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”
Soup Swap at work on Friday…this is a definite candidate! Sounds easy and delicious.
Kalyn,
I love kale and this looks super rich and delicious. The sherry vinegar is such a lovely touch!
Just the perfect soup for this rainy wintry week! I am looking forward to your kale collection.. kale is something I am hoping to use more in my diet this season. Love the soup, I might substitute ham with potatoes or something to make it vegetarian. Thanks for sharing!
This is my kind of soup — except for the ham, so I will try my standby substitutions, either liquid smoke or barbecue sauce. Or smoked paprika.
Sounds like a lot of people are having rainy days today! Here it's a little cloudy, but not bad.
Tom, great idea to use some liquid smoke in this!
I made this for lunch today and it was fantastic – I could not find ham flavoring, so I used a touch of liquid smoke which was a nice flavor addition. I almost forgot the sherry vinegar, but remembered to add it in the second helping, and it was a wonderful touch!
A lovely soup for a rainy gray day. Thank you Kalyn!
I love the addition of sherry vinegar to this soup. I've become a huge fan of drizzling some on just about any brassica vegetable. It really mellows and enhances the flavor.
Great recipe Kalyn!
It's raining here in Santa Monica. This soup looks like the perfect meal for a wet, chilly Monday. I love the addition of the sherry vinegar.
Sounds like a great recipe! I don't think it's an issue for soup, but apparently the new crockpots are "hotter" and times may need to be changed.
Nice to hear that people like my idea of adding the sherry vinegar; it really did perk this up. I'm glad I can introduce people to the idea of ham flavor base. I am aware that the Goya brand has msg, but personally I'm not sensitive to it, and after writing The Debate Continues About the Safety of MSG for BlogHer and reading quite a bit about it, I'm convinced it's safe for most people. I do prefer the Goya brand of ham concentrate for flavor, but obviously everyone should use whatever brand they want.
Looks like a wonderful soup. I will definitely seek out Eat Your Greens and love to see the sherry vinegar in the recipe. I have been thinking about trying ham base for a while and looked at the three varieties recommended in your post. Both Better Than Bouillon and Penzeys use ham as the primary ingredient. The first three ingredients of the Goya brand are salt, MSG and artificial ham flavor. I'm going to avoid Goya.
I've got a ham bone that is taking up so much room in my freezer. I think I've just found it's destiny.
This looks so good, and something I might try to make this (long) weekend, since I've still got some blanched kale from the summer in the freezer. I had no idea there were products like ham concentrate – I'm going to look for some, since it will be useful in making different kinds of pea soups as well.
it's summer here in sydney, and yet this soup is exactly what i feel like. hearty, wholesome and no doubt very tasty. so jealous!!!
i just want to say thanks for my lovely magnet. i saw the envelope and got such a happy surprise. it's the only calendar we have in the house every year and it keeps jonas on track! thanks again.
Looks so good! I saved the recipe to try it sometime 🙂
Looks great! I can't wait to try it!
A georgous & ooh so healthy soup & I so love the addtion of the fine sherry vinegar,..that must add a lot of subtile taste!!
This looks delicious. Can't wait to try it!
My kind of soup!