Cozy Ham and Bean Soup [+Video]

Warm up on a cold day with this delicious and hearty ham and bean soup recipe. Packed with protein and flavor, it’s the perfect comfort food for using up leftover ham.

I wish there was a grand story behind this recipe, but the truth is, there isn’t! Sometimes I am given suggestions for recipes that would benefit the blog, and this was one of them. So away I went to make a perfect ham and bean soup, and this is it!

It is very cozy anyway without being heavy and I love that while it’s mostly broth it actually is a bit creamy from the white beans and doing a little trick that I love doing with soups. Keep scrolling to find out!

Ingredients for Ham and Bean Soup

We like to make this recipe with leftover Christmas (or Easter) ham, but if you don’t have, just buy a ham at the store. With a few vegetables and herbs, you’ll be making delicious ham and bean soup in no time! Here is everything you will need:

• Oil
• Celery Stalks
• Carrots
• Onion
• Garlic
• Fresh Thyme
• Fresh Flat Leaf Italian Parsley
• Ground Mustard
• Vegetable or Chicken Broth
• Ham Hock
• Ham
  • Leftover ham from any of our ham recipes would work great! Slow Cooker Ham, Best Brown Sugar Ham, Honey Baked Ham, or Garlic Honey Mustard Ham
• Great Northern Beans or Navy Beans
• Bay Leaves
• White Pepper (black pepper is also fine)
• Salt

All the details and measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Ham and Bean Soup

Soup should be easy! And this soup is so simple! I’m going to walk you through each step, and most of the time spent on this recipe is waiting for it to simmer and get all delicious! Here are the basic steps:

1. Sauté: Heat the oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or large pot and sauté all the veggies including the garlic until tender and fragrant.
2. Stir: Add the herbs and seasonings and stir. Then add in the rest of the ingredients and stir together.
3. Boil and Simmer: Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2-3 hours.
4. Blend: Scoop out 1 ½ cups of the soup (avoiding the meat) and blend until smooth (using an immersion blender or regular blender). Add it back into the soup and stir to combine.
5. Remove: Take out the ham hocks and remove any meat left on the bones and remove the bay leaves.
6. Simmer: Let the soup cook for another 30 minutes and serve with crusty bread.

Keep scrolling to

Mom’s Cheesy Ham and Potato Broccoli Casserole [+Video]

Take your taste buds on a comforting journey with this delicious cheesy ham and potato broccoli casserole. It is creamy, cheesy, hearty and a totally comforting meal. Perfect for a family dinner or potluck!

My mom’s classic recipe that I hated for nearly my entire life, yes, even as an adult. I don’t know what has happened but in the last few years I’ve had such a craving for the classic recipes that I grew up on. Call it nostalgia, or maybe I’m just finally growing up and realizing what a gift it was that my mom made dinner literally every night and we always ate around a dinner table together.

This recipe is from her dear friend, Debbie, and I don’t remember a single year of my life that Mom didn’t make it, so it’s been around for a long time.

Ingredients for Ham Potato Broccoli Casserole

Grab your leftover ham and a few other ingredients, and let’s make this comforting casserole for dinner! Here is everything you’ll need:

• New Potatoes: a little sweeter and less starchy than regular russet or yukon gold potatoes, we love the flavor and texture!
• Broccoli: fresh or frozen broccoli florets work great
• Butter: used to salute and onions and mushrooms
• Onion: just a regular yellow onion
• Baby Bella Mushrooms: can be substituted with white button mushrooms or omitted if desired
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Ham: adds flavor and protein
• Cream Cheese: adds richness and creaminess
• Cheddar Cheese: adds flavor and gooiness

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down at the end of the post.

Substitutions and Variations

I love to use leftover ham in this recipe, but any protein tastes great in this casserole. You could use rotisserie chicken, ground beef, bacon, sausage, etc.

Growing up, Mom usually skipped the mushrooms or only put them on half of the casserole in order to please her picky kids, but they are in fact her favorite part. Sautéed with onions in gobs of delicious butter, I mean, what isn’t to love?

You can also change up the vegetables in this casserole. Peas or green beans would be super yummy!

How to Make Ham Potato and Broccoli Casserole

1. Prep: Butter or spray a 9×13 baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Parboil: Partially boil the potatoes for 8-10 minutes then drain and set aside. See section below for skipping this step.
3. Steam: Place the broccoli in a saucepan and steam until bright green.

Easy Ham Dipping Sauces [+Video]

Elevate your next ham dinner with these easy and delicious dipping sauces. From a sweet honey mustard sauce to a tangy pina colada sauce, these sauces will take your ham to the next level.

These are the best easy ham sauce recipes that I’ve ever had.

Oh, Christmas Ham, Oh Christmas Ham, and delicious ham dipping sauces… Who needs a song about a tree when you’ve got the world’s best brown sugar ham?!

My family has this funny way of eating ham, we eat it with applesauce. It is truly delicious. I mean, apples and pork are meant to be together and while many may not do actual applesauce they really should. We always use my mom’s homemade applesauce which is 10x better than any ol’ can. Or we did, until we found these ham dipping sauces.

My cousin, Robyn works as the manager for the LDS Church’s Catering and she is the one that introduced me to these easy ham dipping sauces.

I don’t know what it is about ham, but I just have to have a little sauce to dip it in.

Ingredients for Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

This honey mustard recipe is my personal favorite, which is funny because I’m not a lover of mustard. I tell you what though, it is wonderful with the ham. DELIGHTFUL. You only need 3 simple ingredients:

• Mayonnaise: Duke’s is our favorite brand of mayo, but you can use whatever brand is your favorite.
• Honey: adds natural sweetness
  • PRO TIP: If you want to add a little heat to your sauce, use hot honey!
• Mustard: Just regular yellow mustard is our preference, but you change up the flavor to your liking with dijon mustard, stone ground mustard, etc.

If you end up with extra sauce, this would make a bomb diggity sandwich the next day. The measurements needed are listed in the recipe card below.

Ingredients for Pina Colada Dipping Sauce

The pina colada sauce is most everyone’s favorite. It’s so fun and creamy and pairs so well with the ham! It seriously tastes just like a pina colada and I’m sure you won’t have anyone throwing a fit about a little coconut and pineapple action. Here is what you will need:

• Cream of Coconut: head to the alcohol section of your local grocery store and it will be by the margarita mixes
• Sour Cream: use full fat sour cream for maximum flavor and creaminess
• Crushed Pineapple: make sure you drain it before adding to the sauce
• Desiccated Coconut: has a more fine and powdery texture than shredded coconut and a milder flavor

Again, the measurements are listed in the recipe card at the end o

How to Carve a Spiral Ham

Spiral sliced ham can be tricky to remove from the bone and serve without tearing the spiral-cut slices into tiny bits. Below, I have broken it down into four easy steps, so now you will know what to do after the glaze has set and the ham has been removed from the oven.

A bone-in ham with some scalloped potatoes is the perfect dish for Christmas or Easter. When you place ham in the center of your dining table, you want the slices to be quick and easy for your guests to grab, not fight to tear it off the bone. Keep reading below so that you can host the perfect dinner party.

The first time I made a spiral ham I thought, “Well that was easy!” until I started to carve it. I needed to know how to carve a spiral ham. That darn bone in the center and all of the layers, with incredible smoky flavor, falling forward was creating a problem for me. Sure the ham was easy to make, put it in a pan, tent with foil and bake, but now how was I to serve it? And boy did I wish that I had those delicious dipping sauces that I posted last week. Pina Colada dipping sauce and sweet honey mustard? Booyah!

Carving a spiral ham is quite easy. I’ve never had a bone so perfectly in the center of the ham like this one, but it was fine by me.

How to Carve a Spiral Ham

1. Turn the ham on its bottom, as shown in the picture.
2. Find the bone, and using a large knife and fork, cut around the entire bone.
3. There are natural breaks in the ham, generally where a line of fat is, cut through those breaks as shown in the picture.
4. Lay the slices of ham out on a platter for serving.

What Side of The Ham Do You Put Down When Carving?

The fat side of the ham, which is typically the smaller side. You know you have it right when you are looking down on the first, big slice of ham, that is full of that irresistible flavor. 

What Are The Best Spiral Cut Ham Recipes?

• World’s Best Brown Sugar Ham 
• Honey Baked Ham Copycat
• How to Make Ham in a Slow Cooker or Crockpot<