Crockpot Bean Soup with Ham and Kale
This is an old recipe that has been removed from my site. I am leaving the printer-friendly version of the recipe here for anyone who was a fan of the soup!
(Makes 6-8 servings but this freezes well; recipe created by Kalyn.)
I used a 4.5 quart Crockpot Slow Cooker for this recipe, but any size from 4-5 quarts will be fine.
Ingredients:
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1 T minced garlic (or less if you don’t love garlic like I do)
1 small bunch of dark green kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 cans cannellini beans (15.5 oz. each) or 3 cups cooked cannellini beans
3 cups diced ham (use ham with less than 10% fat for South Beach Diet)
4 cups ham stock + 2 cups chicken stock (or use 6 cups chicken stock plus some ham flavor base)
1-2 tsp. or packets ham flavor base (optional, but recommended if using chicken stock)
1 cup water (plus more for stovetop cooking)
red pepper flakes to taste (I used just a pinch)
freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used a lot of pepper)
Spanish sherry vinegar or other mild vinegar for serving (optional, but just a small amount of vinegar drizzled on the soup when serving added a lot of interesting flavor)
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1 T minced garlic (or less if you don’t love garlic like I do)
1 small bunch of dark green kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 cans cannellini beans (15.5 oz. each) or 3 cups cooked cannellini beans
3 cups diced ham (use ham with less than 10% fat for South Beach Diet)
4 cups ham stock + 2 cups chicken stock (or use 6 cups chicken stock plus some ham flavor base)
1-2 tsp. or packets ham flavor base (optional, but recommended if using chicken stock)
1 cup water (plus more for stovetop cooking)
red pepper flakes to taste (I used just a pinch)
freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used a lot of pepper)
Spanish sherry vinegar or other mild vinegar for serving (optional, but just a small amount of vinegar drizzled on the soup when serving added a lot of interesting flavor)
Crockpot Instructions:
Finely chop onion and mince garlic (or use minced garlic from a jar.) Add onion and garlic to slow cooker. Cut away center ribs from kale, coarsely chop, and rinse in salad spinner or colander. Add kale to slow cooker. Add cannellini beans and chopped ham to slow cooker.Pour in ham stock, chicken stock, and 1 cup water, plus ham flavor base if using. Add red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper to taste.Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until kale is fully cooked and softened and flavors are well blended. Serve hot, with a little vinegar drizzled on the soup when serving if desired.Stovetop Instructions:
Use a heavy 4-5 quart soup pot. Add all ingredients to soup pot as above, adding 1 cup more water. Simmer soup on low for 1 hour or a little longer, checking about every 30 minutes to see if you need to add more water. (Be sure the simmer is gentle so the beans don’t break apart.) Soup is done when kale is cooked and tender and flavors are well blended. Serve hot, with a little vinegardrizzled on the soup when serving if desired.
Finely chop onion and mince garlic (or use minced garlic from a jar.) Add onion and garlic to slow cooker. Cut away center ribs from kale, coarsely chop, and rinse in salad spinner or colander. Add kale to slow cooker. Add cannellini beans and chopped ham to slow cooker.Pour in ham stock, chicken stock, and 1 cup water, plus ham flavor base if using. Add red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper to taste.Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until kale is fully cooked and softened and flavors are well blended. Serve hot, with a little vinegar drizzled on the soup when serving if desired.Stovetop Instructions:
Use a heavy 4-5 quart soup pot. Add all ingredients to soup pot as above, adding 1 cup more water. Simmer soup on low for 1 hour or a little longer, checking about every 30 minutes to see if you need to add more water. (Be sure the simmer is gentle so the beans don’t break apart.) Soup is done when kale is cooked and tender and flavors are well blended. Serve hot, with a little vinegardrizzled on the soup when serving if desired.
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38 Comments on “Crockpot Bean Soup with Ham and Kale”
Oh I am so glad you enjoyed it so much. And I am very jealous that you have garden kale already!
Me again! Definitely a family favorite here! I made this again with fresh kale from our garden and I used balsamic vinegar then we grated fresh parmesan cheese over the top. Awesome dinner!!!! Thank you again Kalyn!!!!
Still loving this soup after all these years! Yesterday I put it in my instant pot. I sauteed the onion and garlic then mixed in all the ingredients. I mixed the kale in really well to make sure I was well below max capacity. I changed the setting to soup for 10 minutes then a little later my family all enjoyed soup and seconds. Yum!
Oh I LOVE hearing that! I'm growing kale in my garden, so I think I have to try the Instant Pot version when my kale gets a little bigger.
Well, good to know that it's good even without the vinegar!
Darn it!!! LOL. I made this again tonight for the 2nd time. I forgot to add the vinegar both times. Ugh. I'm sure it makes this very enjoyable soup even better!!!! Next time! 🙂
I happened to have most of the ingredients on hand and whipped this up yesterday. Because I didn't have quite enough ham, I threw in some chopped Canadian bacon and it worked really well. No ham stock or seasoning, either, but it was still delicious. Excellent recipe!
Heidi from Florida
Glad you liked it. I do think it would be good with spinach too, although I'm a big fan of kale in soups.
Made this again. Yum. My store didn't have kale! WHAT???? I bought spinach instead and just made it a pot soup. I forgot the vinegar at the end so I'm bummed about that but it was yum! I even had some for breakfast. 😉
I'm going to have to try this in one of my clay pots.
I love Kale soup it is one of my favourite ways to use Kale up. I really enjoyed having the crock pot version of this recipe too – I am just getting back into using my crock pot seriously again, so it's great to get more ideas. Thanks!
This was so good – even my kale-disliking husband loved it! Since I don't eat pork, I added smoked turkey sausage instead, with smoked paprika as per a prior poster's suggestion.
Kale is so good in bean soup, isn't it? We really must try using cannelini beans. (We usually use navy beans with this sort of soup.)
Nice idea to add a bit of vinegar too. I usually add vinegar (apple cider vinegar) when stir-frying kale but I hadn't thought of adding it to soup.
-Elizabeth
Lydia, great ideas for people who don't eat pork.
I'm so glad people are liking this, such a simple rustic soup, but very good, especially with the sherry vinegar.
Matt, absolutely love that vinegar!
Kayln,
Thanks for the plug of Tony Caputo's for vinegar. This looks amazing!!!
Matt Caputo
Your soups are the best – so flavorful and such delicious combos of food. Thanks for another great recipe!
My grandmother always added vinegar to her soups just before serving, and I now know why – it adds tons of flavor!
Donna
I love kale – will be looking forward to all your recipes, and this soup, by the way…. PERFECT!
Mmm, love my greens and nothing warms you better from the inside out than a bowl of hearty soup – looks delicious!