Have you ever heard the term, “Don’t let opportunity kick you in the butt?” A while back an opportunity presented itself to me in the form of a gift. What was the gift? A bone! Now, dear reader, you are probably thinking that I have fallen off my rocker, but I can assure you that I’m sitting steady. Let me explain further.

My sister was hosting a party and had a large ham as the main course. She asked me, “Do you want the ham bone for soup?” “Sure,” I replied. She also threw in a bag of scrap ham meat as my brother-in-law is pescatarian, and she knew that she wouldn’t be using it to make another meal. They went into my freezer.

I decided that yesterday was the day that I would use the ham bone to make a delicious Navy Bean Soup. Inflation and the Trump Tariff Taxes are making grocery prices go through the roof and I’m on a money saving mission.

Bean dishes are cheap and offer so many benefits. They are an excellent source of protein and fiber, contain all sorts of minerals, plus they are good for gut health.

You can buy canned beans inexpensively, and I certainly do that. However, dried beans are a better bargain. This soup uses dried beans that have been soaked overnight. I’ll talk more about that later.

There are as many ways to prepare a bean soup as there are beans in a pot. The recipe that I chose was from a website called “BudgetBites.com.” The website was recommended by my daughter who is trying to save money by cooking her own food. She is a chip off the old block. I have tried a few of the site’s recipes with good results.

Oh, and that ham bone? It went missing from our freezer. Both my wife and I tore the compartment apart, but the bone was not to be found. We did find the ham scraps, so we substituted them with good results. The great thing about home cooking is there are no rules. If the end result tastes good, then all is good.

Let’s get into the recipe!

Here is the recipe. The author is Marsha McDougal.

Instead of a ham hock I used the ham scraps that my sister generously gave me.

Here are the spices that we used. In addition to the ones listed in the recipe I added a very small amount of chili pepper flakes and a sad broken bay leaf. Spices can add a lot of depth to a dish. You can buy spices for less if you shop the house brands at Walmart, Aldi, and Dollar Stores. If you know that you are going to use a lot of a particular spice you can buy a large container cheaply at Sam’s Club, Costco, or on Amazon. Ethnic stores and the ethnic aisles in standard grocery stores often have spices for less than at the typical spice section in the store. Lastly, you don’t have to use all of the spices if you choose. You can just use salt and pepper. If I had to add just more more spice to this soup (beyond salt and pepper), it would probably be oregano. A little of this spice adds so much to so many dishes.

This recipe uses a classic mirepoix (celery, onions, and carrots). We almost always have those vegetables on hand and they store well. Additionally, this plate has some jar garlic. Is jar garlic as good as fresh? No, but it still is good and I always have it on hand.

The recipe calls for chicken broth, but I used Better than Bouillon chicken base. Sadly, this jar was almost empty. Luckily, I had some ham base so I added some of that to make up for the reduced amount of chicken base. It is OK to substitute as long as you don’t go too-far-afield.

I sauteed the ham in a little oil. I wanted it to get a bit crisp to intensify the flavor since I didn’t have a ham bone. I then added the mirepoix and softened the vegetables for a few minutes, stirring the mixture now and then. Finally, I added the garlic and stirred that around for a minute or two. You can see that I’m using a big pot. I like cooking in a Dutch oven, but you can use any large pot that you have. You will also need a lid for the pot.

Here you can see the garlic being added. I’m a bit excessive when it comes to garlic. You don’t have to be.

Now 6 cups of chicken broth. I used 6 cups of water and whatever chicken Better than Bouillon that I could scrape out of the jar. I added a spoonful of the ham Better than Bouillon to make up the difference. In went the Navy beans. I had soaked the beans overnight and dumped out that water before adding the beans to the pot. When it comes to dry beans, pick out any damaged beans before soaking. You may find a little rock or two; get rid of those too.

I added a few drops of liquid smoke (totally optional) to add a smoky flavor. Never add too much of this stuff or your food will taste like burnt wood.

In went the spices. Remember, if you don’t have all of them, use what you have. However, these are spices that you can use in so many dishes. If you eventually build up your spice rack, consider these as essentials.

That’s it! So easy. Now bring the pot to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Place the pot’s cover. It will take about ninety minutes for the beans to completely cook, so you may want to stir the pot on occasion. I actually left mine cooking for around two and a half hours as I made it early. To thicken the soup I smashed some of the beans using my wooden spoon. When the soup is done adjust the salt level. It is always better to use less salt at the start of a recipe and add what’s needed at the end. This soup didn’t need any extra salt because the ham was salty as was the soup base.

Here it is, all served up. We had some sour cream, so I added a dollop of that plus some croutons that I made earlier. As an accompaniment I served some of my homemade rye bread, but you do you. This was a delicious weekday dinner. You could make it in a slow cooker or an Instant Pot with a little modification of the liquids. Three of us ate our fill and there is plenty left over for lunches or whatever.

You don’t have to eat garbage to save money. This soup was absolutely delicious and tasted so much better than something out of a can.

Bon appetite!

Mike