White Bean, Kale, Potato, and Ham Soup
The weather has been so extreme lately!!! Two weeks ago it was in the mid 80’s and sunny while last week it was in the 50’s and rainy. While it was so dreary outside, I decided to make a big pot of white bean, kale, potato, and ham soup. It smelled amazing while simmering and tasted even better. I served the soup with freshly baked bread and my house salad for a delicious meal that we all enjoyed.
How to Make White Bean, Kale, Potato, and Ham Soup
Do a quick soak of the white beans by first rinsing the beans in cold water then put them in a large pot and cover with about 4 inches of fresh cold water. Place on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove from heat. Let them sit for 1 hour. Drain. The beans will be “soaked” and ready to cook.
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock to the Dutch oven followed by the quick-soaked white beans and ham hock.
Cover with a lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
Add the diced potato to the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Add the kale and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; cook for 15 minutes. Remove the fat and bone from the ham hock and shred the pork into small pieces.
Taste and re-season if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve with some crusty freshly baked bread. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups of water
- ½ lb of dried white beans
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- ½ sweet yellow onion
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 6-7 cups of chicken stock
- 1 ham hock
- 1 yellow potato diced
- 2 cups of kale chopped
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Quick soak the white beans by first rinsing the beans in cold water then put them in a large pot and cover with about 4 inches of fresh cold water. Place on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove from heat. Let them sit for 1 hour. Drain. The beans will be "soaked" and ready to cook.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock to the Dutch oven followed by the quick soaked white beans and ham hock. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
- Add the diced potato to the pot and cook for 30 minutes.
- Add the kale and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove the fat and bone from the ham hock and shred the pork into small pieces. Taste and re-season if needed. Ladle into bowls and serve. Enjoy.
This is perfect.. I have kale (when don’t I right now during the harvest season?) and I’ve been craving soup. Definitely planning for this week! Perfect timing, thank you!
I have everything but the ham, but using what I do have I could use Canadian back bacon. We are in need of some comfort these days.
It’s been hot here in LA but I still want to dive into this bowl!
Looks so colorful and delicious Pam. We make a similar one, but I like the addition of carrots and potatoes in yours.
This soup looks great and delicious….love all the ingredients Pam!
My parents are experiencing that same sort of extreme in temps lately… it’s just crazy! This soup sounds perfect for those last cool days left before full summer hits us all!!
and this is how you get my hubby to eat kale.
yep, true story.
it was cold here too, but we have “some” sun.
It’s going to be pretty dreary here for the next few days so I could definitely use some soup!
It was warm here last week, too, but turned very cold and rainy on Friday, just in time for a long weekend. We ate plenty of stew. Your soup sounds like another great dreary day dinner.
Muy delicioso y especial la sopa de todos los dÃas hoy llueve copiosamente,me encantan las sopas,hugs.
Today is so rainy and chilly that this soup would really hit the spot! I love soups with kale in them.
I wish everyone could have a beautiful Spring like we have had here in Arizona. Now we get ready for the blast furnace until October 🙂
A classic!
Our weather has been the same way. I love this soup, it sounds like it would warm a body up on these cold spring days.
OH I could have used this over the weekend! Sounds like you are up and down with
weather like we are!
It’s been quite cool around here, too.
The soup looks like real comfort food!
It’s still no sight of warm weather over here…this is a perfectly warming and comforting soup for the rainy days.
ham and bean soup is my favorite to eat out of a bread bowl. there’s something about the way the broth is flavored in combination with that soggy bread. so good. kale and potatoes can only enhance the mix!
I was wondering if this would be possible with the crock pot? I would love to throw everything in one morning and have it ready when I come home for dinner. If possible, what would be the variations on time/temp/measurements?
Thanks!
I am sure it would turn out great! I would put everything but the kale in then cook it on low all day. Add the kale about 15 minutes prior to serving.
Cheers,
Pam
Made this in the crockpot today. Yum! I quick soaked the beans, sautéed the onions, carrots, celery and garlic, as described. I didn’t have a ham hock, but used a chunk of ham diced up that had been in my freezer. Dumped it all in the crockpot and cooked on low for about 6 hours. Then added diced up sweet potato instead of regular potato and also dumped in the kale. Cooked on high for about 90 minutes more. I used my immersion blender to blend it just a little so it would be thicker, but still really chunky. So good!
This was so delicious, even more than I expected.
I used canned white beans because I forgot to soak, and many of them dissolved in the soup, giving it a wonderful creaminess. I don’t know if soaked beans would do the same thing, but I will probably just keep using canned every time I make this recipe. I also added extra spiral ham and used a sweet potato instead. Such a good soup.
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
I have leftover smoked ham from Christmas and I am definitely making this soup. It is so good and everyone loved it!! Thanks so much.
I make this soup multiple times every winter—so good! We love it so much.
We put sweet potatoes in for regular and it’s also really lovely.
Thanks for this recipe.
Luke,
I’m so glad you like the soup! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll have to try it with sweet potatoes.
-Pam