"The Best" Bean and Ham Soup

I will be the first to admit, beans were not really my thing until just recently.  I've never really enjoyed them, but thanks to some excellent recipes I've found lately, I'm LOVING them!  This bean and ham soup was amazing!  I promise, you will be a bean lover after this!

My husband's reaction was the "real" test.  His dad has been making this soup since he was a child, just always on the stove top.  When I asked my father-in-law for the recipe, I was nervous I wouldn't be able to do it justice.  Well, according to my husband, it tasted just like his dad's and he LOVED it!  Our 2 year old daughter loved it as well and at every bit of hers.  My husband and I went in for seconds!

I would like to thank my AWESOME friend Kristin for giving me a ham bone from her freezer so I didn't have to go on a wild goose chase to find one.  My best advice is to go to a meat counter and ask for a shank.  Or, ask a good friend....you never know what they have in their freezer!

I soaked my beans over night Wednesday night and prepped everything, so all I had to do this morning was dump everything into the slow cooker and turn it on!  This does make quite a large amount of soup and if you do not have at least a 6 quart crock pot slow cooker, you will need to divide this recipe in half.  You can add a little less water if you desire. 

"The Best" Bean and Ham Soup

Ingredients:

14-16 cups water

1 lb. dry navy beans

1 meaty ham bone or shank
1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup mashed potato flakes

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. each, nutmeg, oregano and basil

1 bay leaf

Directions:

Soak your beans over night. 

Drain/rinse the next morning.

In your crock, place your ham bone (mine was frozen)

Place your garlic, onion, celery, potato flakes, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, oregano, basil and bay leaf on top.

Pour your beans on top of that.

Add your water (to the size of your crock, but you want your ham bone to be covered.

Cook on LOW for 8-12 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours. 
When ready to serve, remove ham bone and scrape all meat off and return to slow cooker.  Remove bay leaf.
Serve and Enjoy!