This navy bean soup is made with smoked ham shanks, vegetables and spices. It’s a hearty and delicious soup the whole family will enjoy.
Like with many bean soups, you can’t rush the process, so make this navy bean soup on a leisurely afternoon. Your time will be rewarded with a big pot of soup that will feed your body and soul!
Navy bean soup ingredients
- 16 ounces Navy Beans
- 1 pound Smoked Ham Shank, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 medium Onion, finely diced
- 2 Carrots, diced
- 2 Celery Ribs, diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Spanish Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 4 cups Water
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Salt, to taste
How to sort navy beans
Sorting is the process of going through beans and removing substandard beans and anything that doesn’t belong. Sometimes foreign objects (stones, debris, etc.) inadvertently get packaged with the beans.
To sort the navy beans, pour them on a large, flat surface. A sheet pan, large cutting board, or kitchen towel on the counter will all work well. Arrange the beans so they’re in a single layer and pick through them. Remove any foreign objects (like small stones and twigs), broken, misshaped or oddly colored beans.
Don’t skip this step; there are always a few beans that are not up to par. Plus, I’ve found stones and tiny twigs in dry beans on more than one occasion.
Add the beans to a colander, rinse them with cold water and drain.
Do navy beans need to be soaked before cooking?
There’s debate on whether beans need to be soaked. Some claim soaking doesn’t make a difference; others insist they’ll take forever to cook if not soaked. Me, I split the difference and use a quick soak method. It has always worked really well.
That said, I do recommend soaking the beans using either the overnight or quick soak method. Soaking the beans hydrates them and I like having that head start.
Overnight soaking method
Add the beans to a pot. Cover the beans with 4-6 cups of water. Let them soak overnight. Drain the water completely and rinse the beans well with fresh, cold water.
Quick soaking method
(My preferred method) Add the beans and 6-8 cups of water to a large pot. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Boil the beans for 2 minutes. Take the pot off the heat, cover and allow them to soak for one hour. Then, drain and rinse the beans.
How long to cook Navy Beans?
Cooking times vary when making fresh beans. The cooking time will depend on the freshness and quality of the beans. For any bean recipe, the best we can do is offer an estimated cooking time. Sometimes an hour is enough. Sometimes, the beans need to cook longer.
When cooking with fresh beans, follow the recipe cooking time and taste a couple of beans for doneness. If they’re still firm, then cook for 15 minutes at a time, tasting a couple of beans in between until they reach the desired tenderness.
Prep work
Other than sorting and soaking the beans, there is some prep work involved with this from-scratch navy bean soup. If you’re using the quick soak method, do the prep while you wait.
- Start with rinsing the ham shanks with cold water and pat them dry.
- Dice the onions, carrots and celery. They’re all going into the pot at the same time so keep them in the same bowl.
- Mince the garlic.
- Measure out the tomato paste, oregano, paprika and black pepper.
Create a flavor base
The secret to making delicious soup is to start with a flavor base. Different recipes will use different ingredients, but the concept remains the same, cooking vegetables and spices gently in oil/fat until they start to soften. Then you build the soup from there.
Examples of flavor bases include sofrito – really common in Cuban recipes and mirepoix – a combination of onions, carrots and celery that’s French in origin. That’s what we’re starting with here.
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Next, add the garlic, tomato paste, oregano, paprika and black pepper, cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Finish the soup
Add the smoked ham shank, navy beans, chicken broth, water, and the bay leaf to the pot and stir well. Raise heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil; it will take about 6-8 minutes. Then, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook the soup for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Keep the soup at a simmer/gentle boil. If it’s boiling too vigorously, lower the heat a bit. Adjust the heat as necessary.
Remove the smoked ham shank from the pot onto a cutting board or plate (use tongs to make this easy). Cover the soup and continue cooking.
When the smoked ham shank is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and any fatty pieces. Chop the meat and return it to the pot.
Continue cooking the navy bean soup for another 15 minutes. Taste a couple of beans; if they are tender, the soup is done.
If the beans are still a little firm, cover and continue cooking. Check the beans every 15 minutes or so, until they reach the desired tenderness. As the soup thickens, stir more often so the beans don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
Use tongs to fish out the bay leaf from the soup and discard. Taste the soup and add salt if needed and stir. As a reference, we added ¾ teaspoon to ours.
Serve the navy bean soup with a nice piece of crusty bread or a side of white or brown rice, if desired.
How to thicken bean soups?
If your navy bean soup is not thickening, there’s an easy fix for that. By the way, this thickening method works really well with other bean soups too.
- First, uncover the pot and let the soup continue simmering for a few minutes. Some of the liquid will cook out and this will help the soup start to thicken.
- Then, use a small mesh strainer to remove 2-3 tablespoons of the beans from the pot.
- Mash them up in the strainer with a fork, kind of like making smashed potatoes.
- Finally, add that bean paste back to the soup and stir well. Let the soup simmer a little while longer.
- Stir occasionally to keep the soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot; and to gauge how thick it is.
Cook’s Notes
If you've made this soup before, please note that this recipe has been updated with the following changes:
- Instead of 8 cups of water we used 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water.
- We doubled the amount of carrots and celery
- Dried oregano was substituted for fresh oregano
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📖 Recipe
Navy Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Navy Beans sorted, rinsed and soaked
- 1 pound Smoked Ham Shank rinsed and patted dry
- 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion finely diced
- 2 Carrots diced
- 2 Celery Ribs diced
- 3-4 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Spanish Paprika
- Black Pepper to taste
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 4 cups Water
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Pick through the beans to remove any foreign objects (like small stones). Don’t skip this step, I’ve found stones in dry beans on more than one occasion. Add the beans to a colander and rinse them well with cold water and drain.
Soak the beans - use the overnight or the quick soak method.
- Overnight method: Add the beans to a pot. Cover the beans with 4-6 cups of water. Let the beans soak overnight. Drain the water completely and rinse the beans well with fresh, cold water.
- Quick soaking method: Add the beans and 6-8 cups of water to a large pot. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Boil the beans for 2 minutes, then remove them from the heat, cover and allow them to soak for one hour. Drain and rinse the beans. I use the quick soak method and it has worked well so far.
Prepare the smoked ham shank
- Rinse the ham with cold water, pat dry.
Make the navy bean soup
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, oregano, paprika and black pepper. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the smoked ham shank, navy beans, chicken broth, water, and the bay leaf to the pot and stir. Raise heat to high, bring the liquid to a boil, lower heat to medium-low, cover and cook 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the smoked ham shank from the pot and place on a cutting board. Cover the soup and continue cooking. When the smoked ham shank is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and any fatty pieces. Chop the meat and return it to the pot.
- Continue cooking the navy bean soup for another 15 minutes. Taste a couple of beans; if they’re tender, the soup is done. If the beans are still a little firm, cover and continue cooking. Check the beans every 15 minutes or so, until they reach the desired consistency.
- Taste the navy bean soup and add salt if needed. As a reference, we added ¾ teaspoon to our soup.
- Remove the bay leaf and discard.
Notes
- Replaced 8 cups of water with 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water
- Doubled the amount of carrots and celery (2 of each instead of 1)
- Dried oregano was substituted for fresh oregano
Nutrition
The nutritional information above is computer generated and is only an estimate. There is no guarantee that it is accurate. This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.
Carolina
Hello. I tried your recipe and it’s good. But, I wanted to send a suggestion. I grew up on beans. I am Mexican. Grew up in South Texas. I soaked as you suggested for faster cooking, but ham hock was just a bit firm. Not soft as I have made this dish before. For ham hock it’s best to cook with hard raw beans not soaked to achieve a soft ham hock. When I soak my beans to make frijoles a la charra everything is soft. Just need to be cooked in the last 30 minutes I will turn off. But, what I like from your is that it was not salty. Great idea to wash ham hock since it’s smoked with salt on it. That’s the only thing I wanted to say. Grand daughter and husband have happy tummies.
David
I made this with a couple of my own additions. Doubled the celery; added 4 pealed tomatillos pureed with 1 cup of cilantro leaves; added 1 tbs ground cumin. OMG! So good.
David
Correction: 1 tbs should read 1 tsp.
Janice
When I first tasted it was very bland. So, I added cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and thyme. Let it simmer an additional 30 minutes. I would give this a 5 once you added flavor.
Marianne
Made this navy bean soup two days ago we can’t eat carrots in this family so I substituted chopped up portobello mushrooms and added a half a cup of half-and-half My son‘s absolutely raved over the soup best ever. I also substituted ham hocks for a spiral ham bone that I had in the freezer with a lot of meat still left on it and it was just phenomenal. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you so much for the ideas..
Janice L
When the soup was completed my hubby and I thought it was very bland. I added: more salt and pepper, cumin, cayenne, chili powder and turmeric. It was popping with flavor after adding the additional spices. Very good. Thank you for sharing.
Mary Ann Batcho
The picture looked like the ham and bean soup that I remember my mom making. I had a large bone from a spiral ham from Easter dinner and a lot of ham leftovers so thought I would give it a try. Followed the recipe exactly except cooked it on low on the range for about three hours. Truly the best soup ever! Glad I doubled the recipe. It was better than my mom’s! We just can’t stop eating it. Thank you and cant wait to try some of your other recipes now.
Georgene
Can I use pork hock instead of ham shank for this recipe?
Elizabeth
Hi Georgene, Yes. The same instructions apply.
Michelle
Loved this recipe! Made it 1/6/24. My family loved it too. Thanks for the recipe!
Nona Vic
My family loved this bean soup! I made a couple of modifications using whole can tomato paste plus at the end added 1/2 cup Half & Half with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour mixed in cooking 10 minutes longer. This addition created a nice slightly thicker texture. I cooked on low on stove for about 2 1/2 hours stirring every 30 minutes. Hearty robust flavor!
Laura
Just made this and it’s delicious
Robin Zaffino
Good recipe! I made it too smoky for my tastes - I think because I used ham broth (Better Than Bullion) instead of the chicken broth called for in addition to the smoked ham hock. I didn’t add any extra salt and it was fine for us.
Brenda Realini
Hello Everyone, I have made this soup twice it is a great recipe ! Thank you so much I shall share this with a lot of my friends ❤️
Elizabeth
Hi Brenda,
It is my pleasure! Happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for stopping by.
Gloria
I make this recipe in my crockpot. So delicious. I don't add as much water and don't need to precook the vegetables. Just dump and go for eight hours on low or six hours on high. I typically use a leftover ham bone from a holiday, pull it out of the crock and pull the meat off. I have also used ham hocks with the same results. Serve with crusty bread. My family loves it.
Sharie
Do u still have to soak the beans overnight?
Elizabeth
Hello Sharie,
I do. Usually I do the quick soak method and it works well.
Marion
Great recipe -- it will be my go-to from now on. Sautéing the smoked paprika and tomato paste add a depth of flavor to the soup. I made it according to the recipe with one addition. I added about a cup of leftover chopped kale and collard greens that had been cooked with bacon, onion, and garlic and seasoned with sherry vinegar. It was a nice addition.
Elizabeth
Hi Marion,
Thank you. The addition of the greens sounds delicious!
Sheila in MD
Does this soup freeze well? THanks!
Elizabeth
Hi,
Yes, but it may be necessary to add a little broth (or water) to reheat if it is too thick.
Lesli Agee
I made a large batch of this the past week, shared it, froze a bit in small grab & go containers for work and this recipe was loved by all! Great recipe in deed!
Elaine
My mom always made this soup using bacon. Anyone else? Love this soup with fresh Italian bread
Carolyn
I love making soups but had never made Navy Bean. I used to order from a restaurant for lunch at my job years ago and loved it! I made this recipe today and have to say, it was a winner! Hubby texted at lunch to say it was awesome soup! I just had some and agree, it’s delicious! I soaked the beans overnight and followed recipe exactly but I did mix a little flour with water and added to soup at the end just to thicken slightly. Will definitely be in my soup rotation recipes!
Elizabeth
Hello Carolyn,
Thank you for your kind review, I'm glad you both enjoyed it!
Beverly
I made this wonderful recipe today….mostly because the picture looked just like the navy bean soup my Granny made years ago….followed the recipe except…..I confess to adding heavy cream as my Granny always did….about a cup or so. Just WONDERFUL!!!
Elizabeth
Hi Beverly,
I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it. The cream sounds like a good idea, I usually add it to pureed soups, but I can see how it would work with this too. Thanks for sharing!
JRiley
Oh my stars! Absolutely delicious soup made with a Honey Baked Ham bone. I followed the recipe as written and used an immersion blender on half of it at the end. So, so good. Thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Carol
I made this soup tonight and it was fabulous. Used a meaty ham bone from a previous dinner rather than the smoked ham shank. I’ve made my fair share of navy bean soup over the years, (husband’s favorite), but this was hearty and incredibly flavorful. Thanks you!
Elizabeth
Thank you for your kind comment. I'm happy you enjoyed it!