Slow Cooker Ham Bone Soup - An Old-Fashioned Approach to Using Every Last Morsel

It feels wonderfully old-fashioned to make a pot of soup from a ham bone. The bone still yields plenty long after we finish the main ham dinner.

Tucked into the slow cooker with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, beans and herbs, it slowly releases its smoky, salty flavor into the broth. By day's end, the vegetables are tender. The broth becomes comforting and bursting with flavor. Ham pieces once clung to the bone mix through the hearty soup.

This Slow Cooker Ham Bone Soup is exactly the kind of recipe I love. It is economical, uncomplicated and rooted in a way of cooking our ancestors understood very well.

And for me, it brings to mind an old Irish philosophy about food: waste nothing.

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The Pig In Rural Irish Life

For generations, keeping a pig was an important part of life on many small Irish farms. Irish farming families commonly kept livestock including pigs, cows and goats, while households tried to produce as much of their own food as possible.

The family pig was particularly valuable, and believe it or not, was even known to share the family home.

Pigs raised on farms eventually provided an extraordinary amount of food for country folk. Pork was eaten fresh, while other portions were salted, cured or otherwise preserved to provide bacon for the months ahead.

By modern standards, the whole process might seem daunting. But in a time when food represented months of hard work, wasting any edible portion of an animal simply wasn't an option.

The old expression "everything but the oink" really does capture the Irish approach to the pig.

Blood was saved for black pudding. Intestines could become casings. The liver, kidneys, heart and crubeens or pig's feet were eaten, while much of the pork was salted and preserved. Folklore records from County Cork even describe the liver, kidneys, heart and crubeens being eaten for dinner on the very day the pig was killed.

And, of course, the bones still had something to offer.

A good meaty bone could flavor a pot of broth or soup, extracting every last bit of nourishment before its work in the kitchen was finally finished.

That's exactly the spirit behind today's recipe.

Killing The Pig Was A Big Day

"Killing the pig" was once an expression familiar to generations of Irish country people.

It wasn't simply another farm chore.

It was a big day.

Oral histories collected in Ireland describe families on small farms keeping pigs and local men becoming particularly skilled at slaughtering and butchering them. One account from rural County Sligo records that keeping pigs was extremely common from the 1940s through the 1970s, when the tradition of home pig slaughter gradually began to disappear.

Older folklore from County Galway records the pig being fattened in preparation for the occasion and a skilled local pig killer being hired to carry out the work. The blood was collected for pudding, the carcass carefully prepared, and much of the meat was salted in a barrel for preservation.

There was work to be done, food to be preserved and often neighbors to help.

Nothing was taken for granted.

I think that's worth remembering whenever we're tempted to toss a perfectly good ham bone into the trash.

From The Irish Hearth To The Modern Slow Cooker

Of course, our Irish ancestors didn't have an electric Crock-Pot sitting on the kitchen counter.

Their slow cooker was the hearth.

In traditional Irish homes, food was cooked over the open fire. Heavy three-legged cast-iron pots were used for boiling liquids, while foods could simmer close to the fire when they didn't require its most intense heat. A bastible was used for roasting.

The hearth was quite literally at the heart of the home.

A pot could quietly bubble away while other household work continued. Tougher ingredients softened, bones flavored broth, and simple vegetables became a substantial meal.

That's why I like to think of the modern slow cooker as a 21st-century cousin of that old black cooking pot beside the Irish hearth.

The technology may have changed, but the principle hasn't.

Put simple ingredients into a pot. Add liquid. Apply gentle heat. Give everything plenty of time.

And let time work its magic.

A Perfect Soup For A Leftover Ham Bone

This soup is especially handy after you've served a large ham for Sunday dinner, Christmas, Easter or another family gathering.

Don't worry if your ham bone looks as though you've picked it fairly clean. There are usually little pieces of meat tucked into all those nooks and crannies, and the bone itself adds wonderful flavor to the broth as it cooks.

If you don't have time to make soup right away, simply wrap the leftover ham bone well or place it in a freezer-safe bag and freeze it until you're ready to put it to good use.

For this recipe, you'll need one meaty ham bone, along with potatoes, carrots, onions, cannellini beans, broth and a few simple seasonings. The original recipe makes a generous 16 servings.

The beans are particularly good here. They add body and make this soup filling enough to serve as a meal rather than simply a starter.

Although beans were not traditionally a feature of old-fashioned Irish ham soups, I love adding cannellini beans to this recipe for their creamy texture, extra heartiness, and wonderful ability to soak up the smoky flavor of the ham broth.

Ingredients for Ham Bone Soup

Here's what you'll need (exact quantities are found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post):

• meaty ham bone
• potatoes, diced
• sliced carrots
• onions, diced
• canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• chicken broth or water
• bay leaves
• garlic powder
• thyme leaves
• black pepper

You can see from that ingredient list just how simple this soup really is.

There are no fancy ingredients required. It's a humble combination of meat, potatoes, beans and vegetables. These are exactly the sort of ingredients that belong together in a comforting bowl of soup.

Plus feel free to experiment with the veggies added. Chopped swede or rutabaga, parsnips or cabbage work great in this recipe.

How To Make Ham Bone Soup In A Slow Cooker

This might be one of the easiest soups you'll ever make.

Place the ham bone into a large slow cooker.

Add the diced potatoes, sliced carrots, diced onions and drained cannellini beans around the ham bone.

Sprinkle over the garlic powder, thyme and black pepper, then add the bay leaves.

Pour in the chicken broth or water and give everything a gentle stir around the ham bone.

Place the lid on your slow cooker.

Cook the soup on LOW for 9 to 10 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours.

And that's really all there is to it.

No standing over the stove.

No constant stirring.

Just good ingredients and time.

Finishing The Soup

Once everything is tender, carefully lift the ham bone from the slow cooker.

Don't throw it away just yet.

Allow it to cool enough to handle, then pull away every remaining piece of ham. Cut or shred the meat into bite-sized pieces and return it to the soup.

Remove and discard the bay leaves before serving.

Give everything a final stir and taste before adding any additional salt.

I recommend being very cautious with salt in this recipe. Ham can contribute plenty of saltiness of its own, and chicken broth can also contain quite a bit. You may discover you don't need any additional salt at all.

Ladle the soup into big bowls and serve it piping hot.

A slice of Irish brown bread or potato bread on the side would be lovely for soaking up that flavorful broth.

A Few Tips For The Best Ham Bone Soup

The amount of meat left on your ham bone doesn't need to be exact. A bone with a little extra ham will obviously make a meatier soup, but even a fairly well-carved bone can contribute plenty of flavor.

Cannellini beans work beautifully because they're mild and creamy, but other cooked white beans can work if that's what you have in your pantry.

You can use either chicken broth or water, as specified in the recipe. If your ham is particularly flavorful or salty, water may be all you need.

And remember that potatoes can soften considerably during such a long cooking time. That's part of this soup's rustic charm. Some may remain in neat little pieces while others break down slightly and naturally thicken the broth.

Storing Leftovers

Store any leftover ham bone soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. The flavors often deepen overnight, making this soup especially delicious the next day.

Reheat individual portions in the microwave or warm the soup gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat until piping hot throughout.

Can You Freeze Ham Bone Soup?

Absolutely.

This is a wonderful recipe for batch cooking, especially since it makes a large quantity.

Allow the soup to cool completely before transferring it to freezer-safe bags or airtight containers. It can be frozen for up to three months.

For best results, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it gently in a saucepan on the stovetop or in the microwave.

You might find the potatoes are a little softer after freezing, but the flavor will still be wonderful.

Printable Recipe Card for Hambone Soup

Here's a short video outlining the steps for making this delicious soup.

Here's the printable recipe card.

A Recipe That Connects Past And Present

Sometimes the simplest recipes tell the best stories.

A ham bone might not look like much sitting on a cutting board after dinner. But to generations who came before us, throwing it away while it still had something to give would have made very little sense.

Irish farming families understood how much work went into putting food on the table. They grew vegetables, raised livestock and preserved meat so that the family would have enough to eat throughout the year.

Today we don't need to hang a heavy iron pot beside a turf fire to follow that same philosophy.

We can plug in the slow cooker instead.

But when a ham bone spends the day gently simmering with potatoes, carrots, onions and beans, I can't help thinking that the basic idea hasn't changed very much at all.

Use what you have. Waste as little as possible. Cook it slowly. And feed everyone well.

That's a little piece of old Ireland that's well worth carrying forward.