Ham and Beans Recipe – Sustainable Cooks

This straightforward Ham and Beans recipe is extremely tasty and hearty! It is a incredible meal for repurposing scrumptious leftover ham and veggies.

a white bowl with handles filled with ham and beans and topped with a slice of bread.

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These ham and beans are the sort of recipe that makes you seem like a sustainable culinary genius.

It clears your fridge of all of the leftover ham, makes use of inexpensive components, it’s nearly completely hands-off due to the sluggish cooker, and it tastes wonderful!

After making this scrumptious recipe, should you’re nonetheless working your manner by way of leftover ham, take a look at our different leftover ham recipes like Ham Fried Rice, Ham and Cheese Pinwheels, Ham Pasta, Ham and Swiss Quiche, and Bacon and Egg Rolls.

Substances & Variations

You’ll discover the measurements within the recipe card beneath, however I’ll stroll you thru the components right here with some useful notes:

Ham bone or ham hocks – you should use some leftovers from an Instant Pot Ham
Beans – I used navy beans, however nice northern or cannellini beans will even work. The cooking time stays the identical even should you use different beans.
Veggies – carrots, celery, onion, and garlic
Herbs – dried (or contemporary) thyme, parsley, and a bay leaf
Liquid – a little bit of hen inventory and water
Parmesan rind – completely optionally available, however provides an unbelievable depth of taste. Go away it out to make this dish dairy-free.

white beans, veggies, ham hock, garlic, and other ingredients on a white board.

How Do You Soak Beans For Ham and Beans?

This recipe makes use of tremendous inexpensive dried beans. I don’t suggest utilizing canned beans as they are going to break down into mush in the course of the lengthy cooking course of.

You could have three choices for utilizing dried beans:

Choice one: soak in room temperature water for 12-18 hours.
Choice two: pour boiling water over the beans and soak them for 1-2 hours.
Choice three: don’t soak, however plan so as to add 3-4 hours of general cooking time within the sluggish cooker.

To soak: add the beans to a big bowl and canopy with 4 inches of water. The beans will improve in quantity as they soak, so select a bowl that’s appropriate for the quantity enlargement.

Should you do soak the beans (and I like to recommend that you simply do!), discard the water they’re soaked in and use contemporary water within the recipe.

Make Ham and Beans

*I’ll stroll you thru it with some suggestions and tips and images, and also you’ll discover a printable recipe card on the backside of the put up with actual measurements and baking occasions.

Begin by soaking your beans utilizing one of many strategies listed above. I choose an in a single day soak in room-temperature water, however you do you.

Drain the beans and place them and all the opposite components in the slow cooker and cook dinner on low for 6-8 hours.

When the whole lot seems to be unbelievable and smells wonderful, fish the ham bone or ham hock out of the sluggish cooker. Take away any meat that’s on there and add it again to the sluggish cooker.

That’s it. Severely! Life doesn’t all the time should be difficult.

3 photos showing how to make beans and ham in a slow cooker.

How Can I Thicken My Ham and Beans?

As written, this recipe has a reasonably thick consistency, and it’ll thicken because it cools.

However if you’d like it even thicker, it’s straightforward! In case you have an immersion blender you possibly can mix a small portion of the cooked beans immediately within the sluggish cooker.

You may as well take away a portion of the beans to a small bowl and mash them with a potato masher, pastry cutter, or meat masher.

Prompt Pot Choices

Utilizing a pressure cooker makes fast work of this recipe and you don’t should presoak the beans.

Add all of the components to the Instant Pot, lock the lid into place, and set the steam launch deal with to “Sealing”. Press Guide>Excessive Strain>40 minutes.

When it has completed cooking, permit for a full pure launch. This will take as much as half-hour.

a close up shot of carrots, herbs, beans, ham, and broth in a slow cooker

What to Serve With Ham and Beans

That is scrumptious with carbs like, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Air Fryer Texas Toast, Stuffing Biscuits, or No Knead Dutch Oven Bread.

And a aspect dish of veggies like Chopped Cabbage Salad, Roasted Frozen Broccoli, Air Fryer Asparagus, or Green Pea Salad are all nice choices.

Professional Ideas/Recipe Notes

Should you don’t have a leftover ham bone or hock, you possibly can completely use diced cooked ham. In a pinch, head to your grocery retailer’s deli counter, pick a reduce of ham, and ask for 1 slice on their thickest slicing setting.
Should you don’t use a leftover ham bone/hock, use all hen inventory as a substitute of water. It is going to assist enhance the flavour that will probably be lacking from the recipe.
I like to recommend low-sodium hen inventory and never salting the dish till after it has completed cooking. Ham/ham hocks/ham bones are already pretty salty.
I normally have a Parmesan rind within the freezer, however many shops with an honest cheese choice will typically promote them for dust low cost. It’s an optionally available ingredient however offers the ham and beans an additional degree of “mmmmmm”.
If you wish to convert this to a ham and beans soup recipe, improve the broth/inventory by 2-3 cups in the beginning of the cooking course of.

Extra Cozy Recipes You’ll Love

multiple bowls of beans and ham on a white surface with a dish of bread.

Ham and Beans

Prep Time8 minutes

Cook dinner Time6 hrs

Whole Time6 hrs 8 minutes

This straightforward ham and beans recipe is extremely tasty and hearty! It is a incredible meal for repurposing scrumptious leftover ham and veggies.

Servings: 12

Course: Major Course

Delicacies: American

Key phrase: ham and beans crockpot, sluggish cooker ham and beans

Energy: 196kcal

Creator: Sarah Cook – Sustainable Cooks

Cook dinner ModeForestall your display screen from going darkish

Sluggish Cooker Directions

Add the beans to a big bowl and canopy with 4 inches of water. The beans will improve in quantity as they soak, so select a bowl that’s appropriate for the quantity enlargement.

1 lb dried navy beans
Soak at room temperature for 12-18 hours.
After they’ve completed soaking, drain the beans and discard the water earlier than including the beans to the sluggish cooker.
Place the beans and the opposite components in a sluggish cooker. Stir to mix.

2 cups low sodium hen inventory, 3 cups water, 1 ham hock, 2 cups carrots, chopped into giant items, 1 cup celery, chopped, 4 cloves garlic, minced, 3/4 cup onion, chopped, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, Parmesan rind
Set the sluggish cooker to low and cook dinner the whole lot for six hours.
Take away the ham bone or ham hock from the sluggish cooker.
Take away any meat from the bone/hock and add it again to the sluggish cooker.
Stir to mix and serve.

Prompt Pot Directions

Add all of the components to the Prompt Pot, lock the lid into place, and set the steam launch deal with to “Sealing”.
Press Guide>Excessive Strain>40 minutes.
When it has completed cooking, permit for a full pure launch. This will take as much as half-hour.

Should you don’t use a leftover ham bone/hock, use all hen inventory as a substitute of water. It is going to assist enhance the flavour that will probably be lacking from the recipe.
I like to recommend low-sodium hen inventory and never salting the dish till after it has completed cooking. Ham/ham hocks/ham bones are already pretty salty.
If you wish to convert this to a soup recipe, improve the broth/inventory by 2-3 cups in the beginning of the cooking course of.