Mom's Ham and Bean Soup

I could not find the perfect recipe so this is my recipe that I came up with after comparing three different ones. I combined the ingredients that I liked and mom's ham and bean soup was invented. Enjoy!

• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 2 hr
• Total Time: 2 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 397 Calories

Ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cups water
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 ½ cups dried Great Northern beans
• 4 meaty ham hocks
• 1 ½ cups sliced celery
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or more to taste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Place Great Northern beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain water and transfer beans to a large stockpot.

Step 2

Mix ham hocks, water, celery, onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, black pepper, and bay leaf with beans in the stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until ham is coming off the bones, about 2 hours.

Step 3

Remove ham hocks from soup. Cut meat from bones, discarding fat and bones. Return meat to the pot. Continue cooking until beans reach desired softness.