Crock Pot Ham and Beans

"This is cheap eating at it's best. Really good for scraping by at the end of the month if your cash gets low. Goes best with freshly baked corn muffins drizzled with honey."
 
Download
photo by DeliciousAsItLooks photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by PalatablePastime photo by PalatablePastime
photo by Love2Cook photo by Love2Cook
photo by bufordks photo by bufordks
photo by Catherine L. photo by Catherine L.
Ready In:
9hrs
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
4
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Sort beans and soak in enough water to cover overnight.
  • Or you may sort them and place in a saucepan with 2-inches of water to cover.
  • Bring them to a boil, boil for 3 minutes, then cover and remove from heat.
  • Allow to sit for one hour after boiling (don't lift the lid).
  • Whichever method you use, rinse and drain the beans before placing them in the crock pot.
  • Put the rinsed beans, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, parsley, cloves, ham (chopped into large chunks) or ham hocks into the crock pot along with 6 cups water or broth.
  • Cover crock, and cook on low for about 8 hours, or until beans are tender and creamy.
  • Skim any excess fat, if necessary, before serving.

Questions & Replies

  1. I find that there is never enough meat for my growing boys. If I use 4 ham hocks instead of 1, do I need to adjust the other ingredients? If so, how would you recommend that I adjust them rest? Also I think the additional hocks are making my soup too salty, how do I fix that?
     
  2. Should I use beef or chicken broth in bean soup?
     
  3. Does this recipe need to be altered in any way if I use my crocks high 6 hour setting?
     
  4. I doubled the recipe so it won't fit in my crockpot so I'm going to cook it on the stove top. What temp and cooking times do you recommend? Thank you!!
     
  5. When I click on your Print button it only picks up the Directions, and not the Ingredients, fyi.
     
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. Growing up in the ‘50s in a family of 8 (6 kids) Mom would make a baked ham on Sunday with creamed potatoes and peas (yum). Then the next night there would be scalloped potatoes and ham (made with left over ham — also yum) but the best was yet to come. After soaking great northern beans overnight she would add the entire leftover hambone with chopped onions, salt and pepper and water and simmer for a few hours on the stovetop. We would be welcomed home from school with the amazing aroma of this delicious dinner. We may have been poor but no one ate better. I wasn’t sure about this particular recipe — crockpot, chicken stock, garlic etc. — all different from Mom’s recipe. I decided to give it a try since I had a nice hambone from Easter ham. I used half water and half chicken stock and bay leave instead of cloves and cooked on high (instead of low) for 8 hours. About midday the aroma was so reminiscent of my childhood I didn’t even care if it turned out. But it did turn out and it was every bit as good as I remembered. It brought back memories of all of us rag tag kids sitting around a formica table with a dad who had worked all day in a factory and a mom who knew how to feed big family delicious nutritious meals on a shoestring. We were some lucky kids.
     
  2. I make this all the time. My kids love it. And to the previous post who said it was bland...pork roast is not ham!!! If you don't follow the recipe then don't give it a bad review!
     
  3. Seriously, if you don’t follow the recipe and you add your own ingredients, doesn’t that make it another recipe? I like honest reviews about the recipe with the ingredients listed. Aside from that, I’m out. I never ever give reviews on a recipe that I substituted on, because why?
     
  4. This was a big hit. I used dried lima beans, to recreate my father-in-law's butter beans. DH said it was very close, and gave it a thumbs up. It did take longer than 8 hours to cook - next time, I'll start on high for a few hours, then switch to low. Served with cornbread. Thanks for sharing! -- Update: I've had good luck with cooking it for 3.5 hours on high, then 5 hours on low, or just 5 hours on high.
     
  5. I am making this for the second time today, and I can't wait. This is the best ham and bean that I have ever had. This makes the old celery-and-onion version just seem bland! I also appreciate the "quick soak" method for pre-softening the beans. I think this makes all the difference in the world for a nice, soft yet whole, bean. I don't have a crock pot, so I followed the recipe exactly and just cooked it on the stove top with excellent results. Leftovers didn't make it past Day 3 last time I made this. We LOVED it!
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. "Skim any excess fat." No way, that really helps the flavor.
     
  2. Did not do crockpot method, did fast boil according to 16 oz package of great northern beans. Omitted kosher salt, used dried parsley, and then added 1/4 C Kraft Hickory Smoke Bbq Sauce. Baked a package of Trader Joe cornbread mix (it's our favorite for a mix), add a salad and you have a great meal!
     
    • Review photo by jennruiz18
  3. Left out the cloves added two bay leaves. Used 4 cups chicken broth 2 cups water. Didn’t have fresh parsley so used dry.
     
  4. I added a couple of carrots,used vegetable broth from Sprouts (yum!) and added a can of diced tomatoes towards the end. Hardy and delicious.
     
  5. I used bay leaf instead of cloves That's all. I loved it!!!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am a longtime member since 2002. While I have many recipes here, most of my current recipes are on my food blog at palatablepastime.com I may occasionally post something extra I have here. If you have questions, you can always contact me at contact@palatablepastime.com
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes