Stretch Your Food Dollars with this Ham, Bean & Veggie Soup

Now that we are a couple weeks into fall, I’m getting excited for all the soups and broths.

Soups are cozy, easy to make, and usually utilize the more inexpensive cuts like chicken broth bones, pork neck bones, or like in this recipe, ham hocks.

The hock is basically the very bottom of the leg bone where the foot attaches to the leg. It’s a lot of skin and fat with a bit of meat so many butchers have these smoked & cured to add flavor and a bit of meat to beans, broths and soups.

This soup comes out to just over $2 per serving and then I usually serve with some yummy toasted and buttered bread or a grilled cheese.

Ham, Bean & Veggie Soup

3 hours cooking time, serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 quarts chicken bone broth (you can make homemade with our broth kit here!)

• 2-3lbs smoked ham hocks

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

• 1 tablespoon lard

• 1 small or medium diced onion

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 4 celery ribs, chopped

• 2 large carrots or 8-10 baby carrots, chopped

• 3 15oz. cans of cannellini or great northern beans, drained

• sea salt (we love Atlantic Beach Sea Salt!)

• freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)

Steps

1. Add broth to large soup pot and add ham hocks and Italian seasoning. Cook over high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer, add a lid so pot is partially covered but some steam can still escape and simmer for about an hour.

2. Once the ham hocks have been simmering for around an hour, heat lard in a small skilled over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

3. Add onions and garlic to the pot of simmering ham hocks, along with celery, carrots, and drained beans.

4. Simmer for another 45 minutes or until the ham hock meat is pulling away from the bone easily.

5. Remove the ham hocks from the soup onto a cutting board and let cool until able to handle.

6. Cut skin and fat away and discard. Pull off the meat, shred and add back to the soup. Discard the bone.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste. We usually add around 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add parsley and stir.

8. Serve with crusty toasted buttered bread or a grilled cheese!

Note: There is plenty of protein with the ham bits and beans, but if you like a meatier soup, feel free to add some of our ham pieces as well! You’d just chop them into bite sized pieces and add them at step 3.

Let us know if you give this a try! Like most soups, this soup gets better with time. We try and eat it within 5-7 days. Enjoy!