A simple bean soup, made with navy beans, ham hocks, onion, celery and a few dried herbs. Simple. Easy. Tasty!
Simple Navy Bean Soup
Beans, along with their cousins, Southern peas, are a very common meal in the Deep South. They're filling, easy to stretch and tasty! What more could you want to feed a family?
There are lots of ways to make them and I've got quite a few of them here on the website myself!
A long time favorite of mine is what I call ham bone beans, where a rich and flavorful stock is first created from a meaty ham bone, resulting in a super creamy dish that falls somewhere between a soup and a stew and owes everything to that ham bone.
The best beans in the world by far!
That said, even though I bake hams at various times of the year and not just holidays, and I always freeze the bone, I don't always have a ham bone handy when I decide I want to cook some beans - or I want to reserve the one I have for those coveted Monday ham bone red beans and rice,
There are lots of ways to make them and I've got quite a few of them here on the website myself!
A long time favorite of mine is what I call ham bone beans, where a rich and flavorful stock is first created from a meaty ham bone, resulting in a super creamy dish that falls somewhere between a soup and a stew and owes everything to that ham bone.
The best beans in the world by far!
That said, even though I bake hams at various times of the year and not just holidays, and I always freeze the bone, I don't always have a ham bone handy when I decide I want to cook some beans - or I want to reserve the one I have for those coveted Monday ham bone red beans and rice,
What I do always have in my freezer are smoked pork hocks, often simply referred to as ham hocks, and they can provide a very tasty base for beans as well.
This is what I would consider a simple soup. Made with navy beans, ham hocks, onion, salt and pepper and a few dried herbs, it's let to slow simmer on the stovetop for several hours, producing a deep and flavorful, lovely, creamy texture. Simple. Easy. Tasty!
As always, full recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, are a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll past the step-by-step pictures below.
Here's how to make my Simple Navy Bean Soup.
Two finishing seasonings I have really enjoyed adding to my soups and stews are Bragg's Sprinkle Herbs and another all-purpose seasoning that a reader on Facebook shared with me, Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning. Both are excellent and flavorful additions to a lot of foods. Dig in y'all!
Simple Navy Bean Soup
Yield: About 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 3 HourTotal time: 3 H & 10 M
A simple bean soup, made with navy beans, ham hocks, onion, celery and a few dried herbs. Simple. Easy. Tasty!
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans
- 2-1/2 quarts water or chicken broth
- 1 pound meaty smoked pork hock(s)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup celery, chopped, optional
- 1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Add beans, water or chicken broth, pork hock, onion and celery to a soup pot.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer and let cook, uncovered, for about 2-1/2 hours.
- Remove hock, pull meat off and add to soup. Discard bone.
- Add salt and seasonings and continue cooking another 30 minutes, or until beans are fully cooked through and tender and desired consistency is reached.
- Stir in butter, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Notes:
Instant Pot: Add unsoaked beans and remaining ingredients, except for the seasonings to pot, seal and set to 20 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally. Remove hock, pull meat off and add to soup. Add salt, butter and herbs, taste and adjust as needed. Set pot on sauté and continue cooking until desired consistency is reached, stirring often.
Presoak: Beans pictured were not presoaked, but if you prefer to soak, rinse and sort through the beans, cover with water plus an inch and soak overnight or add to a stockpot and cover with water, bring to a boil; boil for 3 minutes uncovered, turn off heat, cover and let soak for one hour. Drain and proceed with recipe above, however, cooking time will be shorter.
Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
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