ham and Bean Soup That Grandma Loved

Simple Ham and Bean Soup That Grandma Loved. A Special Recipe From Long Ago….

My grandma made this soup a lot when money was tight and she needed to feed our whole family. The best part? She only needed three things from the kitchen to make something that tastes so warm and wonderful. When you cook it in a slow cooker, your whole house smells amazing, like you’ve been cooking since morning. But really, you just mix everything together before you leave and come home to magic!

What You Need (Feeds 6 People)

• 1 pound of dried white beans (the big kind)
• 1 ham bone with meat on it, OR 2 to 3 cups of chopped ham from leftovers
• 8 cups of water

How to Make Simple Ham and Bean Soup

1. Rinse your dried beans under cold water from the sink. Look through them and pick out any broken ones or little rocks. (Sometimes there are surprises hiding in dried beans!) You don’t have to soak them first, but you can if you want them softer or faster.
2. Pour your clean beans into the bottom of your slow cooker. Spread them out so they make one nice, even layer on the bottom.
3. If you have a ham bone, push it right in the middle of the beans. If you’re using chopped ham instead, sprinkle it all over the top. Make sure you have lots of ham pieces so your soup tastes yummy and meaty.
4. Pour all 8 cups of water over the beans and ham. Everything should be mostly underwater. Right now the water looks clear, but don’t worry—it will turn creamy and cloudy as the beans cook and release their stuff.
5. Put the lid on and turn it to LOW. Let it cook for 8 to 10 hours. (Or use HIGH and cook for 4 to 6 hours if you’re in a hurry.) The beans are done when they’re really soft and the broth looks creamy and thick.
6. If you used a ham bone, carefully take it out with tongs and put it on a plate. Let it cool down a bit. Then pull off any meat that’s still stuck to the bone and chop it into small pieces. Put that meat back in the soup and throw away the bone and any big pieces of fat.
7. Stir your soup really well so the beans and ham mix together. If you want it thicker, take a spoon and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot. This makes the broth even creamier.
8. Take a little taste. The ham already makes it salty, so you probably don’t need to add more salt. But you can add black pepper if you want to at the table. Pour it into bowls while it’s hot and enjoy!