Ham Bone Soup

By Melissa Clark

Updated February 2, 2025

  • Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
5(2,291)
Comments
Read comments

This hearty soup requires a good afternoon simmer, filling your house with the aromas of all things good and warming. The marrow imbues the broth with a silkiness and richness, and the kale is thrown in for color and health. You might want hot sauce, or not. Either way, a bowl of this is the kind of thing that cures what ails you.

Featured in: A Bare-Bones Soup Recipe

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

  • 4 strips bacon, thick cut, sliced into ½-inch pieces

  • 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

  • 2 celery stalks, trimmed and sliced

  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced

  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 1 ham bone 1 ¼ pounds, cut in half or in thirds ask your butcher to do this

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 2 ½ teaspoons salt, plus additional to taste

  • ½ head green cabbage, shredded about 8 cups

  • 3 cups cooked beans rinsed and drained if canned, such as cannellini, navy or pinto

  • 1 small bunch kale, ribs removed and leaves chopped into bite-size pieces 6 cups

  • Black pepper, to taste

  • Hot sauce or apple cider vinegar, to taste

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)

56 grams carbs; 44 milligrams cholesterol; 455 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 15 grams fiber; 658 milligrams sodium; 34 grams protein; 6 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.

  2. Step 2

    Add the carrots, celery and onion to the pot. Stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Drop in the ham bone and bay leaf. Cover with 8 cups water and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and simmer 30 minutes. Add the beans and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the kale and simmer until soft, but vibrantly green, about 15 minutes. Season with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste). Add lots of pepper and a dash of hot sauce or vinegar. Serve with crumbled bacon on top.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,291 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Carole

I adapted this to use a left over cooked Ham Bone and pieces of ham.
Follow directions for first 5 ingredients. Then add ham bone ( no need to cut in half). Simmer 2 hours -- add water as needed to cover.
Then remove bone, add 4 cups chicken broth, and diced left over ham and then follow the rest of the recipe.

Lisa

I made the ham broth the day before I made the soup, in my slow cooker - whole hambone, 1 chopped onion, three or four stalks of celery and 4 chopped carrots with 2 liters of water and simmered on high for 5 hours. The bone split naturally into about five separate pieces, infusing the broth with gelatin.. I refrigerated the whole thing overnight which brought the fat to the top where it was easy to skim. I threw away the solids and then went about using it as the broth base for the soup. I

Melisa

I just use my ham bone whole instead of worrying about cutting it up. It seems to work just as well in my experience.

Sharon

I followed a the suggetion to make the bone broth first in my crockpot. Great idea. I also added diced ham after making the soup. So delicious

Jenny

This recipe is a keeper. My mods were: whole hambone uncut - simmer extra time, use beer and chicken broth in addition to water, double the garlic, and add 2 cups diced ham.

more time!!

I agree with almost every comment here about simmering the bone longer. I was doubtful but decided to follow the recipe exactly, and I’m currently in my third addition of water and am holding off on adding the beans and kale because the soup still tastes very bland. I’m sure it will be so good (I love cabbage and beans and a veggie forward soup) but the long-cooked ham flavor simply isn’t there and I cracked my bone into three pieces like an angry cavewoman with a hammer. It tastes like cabbage water. I’ve got lots of things on hand to crank it up a notch when it’s nearly done but FOR SURE adjust this recipe to make a long cooked ham stock first if you want, otherwise I think this whole soup could be just exactly the same if you didn’t have a ham bone and just did the bacon. The total cook time simply isn’t enough to sneak all that flavor and texture from the bone!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.