This tasty White Bean Soup with Ham is a classic soup to make on the stove and make your house smell amazing! And this ham and bean soup uses a generous amount of ham and celery, so it’s probably a lot lower in net carbs than you think!

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White Bean Soup with Ham in bowl with spoon and napkin.

White Bean Soup with Ham is the kind of comforting soup I love to make when Utah gets one of those cold snowy days when winter is almost ending. And when it’s cold outside I love to make soup on the stove, simmering it all day and letting the smells fill my house.

Last weekend when I woke up to snow on the ground I decided it was a good day to update this favorite soup recipe with better photos! I bumped up the flavor with fresh parsley and some rosemary, and my version of soup with white beans and ham has a lot of ham and celery to make it a bit lower in carbs than other ham and bean soups!

Of course I don’t even dare hope this is the last snow for this year, but the soup did taste great on a cold spring day. I hope you try it if you’re a fan of these ingredients!

What ingredients do you need? 

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

How to add flavor to ham and bean soup:

When I make bean soup I like to use either homemade ham stock or homemade chicken stock if I have some in the freezer. If not I would add a tablespoon or two of Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link) to the water. When I’m using ham with a rind, I simmer the rind in the soup for part of the cooking time and then remove it. If you’re sensitive to salt you might want to use low-sodium broth if you use the ham flavor concentrate.

Can you make White Bean Soup with Ham without fresh rosemary?

I’m not such a fan of dried rosemary in soup, because it floats to the top and makes dark flecks on the surface of the soup. But I love a pinch of ground rosemary (affiliate link) when I want some rosemary flavor but don’t have any fresh rosemary.

Is the White Bean Soup with Ham low in carbs?

Of course white beans have some carbs, but this soup has a lot of ham and celery and fewer high-carb ingredients, so the soup has only 16 net carbs per serving and 17 grams of protein.

White Bean Soup with Ham and Rosemary found on KalynsKitchen.com

How to Make White Bean Soup with Ham:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

  1. Soak beans 8 hours or overnight, then drain and rinse.
  2. Put soaked beans, homemade ham stock, homemade chicken stock, or water, and dried thyme into soup pot and start to simmer.
  3. While soup is simmering, dice the ham.  (I like small pieces for meat and vegetables in soup, but you can make them bigger if you prefer.)
  4. If your ham has a rind, add it to the simmering soup.
  5. Also finely dice carrots, celery, and onion.
  6. Add diced ham, carrots, celery, and onions to the soup and simmer at least 30 minutes more.  (Those dark pieces in the photo are the ham rind.)
  7. After soup has cooked for one hour taste for seasoning, adding some ham flavor concentrate (affiliate link) or Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link) if you want more flavor.
  8. Add finely chopped fresh parsley and fresh rosemary (or ground rosemary) to the soup, along with more water if needed.
  9. Continue simmering until the soup is flavorful and beans are well-softened. (This can take more than an hour if you’re using old beans that have been sitting in the pantry. If that happens, you may need to add more water a few times.)
  10. When beans are soft, remove ham rinds (if using), season soup with fresh ground black pepper, and serve hot.
  11. White Bean Soup with Ham freezes well and it’s great to pull out of the freezer and enjoy on a cold winter night without having to cook!

Make it a complete meal:

You could eat this ham and bean soup for a one dish meal, but if you’d like to add something more here are some things that would taste great with the soup:

Square image of White Bean Soup with Ham shown in bowl with spoon.

Wamt more recipes with White Beans?

You can check out the index for Beans and Legumes if you want to see all my recipes using white beans!

White Bean Soup with Ham in bowl with spoon and napkin.
Yield: 8 servings

White Bean Soup with Ham

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

On a cold day when winter is winding down, this White Bean Soup with Ham is perfect for dinner. I added flavor with rosemary and fresh parsley, but the options are endless.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried white beans (soaked 8 hours or overnight, then drained)
  • 2 quarts chicken broth or ham broth (see notes)
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 2 cups finely chopped celery
  • 1 cup finely chopped carrots
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • 2 cups finely chopped ham
  • 1 envelope Goya brand ham flavor base (optional)
  • about 2 additional cups water
  • finely chopped fresh rosemary or a small amount of ground rosemary
  • 2 T finely chopped fresh parsley (or use 1 T dried parsley)
  • fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Soak beans 8 hours or longer in cold water, drain and rinse well.
  2. Put beans, 2 quarts of ham or chicken broth or stock (or water with ham or chicken base), and thyme in large soup kettle.
  3. Simmer 30 minutes.
  4. While soup simmers, chop veggies and ham so that pieces are about 1/4 inch square.  (If you’re using ham with a rind, cut it off and add to the simmering soup.)
  5. Add celery, carrot, onion, and ham to soup pot and simmer 30 minutes more.
  6. Taste soup for seasoning.
  7. Add up to 2 cups more water, ham or chicken base if needed, rosemary (or ground rosemary) and parsley to soup pot.
  8. Simmer one hour on very low heat or until beans are nicely softened and soup is flavorful.  (If you’re using old beans from the pantry the cooking time will be longer, and you may need to add more water more than once.)
  9. When the beans are softened, remove ham rind (if using), season soup to taste with fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
  10. This freezes well, so you may want to make a double batch and put some into individual containers to take to work for lunch.

Notes

For bean soup I love to use homemade ham stock or homemade chicken stock. If you don't have homemade stock I'd use two quarts of water with Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate (affiliate link) or Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link) to add flavor. If you're sensitive to salt you might want to use low-sodium broth if you use the ham flavor concentrate.

Recipe created by Kalyn.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 187Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 35mgSodium 1582mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 5gSugar 4gProtein 17g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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White Bean Soup with Ham shown in bowl with plate underneath.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This White Bean Soup with Ham has a lot of ham and celery for only 16 net carbs per serving, which might work for some people who are limiting carbs. The soup would be a great choice for the original South Beach Diet if you use lean ham or turkey ham. If you want to make it for phase one of South Beach, leave out the carrots and remember that dried beans should be eaten in small amounts for phase one. 

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Use Soup Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalynโ€™s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes Iโ€™m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This white bean soup recipe with ham, vegetables, and fresh herbs was first posted in 2011. It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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