If you’re looking for a simple, comforting way to use up leftover ham, this ham hock soup is it. Made with just a handful of ingredients, this easy soup simmers low and slow to create a rich, flavorful broth with tender chunks of ham, hearty potatoes, and fresh green beans.

Growing up, anytime we had ham for dinner, my mom would make this ham bone soup for dinner the next night. It was a filling, comforting, and budget-friendly way to feed a large family. I find myself craving it now whenever we have ham. I know exactly where my leftover Easter ham is going this year!

Why You’ll Love This Ham Hock Soup

• Uses a leftover ham bone or ham hock
• Just 4 simple ingredients (plus water)
• Simmers hands-off for rich, flavorful broth
• Cozy, filling, and perfect for cold nights
• Naturally salty and savory without extra seasoning

Ingredients for Ham Hock Soup

You really only need 4 ingredients to make this ham hock soup. That’s the beauty of a ham hock. It adds all the flavor you need to the broth and gives you yummy chunks of ham as well. Here is what you will need:

• Ham Bone: You can use a leftover ham bone from your spiraled ham or you can ask for a ham bone from the butcher. Make sure there is still some meat left on the bone.
  • NOTE: We actually bought a ham hock from our favorite pork farm, Christiansen. You can order online. Seriously the best pork ever.
• Potatoes: Red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes work great.
• Fresh Green Beans: I secretly prefer home canned green beans because I love how soft they get, but if I don’t have home canned, then it’s absolutely fresh green beans.
• Water: Used to boil the ham bone and becomes the base of the soup.
• Pepper: Adds flavor.

You might be surprised to see that there isn’t any salt in this recipe. Ham, and especially a ham hock is a very salty pork so as the ham hock simmers, it flavors the broth with enough salt for my taste. You can of course add salt if you would like.

How to Make Ham Hock Soup

This ham and vegetable soup simmers low and slow, creating a rich broth with tender ham and vegetables. The broth simmers all day and the vegetables get added just before serving. It’s so simple!

1. Simmer: Place the ham hock in a large stock pot and fill it with water until it just covers the bone. Let it come to a soft boil and let it cook all day long or at least 3-4 hours.
2. Shred the Meat: An hour before dinner, pull out the bone, shred the meat, add the meat in and let it simmer.
3. Add the Vegetables: A half hour before dinner, add the green beans and potatoes. Let them simmer for 30 more minutes. Season to taste with pepper.

I know, it’s simple, but trust

Garlic Butter Skillet Pork Bites & Green Beans is the kind of quick, flavorful dinner that makes you feel like a weeknight hero. Made with juicy, pan-seared pork bites and vibrant green beans tossed in a lemon garlic butter sauce, this one-skillet recipe is easy to throw together and is ready in under 30 minutes!

From Canned Veggies to Skillet Magic

Green beans were a staple in my house growing up, but with five kids and a mom from a farm in Idaho who was taught to save and preserve everything, our green beans were 99% canned by mom. They were tender and so flavorful, but that meant fresh green beans took me a little time to warm up to with all of that crunchy texture!

The Trick That Changed Everything

As an adult, I’ve discovered that the secret to really good green beans is in the prep work. Blanching them in hot water until they’re vibrant green, tossing them straight into an ice bath to stop the cooking, and finally sautéing in a cast iron skillet for depth of flavor has been life-altering.

Can We All Agree Pork Is Better with Crispy Edges?

We love searing pork bites until the edges are crispy and caramelized. It takes the flavor up a notch – but that’s not even the best part. This healthy 30 minute meal finishes with a lemon garlic butter sauce that has us eating straight from the pan. And those green beans? They’ve never been this exciting.

What to Serve It With

This dish is perfect served with Creamy Mashed Potatoes, The Softest Homemade Dinner Rolls, or a crisp, fresh Salad de Maison to round it all out.

Ingredients for Garlic Butter Skillet Pork Bites & Green Beans

Simple, pantry-friendly ingredients come together for a flavorful, low-carb dinner that cooks in one cast iron skillet.

• Pork Chops: Boneless and cut into 1-inch pieces. Loin or bone-in chops work too, just adjust cook time.
• BBQ Rub: My Homemade BBQ Rub is perfect here. Make a batch to have quick seasoning without extra prep.
• Olive Oil: For searing the pork. Use avocado oil if you pre

Green beans with bacon are one of those simple, comforting side dishes that somehow always steal the spotlight. Growing up, any veggie instantly became more exciting the moment bacon showed up — and honestly, nothing has changed.

This stovetop green beans recipe gives you crisp-tender green beans, perfectly cooked bacon, and a buttery, savory finish that tastes like it came from a steakhouse, but it’s ready in just 20 minutes.

Whether you’re prepping for a holiday dinner or pulling together a quick weeknight meal, these skillet green beans with bacon deliver big flavor with hardly any work.

Easy Green Bean Recipe

I grew up on green beans — but they didn’t start out green, our green beans were purple! They were slightly sweeter than regular green beans, but otherwise tasted the same and would turn green after cooking.

Purple beans make me think of home and gardening every summer with my family. We worked long hours in that garden, but never as long as our mom, who is superwoman. Our hands would turn purple from picking and canning beans during the summer and we would have to scrub and scrub when we were done. Isn’t it funny how something you hated as a kid somehow becomes something you miss?

read more: Looking for easy sides? Try our Classic Baked Beans with Bacon next!

Why You’ll Love These Bacon Green Beans

• Quick: Side dishes should be quick and simple and this dish is ready in less than 20 minutes.
• Flavorful: It’s impossible for something to be bland when bacon is involved! Plus, add the garlic seasoning and this dish is bold in flavor!
• One-Skillet: Cleanup is a breeze and all the flavor is contained in one dish.
• Holiday-Friendly: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter…this dish works for them all! It’s a regular on our Sunday dinner table as well!

Ingredients You’ll Need

To make this simple green bean recipe, you’ll need the following:

• Fresh Green Beans: Add crisp texture and natural sweetness and they hold up well to sautéing without getting mushy.
• Olive Oil: Prevents sticking, helps beans sauté evenly and adds light, savory flavor.
• Butter: Adds richness and a silky coating and it helps seasonings stick to the beans.
• Garlic Spread Seasoning: Quick way to add garlic and herb flavor without chopping garlic cloves.
• Brown Sugar: Balances the salty bacon and seasoning and lightly caramelizes the beans for extra flavor.
• Bacon: Adds smoky, salty crunch and the bacon drippings flavor the beans as they cook.

How to Make Green Beans with Bacon

1. Cook the Green Beans: Place your trimmed green beans in

Fresh green beans are tossed with Sriracha, honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil and then roasted to hot, crisp perfection to create these immensely snackable spicy green beans.

Spicy Green Beans

This green beans inspired by one of our long-time favorite broccoli recipes, and this was an excellent idea, let me tell you. If you’re bored with the usual green beans you make, give these a try!

The awesomeness of these spicy green beans is in the glaze. It’s a simple combination of soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and of course, a squeeze of Sriracha. If you aren’t a fan of much heat, go easy on the hot sauce. If you’re like my boys, make it a generous squeeze and enjoy the sweet-heat.

The glaze here hits every note: salty, savory, sweet, and spicy. As the beans roast, they’ll develop a little char on their edges while soaking up all that sauce, making them impossible to resist.

They’re bold enough to stand out next to the main dish, but I’m telling you from personal experience, they’re irresistible on their own, straight off the pan. I have to practice some serious restraint to make sure there will be enough left to serve with our meal whenever I make these.

Sweet and Spicy Green Beans

I have served these green beans with pan fried chicken and roasted sweet potato bites. I’ve also served them with these garlic mashed potatoes and the barbecue bacon meatloaf that my kids adore.

There just isn’t a wrong way to serve these sweet and spicy green beans. And I need to make another batch soon, since

Green Beans and Potatoes in the Instant Pot [+Video]

This is a Southern recipe with an electric pressure cooker twist! These Green Beans and Potatoes in the Instant Pot are so flavorful and tender, and there’s bacon on top!

Easy Instant Pot Side Dish

You read that right — these green beans and potatoes are topped with BACON! It all starts by sautéing the bacon and ends by mixing the bacon into the dish. Bacon is just SO GOOD, and it really takes these soulful Instant Pot green beans and potatoes to the next level.

So basically, we are taking one delicious side dish, combining it with another delicious side dish, and adding bacon. You just can’t go wrong! Then it’s all cooked in just a few minutes in the Instant Pot! Winning!

Green Beans and Potatoes

Green beans and potatoes would make a great side dish for any holiday dinner you have coming up. And I’m telling you, that bacon just reels people in. It’s irresistible! It complements the green beans and potatoes perfectly.

These pressure cooker green beans and potatoes also could be made just for a simple weeknight meal. Our kids love this dish, and it’s a great way to get some vegetables in their bellies.

Instant Pot Green Beans and Potatoes Ingredients

To make Instant Pot green beans with bacon and potatoes, you’ll need the following: 

• Bacon
• Red Onion
• Fresh Garlic
• Potatoes
• Butter
• Green Beans
• Chicken Broth
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Parsley

Which Green Beans Should I Buy?

There are a lot of different kinds of green beans. Not all green beans are created equal!  You want to buy haricot vert green beans. Pardon my French there! It is actually French for the long, slender green beans you can find in your produce section.

It is pronounced “heir covair,” not “harry cot vert.”  Although I like to say “harry cot vert” in my brain because it sounds so dang funny! Say “heir covair” in your best French accent and you’ll be impressing all your dinner guests!

Haricot vert are thinner than green beans native to the U.S.A. and are picked at an earlier point in their growth, making them more flavorful.  

Which Potatoes Should I Buy?

When all is said and done, really any potato would get the job done here, but Yukon Gold potatoes are our favorite for this dish.  They are smooth and soak in that yummy bacon flavor so well!  They also have a very light and flaky skin, which means you don’t have to peel them.  If you don’t have Yukon Gold in the house, here is our ranking of which potatoes to use:

1. Yukon Gold Potatoes — golden flesh inside, waxy, buttery flavor