Crock Pot Ham and Beans is the pot I make the week after a holiday ham, when a few cups of leftover ham need a job. Dried Great Northern beans, ham, onion, carrot and celery go into the slow cooker in the morning, and by supper you have a creamy, smoky pot of beans. No soaking. No browning.
How to make crock pot ham and beans: put diced onion, carrot, celery, garlic and 2 cups of diced ham in a 6-quart slow cooker, pour 1 pound of rinsed dried Great Northern beans on top, add 8 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and cover. Cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 5 to 6 hours until the beans are tender, then stir in about 1 teaspoon of salt. If you used a ham bone or hocks instead of diced ham, lift them out, pull off the meat, and stir it back in.
Why You’ll Love It
- No soaking. The beans go in dry, straight from the bag after a rinse.
- Uses up leftover ham. Diced ham, a meaty bone or a couple of smoked hocks all work.
- Nine ingredients, one pot. The only real job is salting and mashing a few beans at the end.
- Feeds six. Enough for supper and lunch the next day, and it freezes well.
Ingredient Notes
Dried Great Northern beans are what most slow cooker ham and bean recipes call for. Navy beans are the other common choice; one recipe picks them as the softest and creamiest in a slow cooker. Either way, use 1 pound. Rinse them and pick through for stones, but do not soak them. Stick with dry beans; canned beans break down and go mushy over a long cook.
The ham is where you have a choice. Two cups of diced cooked ham, from a leftover spiral-sliced ham or a ham steak, is the easiest route; there is nothing to fish out at the end. A meaty ham bone with its scraps, or two smoked ham hocks, works too, but you will pull the bone out and shred the meat before serving. If your ham or bone was frozen, thaw it in the fridge first; USDA FSIS says to always thaw meat before it goes into a slow cooker.
Onion, carrot, celery and garlic are the base. Water or unsalted chicken broth both work. Eight cups makes a brothy pot; six makes a thicker one. Hold the salt until the beans are cooked, then add about 1 teaspoon.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried Great Northern beans, rinsed and sorted (navy beans work the same way)
- 2 cups cooked ham, diced (or 1 meaty ham bone with its scraps, or 2 smoked ham hocks)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 8 cups water or unsalted chicken broth (use 6 cups if the beans were soaked, or for a thicker pot)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt, added at the end, to taste
How to Make Crock Pot Ham and Beans
1. Sort and rinse the beans. Pour the dried beans into a colander. Pick out any broken beans, pebbles or debris, then rinse under cold water. No soaking needed.
2. Load the slow cooker. Put the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ham (or the ham bone or hocks) in a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the beans on top. Add the water and the pepper. Do not add the salt yet.
3. Cook until tender. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 5 to 6 hours, until the beans are tender. Keep the lid on; only lift it to check. If the beans are still firm at the end, put the lid back and give them 30 more minutes, then check again.
4. Deal with the bone. If you used a ham bone or hocks, lift them out onto a board. Pull off any meat, chop or shred it, and stir it back into the pot. Discard the bone and skin.
5. Season and finish. Stir in salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon. For a creamier pot, stir hard and press some of the beans against the side of the crock to mash them. Serve hot.
Do You Have to Soak the Beans?
No. Every slow cooker ham and beans recipe I checked cooks the beans from dry, and one of them tried it both ways and found no noticeable difference in texture or cook time. Soaking only shaves a little time off. So I skip it.
If you already soaked your beans overnight, cook them in the same window, expect them to be done at the short end of it, and cut the liquid to 6 cups instead of 8. Nobody gives a shorter time for soaked beans, so I don’t either.
| Setting | Time | Liquid |
|---|---|---|
| LOW, unsoaked beans | 8 to 10 hours | 8 cups |
| HIGH, unsoaked beans | 5 to 6 hours | 8 cups |
| LOW or HIGH, soaked beans | Same window, short end | 6 cups |
Taste a few beans from different spots in the pot. If they are still chalky, lid back on, 30 more minutes, check again. USDA FSIS says the lid should stay in place except to stir or check doneness, that cooking on LOW the whole time is safe, and that if you can, running HIGH for the first hour and then switching to LOW is a good start.
Ham bone vs diced ham
Diced ham is the no-fuss option. Two cups go in at the start with the vegetables and that is the end of it.
A ham bone or ham hocks go in with the beans at the start, the same way. The difference is at the end: once the beans are tender, lift them out onto a board, pull the meat off with two forks, shred it, and stir it back into the pot. Throw the bone and skin away. A bone-in cut gives more flavor. Hocks can leave a layer of grease on top; if that bothers you, lay a paper towel flat on the surface for a moment and lift it off.
Thick Pot or Soupy Pot?
The liquid is the dial. Eight cups gives a soup-style pot; six cups gives thick, spoonable ham and beans. Too thin at the end? Blend about 1 cup of the beans and stir them back in, or press some beans against the crock wall until the broth turns creamy. Too thick? Stir in another cup of broth. And do not add anything acidic, like tomatoes or lemon, until the beans are soft.
Variations
- Navy beans. Swap 1 pound of navy beans for the Great Northerns, same method and time. They cook up a little softer and creamier.
- Smoked turkey. A few pieces of smoked turkey can stand in for the ham.
- A little thyme. Some slow cooker versions add 2 teaspoons of dried thyme with the vegetables. This card leaves it out, but it is an easy add.
Leftover ham also makes Ham Salad, a 5-minute spread with sweet pickle relish, mustard and eggs.
If you have leftover ham, Ham Mac and Cheese Casserole bakes it into creamy cheddar macaroni.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to move leftovers into shallow covered containers and refrigerate them within 2 hours of the cooker finishing. They keep up to 4 days in the fridge. To freeze, cool the beans first, pack them in portions, and use them within 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave with a splash of water or broth, since the beans thicken a lot as they sit. USDA FSIS says to reheat leftovers to 165F on the stove, in the microwave or in the oven, not in the slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
Ham and beans want bread; in my house that means butter biscuits for dunking. For a crowd, a pan of Good Ole Fashion Mac and Cheese makes it a proper Sunday supper. Set out crushed saltines, sour cream, green onions and hot sauce for topping. If you still have ham left, crockpot ham and potato casserole and ham and potato corn chowder are the next two pots I make, and slow cooker black-eyed peas with bacon and slow cooker Amish lima beans use the same no-soak method.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to soak the beans first?
No. Dried Great Northern or navy beans go into the slow cooker straight from the bag after a rinse and a sort. A side-by-side test by one of the recipes this is based on found no noticeable difference in texture or cook time. If you did soak them, use 6 cups of liquid instead of 8.
How long on LOW vs HIGH, and why are my beans still hard?
LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 5 to 6 hours, until tender. Slow cookers vary; one cook running two identical cookers had one pot done at 5 hours on HIGH and the other at a little over 6. Taste before you serve. If the beans are still firm, put the lid back on for 30 more minutes, or switch from LOW to HIGH for an hour or two and add a splash of liquid if needed.
Can I use a ham bone or ham hocks instead of diced ham?
Yes. Put a meaty ham bone or two smoked ham hocks in with the vegetables at the start, in place of the 2 cups of diced ham. When the beans are tender, lift the bone out, shred the meat, stir it back in, and discard the bone and skin. Bone-in gives the pot more flavor.
Can I use canned beans?
I would not. Over a long slow cooker run, canned beans break down and go mushy. Dried beans hold their shape, and you can mash a few at the end for a creamy pot.
Final Notes
This is not a fancy pot, and it is not supposed to be. A pound of beans, some ham, and a slow cooker doing the work while you do something else. Salt at the end, mash a few beans, and put the biscuits on the table.
Crock Pot Ham and Beans
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Ingredients
- 1 pound dried Great Northern beans rinsed and sorted; navy beans work the same way
- 2 cups cooked ham diced; or use 1 meaty ham bone with its scraps, or 2 smoked ham hocks, and shred the meat off at the end
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 cups water or unsalted chicken broth; use 6 cups if the beans were soaked, or for a thicker pot
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt added at the end, to taste
Instructions
- Pour the dried beans into a colander. Pick out any broken beans, pebbles or debris, then rinse under cold water. No soaking needed.
- Put the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ham (or the ham bone or hocks) in a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the beans on top. Add the water and the pepper. Do not add the salt yet.
- Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 5 to 6 hours, until the beans are tender. Keep the lid on; only lift it to check. If the beans are still firm at the end, put the lid back and give them 30 more minutes, then check again.
- If you used a ham bone or hocks, lift them out onto a board. Pull off any meat, chop or shred it, and stir it back into the pot. Discard the bone and skin.
- Stir in salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon. For a creamier pot, stir hard and press some of the beans against the side of the crock to mash them. Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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