Great Northern Bean Ham Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes ham and bean soup thicken? ›

This ham and bean soup is incredibly filling and satisfying. However, if you'd like it to be a little thicker, try adding a cornstarch slurry — or use this unlikely ingredient.

They have similar flavor profiles, nutritional values, cook times, and cost. The only slight differences are their shape and size. Navy beans are circular, small white beans, while great northern white beans are a bit bigger and more oval-shaped.

"Broths and condensed soups are notorious for being salty," she says. She warns that many spice blends contain added salt, too. Be sure to read the labels of your ingredients. You may also have to avoid adding salt if you're cooking with sodium-filled meats like ham or bacon.

To cut down on the gassy properties, you can add a little baking soda to your recipe. The baking soda helps break down some of the beans' natural gas-making sugars. I tested this while fixing one of my favorite slow cooker recipes: red beans and sausage.

Add plain instant mashed potatoes (which are essentially just dehydrated potatoes) to the finished soup recipe as a thickening agent. Simple? Yes.

Add More Beans

One of the simplest ways to thicken up your ham and bean soup is by adding more beans. The beans will naturally release starch as they cook, which will help to thicken the soup.

In a separate bowl, dissolve a teaspoon or two of cornstarch or all-purpose flour in a small amount of cold water. Add the slurry to the bubbling soup. The soup should thicken up. Add more cornstarch or flour as needed until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

Step 2: Thicken the soup.

Sprinkle in flour then cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. The addition of flour to the Ham and Bean Soup will give it a nice velvety texture.

For great northerns, you can opt for pinto beans, chickpeas, or lima beans. These alternatives offer a similar tender texture and mild taste that work well in delicate dishes. On the other hand, if navy beans are unavailable, you can easily use any white or colored bean, such as white kidney beans or black beans.

A one-cup serving of these beans provides at least 20 percent of the daily requirement of thiamin, folate, potassium, iron, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. These beans are a good source of iron and folate that aids in the production of red blood cells.

Does putting a potato in soup reduce salt? ›

The potato will absorb extra salt and liquid. Remove the potato from the pot. Taste the food. If the saltiness is still too much, you can add water or broth to dilute it.

While washing meat and poultry to remove dirt, slime, fat or blood may have been appropriate decades ago when many slaughtered and prepared their own food, the modern food safety system doesn't require it. Meat and poultry are cleaned during processing, so further washing is not necessary.

The other factor is ginger ale's key ingredient. The ginger, though not nearly as much as the sugar, acts as an additional non-salty flavor that helps balance the saltiness. Ginger, though an alkaline as opposed to an acid, can reduce the saltiness of a ham in more ways than just its flavor.

If you need it a little thicker, just blend up a more beans and broth until your desired consistency is reached. First make sure that your beans are fully cooked. If you are satisfied with the done-ness of your beans, puree half of the soup in a blender and then mix it with the other half of the soup.

You can also thicken soup by puréeing it with cooked beans or lentils. White beans like cannellini beans or navy beans are especially good for puréeing. This recipe for Creamy Italian White Bean Soup is a great place to start. Puréeing hearty winter vegetables like butternut and kabocha squash will also do the trick.

Rice, lentils, and beans release a lot of starch and naturally thicken soups simply from simmering, but you can also mash half the cooked rice/lentils/beans before adding to the soup for a simple way to thicken your dish. Alternatively, blend half or all of the soup for a smoother texture.

Excessive cooking or stirring may damage cornstarch integrity and cause your ham and beans to thin out.