Any time I bake a ham, I like to make soup with the bone, but if that ham is made in the late spring, say for Easter or Mother’s Day, you’ll probably want an option that is a little lighter than some of the traditional bean, pea or cheesy potato soups. How about a soup like Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup? It can be made on the stove top or in the Instant Pot.
Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup
This Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup is a beautiful brothy soup just chock full of veggies, and it’s just perfect for late spring, or if you love soup as much as I do, just about anytime. Check out my menu for Soup, Chowder & Chili if you’re wanting to see more soup recipes including many classic ham ones.
About Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup:
You’ll find all the obligatory vegetables in Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup. There are the roots, the onions for flavor, the carrots with their beautiful color and potatoes to make it hearty. And of course, no soup pot full of veggies is complete without a little celery. And they all marry so well with this beautiful ham stock.
It’s the cabbage, though, that is the piece de resistance in this soup. As it wilts down and cooks up, it soaks up crazy flavor from that broth. It’s just a beautiful thing. And cabbage is so good for you, too! I know kale gets all the press these days, but cabbage is a member of the same family and has a lot of the same benefits, plus many people just like it better. The World’s Healthiest Foods calls cabbage a nutritional bargain. I gotta agree!
Once I was on the last bowl of my soup, which I served with every day old saltines, I couldn’t help but think how good this would have been with cornbread. If you lean that way, I have several here. Maybe the Old Fashioned Skillet Cornbread which would be great if you like to crumble it up in your soup, and now that I think about it, maybe the Beer Cheese Bread would be an even better option. Sometimes a little bread takes soup from lunch to dinner, and both of those recipes are pretty low effort and I’m all about that these days!
Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup
Making Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup:
When I make this or most of my soups that are ham based, I start out with a big pot of ham stock (I can usually get two soups from a pot of it made with one bone) and that gives a much richer and more flavorful base than if I straight up simmer the bone in this soup. On a slow day, when I’m around the house, I simmer the stock for several hours (or make it in my Instant Pot) then divvy it up for soups like this.
Once you have that stock, this soup takes very little time for a home-made from scratch soup. It’s a little rustic, the veggies are roughly chopped, so that’s easy peasy and once the carrots and onions are sauteed, it’s just a matter of dumping in the rest of the ingredients, in order.
I like the recipe as written, with just the garlic, salt and lots of black pepper for seasoning, and that’s partially because I’ve started with a great stock. I’ve given a few suggestions in the recipe if you’re looking to tweak it with another flavor. Thyme is always good, and if you’re leaning towards the Italian side of things, a little oregano or maybe some basil or both. Maybe you’d even like a touch of dill, or celery or caraway seed if you’re thinking Eastern European. Don’t discount what a tiny little drizzle of vinegar in your bowl can do for the flavor, waking it up and balancing the richness.
This seems like as good as place as any to give a shout out to my post on breaking down, caring for and using your leftover holiday ham. I call it 12 days of Ham because I started out with the basic helps for dealing with the ham and originaly had a dozen recipes; now there are scads of great ideas (over 50) for your holiday ham leftovers!
Best Ham Stock Instant Pot or Stovetop
Saving Money on Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup:
Easter is THE season to buy Ham. It will always be on sale around Thanksgiving and before Christmas and New Year’s but you’d be hard-pressed to find better pricing than the pre-Easter sales. Follow the ads, & get more than one. Hams keep for weeks in the fridge and can be frozen.
Stretching that ham over several meals is a great way to stretch your budget Save the bone for a soup like this and stretch that bone by making a big pot of my most excellent Best Ham Stock (if I do say so myself, lol); you can usually make two soups from that amount of stock. I in the meantime, take a peek at how to break down a ham, store and all the marvelous dishes for leftover ham I have here on my site. I’ve gathered them together in my post 12 days of Ham.
The rest of the team is basically your every day common veggies. Buy in larger bags for a cheaper per pound price, watch sales and store appropriately. Onions and potatoes should be stored apart, in a dark place (I just keep them in paper bags, with the top folded over) and watch how you store the carrots. Make sure they aren’t sitting in moisture or condensation in the fridge. It’s a good idea to keep them at right angles to any ridges in the bottom of your fridge drawer and turn them now and then. If your bag doesn’t have holes, poke a few in it.
Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup
Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup
- 2 tablespoons oil or the fatty part of the ham broth
- 1 onion, 1/2 inch diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2″ thick
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 to 4 stalks celery, sliced 1/2′ thick
- 6 cups ham stock (see note)
- 10 ounces (2 medium) potatoes, peeled and in 3/4″ dice
- 1/2 to 1 cup chopped leftover ham
- 1 teaspoon salt (go by taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (go by taste)
- 1/2 head cabbage, cored and chopped, 1″ dice
- a little white or red wine vinegar for serving
In a large pot or Dutch oven, add oil or drippings. Heat to medium-high. Add in onions and carrots and cook, stirring until onions are translucent about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Add in the garlic and celery and cook, stirring for a minute or two until garlic is fragrant.
Add ham stock and potatoes, partially cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add ham and cabbage and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until cabbage is wilted and cooked to desired tenderness.
Notes:
This soup is plain, down-home cooking. Feel free to add additional herbs if desired. A little celery seed, caraway, thyme, oregano, basil or dill will all be lovely, anywhere from a half to a teaspoon to start, adding more if you like the direction the soup is heading.
Add a little additional stock or water if you want the soup brothier.
Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soup - Instant Pot
- 2 tablespoons oil or the fatty part of the ham broth
- 1 onion, 1/2 inch diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2″ thick
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 to 4 stalks celery, sliced 1/2′ thick
- 6 cups ham stock (see note)
- 10 ounces (2 medium) potatoes, peeled and in 3/4″ dice
- 1/2 to 1 cup chopped leftover ham
- 1 teaspoon salt (go by taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (go by taste)
- 1/2 head cabbage, cored and chopped, 1″ dice
- a little white or red wine vinegar for serving
Add 1 tablespoon oil to Instant Pot and Heat Instant Pot on Saute, High. When hot, add onions and carrots, stirring as needed, until onions become translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and celery and cook for a minute longer, until garlic becomes fragrant.
Add about a cup of the ham stock and scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Add the remainder of the stock, potatoes and ham, salt & pepper to taste and stir. Place the cabbage on top, but don’t stir.
Add the ring to the lid and seal the pot. Cancel the Saute Function and set Instant Pot to Manual Pressure, 5 minutes. When finished, use Quick Release (it will take several minutes.) Check to make sure potatoes and cabbage are tender; if not press Cancel, set the pot to Saute, High and bring to a simmer, gently simmering until desired tenderness is reached.
Stir, taste and adjust any seasonings, adding salt or pepper to taste.
This soup is plain, down-home cooking. Feel free to add additional herbs if desired. A little celery seed, caraway, thyme, oregano, basil or dill will all be lovely, anywhere from a half to a teaspoon to start, adding more if you like the direction the soup is heading.
Add a little additional stock or water if you want the soup brothier.
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I’ll be sharing Old Fashioned Ham Bone Soupat Fiesta Friday #275. Our co-hosts this week are Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Laurena @ Life Diet Health.
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