This rustic white bean and ham soup is an easy slow cooker recipe made with leftover Easter ham, white beans, vegetables, and broth for a hearty weeknight family dinner.
Easter meals are usually filled with fresh spring salads, roasted vegetables, and beautiful brunch tables. But if you host a traditional holiday meal like we do, there’s often one thing left behind once the celebration is over: leftover ham.
Outside of Christmas dinner and Easter Sunday lunch, ham often gets relegated to omelets, breakfast casseroles, and the occasional sandwich. But after working through a freezer stash of ham from a recent family gathering, I realized something.
Ham deserves a place in everyday weeknight dinners too.
One of the easiest and most comforting ways to use leftover ham is in a hearty white bean and ham soup. This rustic slow cooker soup is full of simple vegetables, tender beans, and flavorful broth. It’s the kind of cozy meal that works perfectly for busy weeknights, baseball practice nights, or easy family dinners when you want something warm waiting for you at home.
Even better, it’s a one-pot slow cooker recipe that uses ingredients you may already have in your refrigerator or pantry after a holiday meal.
If you are planning Easter Dinner, check out this Easter Dinner Meal Planning Guide to help simplify your planning!
Why This Is the Best Soup for Leftover Easter Ham
If you’re wondering what to do with leftover Easter ham, soup is one of the best options. Ham adds a rich, savory flavor to broth-based soups and pairs perfectly with beans and vegetables.
This Rustic White Bean and Ham Soup is especially great because it:
- Uses leftover hame from Easter or Christmas
- Works as a slow cooker weeknight dinner
- Is perfect for baseball night meals or busy family evenings
- Uses simple pantry staples like white beans and chicken broth
- Can easily be made in one pot on the stove
It’s hearty, flexible, and forgiving — exactly the kind of recipe that belongs in your regular meal rotation.
Oh, and forever and always my favorite thing to do with leftover Easter ham is make a “hammy sammy.” I mean it might be too much to eat them together – but I’ll let you make that decision!
Rustic White Bean and Ham Soup
Ingredients
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3 red or gold potatoes diced
- 1 bag matchstick carrots or 2 chopped carrots
- 1 14-ounce package Polish kielbasa sausage, cubed
- 1-2 cups leftover ham steak or diced ham
- 2 cans white beans Great Northern or cannellini, rinsed and drained
- 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 6 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups chopped kale
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Chop the onion, celery, and potatoes and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Add the diced ham and cubed kielbasa on top of the vegetables.
- Rinse and drain the white beans, then add them to the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle in the garlic, thyme, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the chicken broth over everything.
- Cover and cook on low for 6–8 hours.
- About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the chopped kale. (If you are using frozen, make sure the kale is thawed and drained.)
- Replace the lid and allow the kale to wilt into the soup before serving.
How to Make This Soup on the Stove (One-Pot Version)
- If you don’t want to use the slow cooker, this recipe can easily be made in a large stockpot.
- Add all ingredients except kale to a large soup pot.
- Bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer.
- Cook on low heat for 25–30 minutes, allowing the flavors to combine.
- Stir in the kale during the final 10 minutes of cooking.
Easy Ingredient Swaps
One of the best things about this soup is how flexible it is. The goal is simply a hearty, comforting soup made from ingredients you already have on hand.
You can easily swap or adjust ingredients like:
- Ham → leftover turkey or chicken
- Kielbasa → Chicken sausage links, Italian sausage or frozen meatballs
- Potatoes → parsnips or radishes
- Kale → spinach or cabbage
You can also add rice or pasta if you want a thicker, heartier soup.
A Great Weeknight Family Dinner
This rustic ham and bean soup is exactly the kind of meal that works well for busy spring evenings. It’s especially great during baseball season when dinner needs to be simple, filling, and ready when everyone walks through the door. And, if you have to, you can put it in a thermos and eat it between games.
Because most of the ingredients are already cooked, the soup mainly needs time for the flavors to come together. That means very little prep work and lots of flexibility.
It’s also a wonderful way to use homemade broth. If you save bones from holiday meals or rotisserie chickens to make stock, this soup is the perfect place to use it.
The Best Way to Use Holiday Leftovers
If you’ve ever looked at leftover Easter ham and wondered what to do with it, this soup might become your new go-to solution.
It’s simple, comforting, and adaptable — the kind of recipe that turns a holiday leftover into an easy weeknight family meal.
And once you try it, you might start making ham just so you can make the soup afterward.
