The Best Ham Bone Soup recipe (2024)

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This is the best ham bone soup recipe I’ve made over the years and I’m so excited to share this flavorful, savory and delicious dish with you! Save it so you can make it anytime you have a bone-in ham!

Ham bone soup is one of my favorite ways to use up leftovers from ham. We usually have a bone-in ham around all the major holidays and I revel in the after holiday lull where I get to do nothing for at least a day and just let this delicious soup simmer away.

Making the soup with the bone

The reason most people love to make ham bone soup is because it is full of flavor. The bone adds a layer of debt to the broth that you really just can’t get in any other way. Additionally, bone broth soups are rich in the vitamins and nutrients found in the bones such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. There’s a lot of science around bone broth soup in general being good for your immune system, healing your guy, reducing inflammation, reducing cellulite (Yes, please!) and even help with strengthening your teeth. There’s also apparently heart health benefits to using a ham bone. If you want to learn more about all that I suggest reading this article {HERE}.

My main reason for making my Ham Bone Soup recipe with the ham bone is flavor. All the other positives are really just bonuses to me.

Check out the Honey Ham GLaze recipe!

You can find my recipe for a delicious Honey Ham Glaze {HERE}! And if you want to know how to cook a ham, click {HERE}!

Cooking the Ham Bone Soup recipe

To make my Ham Bone Soup recipe, I prefer using my Dutch oven. If you have one and a little time, I would suggest using that so you can slow simmer this soup. The slow simmer is really what helps to draw out flavor from the bone into your broth. To make a true bone broth takes about 12 hours, but that’s not what we are doing here. We just want to use the bone for some flavoring and some of the benefits. I also find that if you simmer too long (or use the slow cooker or instant pot) the bone will start to fall apart on you. If you’re making bone broth, that’s fine because you can strain it out. However, in a soup full of veggies and other good things, you want to keep everything together.

I simmer my ham bone soup recipe for about an hour and a half to 2 hours to get all the flavor benefits. Then I remove the bone before I start adding the greens to make some room. You’ll find that the bone has already become softer and that the meat that is still attached to the bone will fall right off. Reserve that meat to put back in the soup and discard the bone. (Please don’t give it to your animals at this point. It will be too soft.)

Can I make this in the slow cooker?

The short answer is yes, but it probably won’t taste exactly the same or be as good. Part of what makes this ham bone soup recipe delicious is the base for the soup recipe which nicely sautés some onions to caramelize them a little for the broth. Some people have slow cookers that might allow them to do this right in the pot, but a lot of people don’t (myself included). So you might lose some flavor there.

Also, I’m not a huge lover of getting bone bits in my soup and the bone may start to fall apart after 8 hours of slow cooking, which is what I recommend cooking this at if you’re going to use a slow cooker.

Additionally, I still recommend on adding the kale when the soup is completed so it can just nicely wilt verus just cook down to nothing.

If you’re good wit all of that, you can add everything to your slow cooker and set it to 8 hours.

Can I make this just with leftover ham and no bone?

Again, the short answer here is yes. Instead of adding the bone during the recipe, just add in 3-4 cups of chopped ham and cut the simmer time in half. The broth won’t have the same richness you get from the broth with the ham bone in it but it will still be delicious and a great way to use up extra ham.

Ham Bone Soup recipe variations

I’ve made this soup a lot over the years and I will say, I always add slightly different vegetables. Sometimes I just add what I have. Other times I go for this recipe exactly because I love it so much. That said, if you’re not a fan of cabbage or kale, you can substitute for green beans, broccoli or spinach in this ham bone soup recipe. I was actually going to add peas and corn. However, I didn’t want to get too crazy since I knew I was going to be photographing it.

You can add green beans or broccoli in when you would add the cabbage and then peas about 30 minutes before you’re done. Keep in mind the broccoli might start to get really tender and you might end up with bits of the crown throughout the soup.

Tips for making my Ham Bone Soup recipe

• Again, I recommend making the ham bone soup recipe in a Dutch Oven. I adore Dutch oven cooking so when I have the time, it’s always my preferred method because of control and how it brings the flavors together in about an hour and a half.
• Also, this recipe makes a lot so make sure you have a large Dutch oven, pot or slow cooker. I cannot fit this whole recipe in my slow cooker.
• I recommend really allowing yourself to sauté the onions well. It can be tempting to skip this step but it really makes for a lovely soup base.
• I add white wine to my ham bone soup recipe. If you prefer not to have it in the soup, just deglaze the pan with extra chicken broth.
• As always, please use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can find, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Also, do use the fresh herbs where the recipe recommends them. The flavor is unmatched!
• My Dutch oven is a Le Creuset and it is the 5.5 quart one {HERE}.

Storing and reheating

You can store the ham bone soup in the refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 4 days. After that you need to eat it, freeze it or pitch it. You can freeze the soup for up about 45 days in a freezer safe tub made for the refrigerator.

To reheat it after it’s been in the refrigerator you can use the microwave or the stove top. If some of the fat has accumulated on top of the soup, you can remove that if you like before reheating.

To reheat the hame bone soup recipe after it has been frozen, remove the soup from the freezer at least 12 hours ahead of cooking and place it in the refrigerator. It should be ready then to reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

Note: You might have to add in additional chicken broth after you’ve had the soup in the refrigerator or the freeze and do a little re-seasoning.

Looking for other soup recipes?

If you’re a soup lover, try these other soup recipes that I love!

• Creamy Tomato with Basil {HERE}
• Homemade Minestrone Recipe {HERE}
• Chicken Tortellini Soup {HERE}
• Keto Zuppa Toscana Soup {HERE}
• Chicken Tortilla Soup {HERE}
• Carrot Soup with Ginger {HERE}
• Pumpkin Chorizo {HERE}
• Roasted Poblano & Corn Chowder {HERE}
• Creamy Beet Soup {HERE}

I mentioned I love soup…right? 🙂