It’s a ham bone soup kind of day. A damp cold overcast kind of day. If you have any left over ham from the New Year’s buffet, this is a perfect use for it. Adding nothing but vegetables and broth, this soup is about as healthy as you can get ham to be. It’s based on a soup from my childhood days hanging out on Gina’s farm. Her mom would have a crockpot of this simmering all day waiting for her four brothers to come in from their cold livestock chores to devour this with homemade bread. I’ve made this soup a hundred times and each time it’s a little different depending on what I have in the icebox. So here’s a basic recipe.

Ham Bone Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 ribs of celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 large or two medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 ham bone with about 1 lb of meat attached
6+ cups of water
1 large can of whole tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen lima beans
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups chopped cabbage
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon Herbs of Provence or Italian Seasoning
Salt
Black pepper

In your largest stew pot, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the diced onions, celery, carrots and potatoes and sauté for 5-8 minutes.

Add water and ham bone, cloves, bay leaf and herbs. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.

Chop the whole tomatoes and add to the pot. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Add lima beans, corn and chopped cabbage. Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, maybe a little brown sugar if you like that “spiral ham” flavor.

This can keep refrigerated for a couple days. Remember that it has cabbage in it so it will have that odor to it when you first open up the pot. Enjoy on any day this time of year!

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Ham Bone Soup

Great use of leftover ham, this is low carb and pack with vegetables

Author: GalleyPirate

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 medium Onions, chopped
• 4 ribs Celery, chopped
• 4 Carrots, chopped
• 1 Large or two medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 Ham bone with about 1 lb meat attached, or equivalent in ham without the bone
• 6+ cups Water
• 1 Large can whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Frozen lima beans
• 1 cup Frozen corn
• 2 cups Chopped cabbage
• 4-6 Cloves
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2-3 tsp Herbs of Provence
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1-2 tsp Brown sugar, optional

Instructions

• In your largest stew pot, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the diced onions, celery, carrots and potatoes and sauté for 5-8 minutes.
• Add water and ham bone, cloves, bay leaf and herbs. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.
• Chop the whole tomatoes and add to the pot. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Add lima beans, corn and chopped cabbage. Simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, maybe a little brown sugar if you like that "spiral ham" flavor.