Navy Bean Soup

Navy Bean Soup

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins
  • Servings: 6

    • About This Recipe

    “A good hearty soup, especially good with the old ham bone.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups dried navy beans or 1 1/4 cupslima beans, rinsed and drained
  • 4ounces salt pork or 4ouncesfully cooked ham, , chopped
  • 1/4 cupchopped onion
  • 1/2 teaspoondried oregano leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoonsalt
  • 1/4 teaspoonground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoondried sage
  • 1/4 teaspoonblack pepper
  • 2cupsnonfat milk
  • 2tablespoonsbutter

    • Directions

  • Place navy beans in large saucepan, add enough water to cover beans.
  • Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour (Or, cover beans with water and soak overnight).
  • Drain beans and return to saucepan.
  • Stir in 2 1/2 cups water, salt pork, onion, oregano, salt, ginger, sage and pepper.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat.
  • Cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.
  • (If necessary, add more water during cooking).
  • Add milk and butter, stirring until mixture is heated through and butter is melted.
  • Season with additinal salt and pepper.
  • I have made this soup with a leftover ham bone with a little meat left on it instead of the salt pork or chopped ham.
  • Place the ham bone in the pot before bringing to a boil and remove after the 2 1/2 hours of simmering, scrape and chop any meat left on the bone into the soup.
  • Discard bone.

    • Reviews

  • “We used turkey ham instead of ham or salt pork, and also mashed some of the beans to make a thicker broth.It was delicious and we will definitely add this to our favorite soups list!The ginger adds a suprisingly pleasant taste.Very good soup, Dorothy!”

  • “Made your recipe for several years now, finally writing a review. Instead of water I usually use chicken broth.Have a pot of this soup simmering on the stove right now to package up for lunches this week.Thanks so much for sharing, it’s become one of my favorites.”

  • “I just realized that I made this months ago and completely forgot to review it, until I came looking to make it again.This soup was nice and creamy, and I really enjoyed it.I used smoked ham hocks in place of the salt pork, but otherwise didn’t change any ingredients, except re-seasoning the final soup with salt and pepper to taste.I used a hand blender at the very end to make it more creamy, and pulled the bits of meat off of the ham hock to chop and add back to the soup.This also froze well, and made for some great winter lunches.Thanks for posting!”

  • “My husband loved this! We enjoyed it with a mix of dried beans, but had to cook it for while longer than stated in order to get the beans soft enough.”

  • “Wonderfull. Thanks.”

  • “I just now realized that I forgot the last steps of this recipe when I came on to write a review.I did everything except adding the butter and milk, and it is STILL delicious!I don’t know that I’ll even add it next time as it is so tasty the way I did it.I increased the amounts of each ingredient a bit, and smashed some of the beans to give it a different texture.GREAT RECIPE!!!Thanks Derf! :-)”

  • “Was a little unsure of the spice combination in this recipe but it turned out great.I doubled the recipe but next time I will reduce the amount of milk used.Also needed to add add’l salt. Will definetly make this again.”

  • “Guess I am the only one who really did not care for this soup. This is most likely because I prefer a more traditional bean soup which is much thicker. I did not add additional water during the cooking process and still found the soup to be very thin. Additionally I found the soup to be very bland and did not care for the taste of the milk and butter.”

  • “This was the first time that I’ve successfully cooked dried beans! (I’ve dealt with everything from simply yucky to bean goo spewing forth from the pressure cooker.)I was so tired the night that I made it that I forgot to add the milk and butter.It was still excellent!Granted, it was even better the next day when I did add the dairy ingredients, but either way it’s a great recipe.”

  • “A real good soup!”

  • “A little salty but still delicious. I bought a jar of Northern Beans and skipped the first 4 steps. Delicious.”

  • “This is a great “stick-to-your-ribs” recipe! It was so easy to make, for me this is a must in cooking. I added abit more black pepper, a dash of onion powder and garlic powder for a little more kick at the end of cooking,(my hubby thought I went a little overboard, but I loved it!) I used a leftover ham bone as directed, which I think is a must to get that true smokey ham flavor! Will definetely make again on a cold day!”

  • “Very easy to make, and delicious to taste. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of using a quarter of a ham hock, carefully cleaned of all external fat, & gristle, and after simmering separating the meat from all remaining tissue.”

  • “this is the best navy bean soup i have ever made, a real keeper. i did make one change though… i used lo-sodium chicken broth instead of water.”

  • “This is a great recipe!I’ve been making Navy Bean Soup for years, but had never used milk nor ginger.I was very pleasantly surprised with the results–delicious!Also added a couple of carrots and celery chopped small because I like both in Navy Bean Soup.Thanks for a great recipe Derf!”

  • “DD made this soup out of our left over Easter ham and bone. It was wonderful. I would have probably overlooked it with the milk in it, but the milk was a very nice addition to the soup. We will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe.”

  • “Had a ham bone which needed using, so of course I checked Zaar.I must admit I read throught he ingredients and not the directions and went off to make the soup.After the soaking process I read the rest of the recipe and was skeptical at only 2/12 cups water & finishing with the milk.Was I ever pleasantly suprised at the finished product.DH thoroughly enjoyed (as did I) and already requested this recipe become THE bean soup in our houshold. I did omit the salt in this recipe and flavor, texture and aroma were great.Thanks Derf for sharing.”

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