Looking for a winter soup to use up your leftover holiday ham? This Ham and White Bean Soup is an easy slow cooker freezer meal!
My favorite kind of freezer meals are the ones where you can just dump and go.
As busy moms, sometimes we don’t have the time to make elaborate meals. That’s why “dump meals” are becoming so popular.
If you’ve been following my 25 Days of Freezer Meals series, you’ll see that a lot of my freezer meals are the easier ones you can just put together real quick. This Ham and White Bean Soup is one of them!
The only part that takes a bit of time is chopping the vegetables- but really, that’s maybe 5 or 10 minutes.
This soup is what you could call a “leftover soup”. The vegetables needed are onions, carrots, and celery- veggies you may have laying around in the fridge that you need to use up. Same with the ham! If you’ve just had a holiday dinner and have tons of ham left, this would be a good recipe to use.
One word of warning, though- and this has happened with some of my other soups- you won’t have enough room in the freezer bag for the broth/water. Just freeze the ingredients by themselves, and on cooking day just add the four cups of water or broth to the slow cooker when you dump the bag in.
Can you used dried beans in this Ham and White Bean Soup?
I’ve never made it that way, so I can’t give exact instructions. The amount of beans equals about 3 cups dried; so you either need to increase the water and the cooking time/temperature, or cook the beans ahead of time and add them in later.
What can you serve with this soup?
Some homemade French bread with butter would be a perfect side for this soup! I use this recipe more often than not, and the loaf has a crisp outside with a soft inside. I’m drooling thinking about it.
Looking for more freezer meal ideas? Check out the other recipes in my 25 Days of Freezer Meals series!
Ham and White Bean Soup
Looking for a winter soup to use up your leftover holiday ham? This Ham and White Bean Soup is an easy slow cooker freezer meal!
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups diced ham
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups water or broth (For cooking day)
Instructions
- In a gallon-sized freezer bag, add all ingredients except the water/broth and seal tightly. Lay flat in the freezer until completely frozen.
- When ready to cook, thaw in the fridge overnight and dump the bag into a slow cooker. Add 4 cups of water or broth and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
Jaime is a Nutrition Coach through the ISSA and professional writer. She has 4 years experience coaching and 9 years experience in writing. She enjoys cooking easy meals, running, and learning more about food.
Jaime specializes in helping women with ADHD learn to meal plan and cook healthier meals without getting overwhelmed.
Josephine Parker
Sunday 6th of December 2020
I plan on cooking dried beans. I was trying to find info on freezing all ready cooked ham as nd beans.
Jo Stegall
Saturday 1st of February 2020
I have never cared for ham. The fat, the texture, and gristle made me disgusted with the meat. My mother loves ham and this past Christmas I tried something new. At $4.18 a pound it seemed ridiculous, but the Sam's boneless spiral cut ham was so worth the price. I always bought turkeys and ham on special but I will never go back. I was actually looking for a new recipe for leftover ham. I am planning to buy another ham and use mainly for putting a few slices in a package to make casseroles. This seems like a good recipe to try so I thought I would share that with you. If I had known about these hams before, I would have definitely buy for an easy meal.
Jaime
Saturday 1st of February 2020
Thanks for this, Jo! I understand what you mean about regular ham. We've had the boneless before too, and I agree it's so worth the price!