Easy Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup Recipe (2026)

This easy crockpot ham and bean soup recipe starts with leftover holiday ham, a bag of dried great northern beans, and whatever vegetables are sitting in your crisper. Everything goes into the slow cooker in the morning and stays on low until dinner, which is the whole appeal on a cold weeknight.

Total hands-on time is about 20 minutes. Cooking time is 8 to 10 hours on low, or 4 to 6 hours on high, and it yields about 8 servings. If you are short on beans, canned white beans get you to the table in under two hours.

Why This Recipe Works

• It uses up holiday ham. A leftover bone or a cup of diced ham that is heading for the back of the fridge becomes the entire flavor base, so nothing goes to waste.
• The slow cooker does the stirring for you. A steady simmer softens the beans without a rolling boil, which is why they turn creamy instead of breaking apart.
• One pot, no browning step required. You layer the ingredients, put the lid on, and walk away until the kitchen smells like supper.
• It feeds a crowd and freezes well. A full batch of 8 bowls doubles easily, and portions cool fast enough to freeze flat.
• Kid-friendly by default. The beans are soft, the ham is diced small, and there is nothing chewy or surprising in the bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried great northern beans (about 2 cups), or three 15-ounce cans great northern or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large ham bone with plenty of meat, or 2 cups diced cooked ham
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, optional, only for dried beans
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Chopped parsley, for serving

For the ham, a bone-in shank or the leftover stump from a spiral ham both work. Trim away any skin and most of the fat first, then dice the meat into 1/2-inch pieces. Smoked ham is fine and gives the broth a deeper flavor, but it is saltier, so skip the added salt until you taste.

The mirepoix here is just diced onion, carrot, and celery. Nothing fancy, and it gives the soup body without adding a single extra step.

Low-sodium broth matters more than usual here because the ham already brings plenty of salt. Regular broth works if you skip the salt entirely and taste before seasoning.

Canned or Dried Beans for This Easy Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup Recipe

Dried beans give you the old-fashioned texture and take 8 to 10 hours on low. They need a soak and they need the full time. Canned beans are the shortcut: no overnight soak, no planning ahead, and only 45 to 60 minutes on high. Both methods work, so pick based on your Tuesday.

• Dried: soak overnight in cold water, drain, and add them to the pot with the baking soda. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.
• Canned: drain and rinse well, then cook on high 45 to 60 minutes.

Equipment

• A 6- to 8-quart slow cooker with a lid
• A cutting board and a sharp knife
• Measuring cups and measuring spoons
• A colander for rinsing beans
• An instant-read thermometer for reheating

A 6-quart cooker works if you cut the broth to 6 cups, and an 8-quart cooker gives you room to stir without it sloshing over the rim. The instant-read thermometer is the only tool here that earns its keep on reheat night.

How to Make Easy Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup

This old-fashioned slow-cooker method layers dried beans and aromatics with broth, cooks them low and slow until the beans give with a spoon, then adds the ham at the end so it stays tender instead of stringy. Prep takes 20 minutes; the pot does the rest.

Prepare the Ham and Vegetables

1. Trim the skin and most of the fat from the ham bone, then dice the meat into 1/2-inch pieces. Set the bare bone aside.
2. Dice the onion, carrots, and celery into roughly even 1/2-inch pieces.
3. Drain and rinse the beans. If using dried beans, soak them overnight in cold water first, then drain and discard the soaking water.
4. Measure the broth. If you like a thicker result, hold back a cup and fill the space it takes with cold water.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and soften the onion, carrot, and celery for 5 minutes, if you have the time. Skipping this is fine; it just takes ten extra minutes off the total cook.

Cook the Soup

6. Put the beans, diced vegetables, garlic, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and baking soda in the slow cooker first, then pour the broth over the top. Beans sink, so putting them in last leaves them sitting on the bottom where the heat is gentlest.
7. Add the ham bone and half the diced ham. Stir once, gently.
8. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. Canned beans only need high for 45 to 60 minutes.
9. Check at the 6-hour mark on low. The beans should give completely when pressed with the back of a spoon and the broth should be hot and lightly simmering.

Finish and Serve

10. Fish out and discard the ham bone, then stir in the remaining diced ham.
11. Season to taste. Salt in small increments because the ham and broth have already salted the pot.
12. Adjust the thickness. Thin it with hot broth a cup at a time, or thicken it with a cornstarch slurry stirred in at the very end.
13. Ladle into bowls and finish with chopped parsley.

Leftover soup reheats to 165°F (74°C), measured in the center of the bowl with an instant-read thermometer. Hold at that temperature for two minutes if reheating several bowls at once.

Tips for Success

• Too watery? A slow cooker traps steam, so the liquid barely reduces. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes, or mash a quarter of the beans to thicken it naturally. Our guide to how to thicken soup without flour has the rest of the options.
• Beans still crunchy? They were probably not soaked, or they sat on top of the heat. Put beans in first, next to the bottom of the pot, and give dried beans the full 10 hours.
• Too salty? Start with low-sodium broth and do not add any salt until the very end. If it is already oversalted, dilute with unsalted broth or water.
• Uneven cooking? Stir at least once, around the 4-hour mark on low, and stir from the bottom so nothing sticks.
• Wrong pot size? Do not crowd an 8-quart cooker. Fill it no more than two-thirds and use the extra space for bread.
• Bland soup? Add acid, not salt. A squeeze of lemon at the table wakes up every version of this soup.

What Adds Flavor To Ham And Bean Soup

Six things move this soup from fine to genuinely good.

• The ham bone, simmered from the start, gives a depth no diced ham alone can match.
• Sautéing the onion, carrot, and celery in oil before they go in the pot.
• Two bay leaves, dropped in at the beginning and counted out at the end.
• Fresh thyme or Italian seasoning, added early.
• Mashing a cup of the beans to thicken and cloud the broth.
• A last-minute splash of lemon juice or a small pour of hot sauce.

Variations

• 15-bean mix with ham hocks. Swap the great northern beans for a soup beans mix and use two ham hocks. The hock version is cheaper and gives the broth more body.
• Turkey and white beans. Diced smoked turkey breast and cannellini beans make a lighter bowl with the same method and the same timing.
• With potatoes. Add 2 cups of diced Yukon Gold potatoes with the beans. They hold their shape better than russets.
• Creole style. Stir in one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, a teaspoon of cumin, and a pinch of cayenne for the beans.
• Bean and ham base. Double the beans, skip the ham, and serve it as a side for biscuits, collard greens, or cornbread.

If you like the idea of cooking once and eating all week, our 10 easy crockpot soup recipes with chicken and vegetables roundup follows the same unattended-cooking logic with different meat.

Storage, Make-Ahead and Reheating

Let the soup cool on the counter for no more than 2 hours, then move it into the fridge. It keeps 3 to 4 days in a sealed container. A more detailed breakdown of how long homemade soup lasts in the fridge is worth reading before you batch-cook.

For freezing, ladle the soup into individual containers or bags with a little headroom, cool completely, and freeze up to 2 to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge for the best bean texture, or in the microwave on defrost. Do not thaw in the crockpot.

Reheat on the stove over medium-low heat until steaming and 165°F (74°C) throughout, stirring now and then so nothing catches on the bottom. In the microwave, use a large bowl so it heats evenly, stir halfway, and check the temperature in the center before serving.

One freezer habit worth setting up: portion extra ham into 1-cup bags before it freezes. Flat bags stack, and the next batch of soup already has its meat measured out.

What to Serve With It

• Crusty sourdough or a dense rye loaf, warmed in the oven
• Cornbread, cut into squares and buttered while hot
• A sharp green salad with cider vinaigrette to cut the richness
• Salted crackers or a small bowl of pickles
• Simple sandwiches on the side, which is how my family eats it

For a starter to serve before the soup, our easy golumpki soup recipe works well, and easy crockpot Marry Me chicken covers the nights when you want the same hands-off approach with chicken instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

This easy crockpot ham and bean soup recipe is dependable on busy nights because there is almost nothing to do after the first ten minutes. Make it first with crusty bread and whatever beans are in the cupboard, and let the pot handle the rest while you do everything else.

If you have an hour tonight, dice the ham and vegetables and keep them in the fridge. In the morning the whole thing goes in the slow cooker and dinner is handled before the house gets noisy.