Ham Hock and Beans Soup Recipe
Come across a bunch of ham hocks and have some spare time? Let’s make the most delicious pork dish ever or let’s make two at the same time!
Ham hocks and pork belly don’t sound like the most desirable part of the pork, but once a properly prepared ham hock is served to anyone who even remotely likes pork, they will be hooked for life on ham hocks.
Where are the ham hocks of the world?
Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky that have their local IKEA selling braised ham hocks or even any restaurants at all to try them out. No wonder the penetration of this really delicious dish into our everyday faces challenges not just from past prejudices about fat but from our own ignorance too.
Many of us really devoted to bacon which is actually cured pork belly but preparing pork belly at home or having it in restaurants -which is a completely different experience- hasn’t broken into the mainstream yet either.
Why don’t ham hocks rule the world?
It’s not like ham hocks aren’t available, as probably we can get them at any butcher shop where they sell pork or in worst case scenarios order them but braise, cook or roast them takes more than many of us willing to sacrifice from their life on an average Tuesday night.
Apart from their long preparation time, ham hocks don’t require much fiddling though, so it comes to no surprise that many nations couldn’t imagine life without them.
Who makes the best ham hocks?
Germans really love them and as one would expect with sauerkraut while others like the Spanish even have them in their IKEA. Nothing’s better than to start an excruciating 3 hours stroll with a full belly except maybe finishing it with a full belly too.
But we don’t have to go over the pond to find examples for ham hock recipes as the soul cousin of the American South is unimaginable without the iconic ham hocks.
Depending on our mood, we can prepare ham hocks in various ways and even shorten its cooking time if we have a pressure cooker. Also, we can cheat a little or rather hit two meals with one bone.
How to prepare ham hocks?
We can simply braise our ham hocks in the oven, but we can also cook them in water and use the remaining water as pork stock, soup or even better ham hock and beans soup.
Of course, we can use other long cook time legumes with the ham hocks like chickpeas or lentils. It’s recommended to try the chosen type of beans, lentils, or chickpeas beforehand to get some idea about the required cooking time though. Some lentils and beans can get ready under and hour and that’s far from the required time for a ham hock.
Depending on the age of the pork, we may spend hours with the ham hocks simmering in the water so if we have beans that require less time just cook the meat without them for an hour. When the meat is getting tender add the beans and cook it ready.
We can use the meat to serve it with the soup or popping it under the broiler until it gets a nice roasted golden-brown color on all sides.
Is there a way around ham hocks?
The hardest part of making ham hock is to bear the excruciatingly long cooking times with empty stomach. If we are lucky enough though, we may have an IKEA next to us and a quick stroll along the isles will take our mind off thinking about ham hocks, at least for now.
Ingredients
Ham hock soup with beans
- 2 tablespoons / 20g Lard or cooking oil
- 2 medium / 300g Onions (diced)
- 2 medium / 150gCarrot (diced)
- 3 stalks / 150g Celery (diced)
- 3 teaspoons / 15g Salt (only if not cured ham hock is used)
- 3 cloves / 12g Garlic
- 1 teaspoon / 3g Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon / 2g Paprika
- 1 medium / 150g Tomato
- 2 lb / 1000g Ham hocks
- 1 lb / 500g Beans
- 8 cups / 2000g Water
- Optional extra:
- Carrot (sliced)
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- …
Ham hock soup with vegetables
- 2 lb / 1000g Ham hock
- 1 medium / 150g Onion
- ½ piece / 50g Green pepper
- 3 cloves / 12g Garlic (crushed)
- 3 medium / 200g Carrots (whole)
- 1 medium / 150g Tomato
- 1 bunch / 30g Parsley
- 3 teaspoons / 15g Salt
- 1 teaspoon / 3g Black pepper (whole)
- 8 cups / 2000g Water
- Vegetables to consider
- Carrot (sliced)
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
- …
How to make Ham hocks soup
Ham hock soup with beans
- Pour oil into a pot and on high heat saute the diced onion, celery, carrots and salt until the onion gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3 -5 minutes.
- Mix in the diced garlic, black pepper, paprika and the ham hocks. If we have quick cooking beans or any other legumes like lentils, we have to precook the ham hock now. Pour water into to the pot until the ham hocks are submerged, bring it to boil and on low heat simmer them for an hour.
- Add beans, tomatoes and fill the pot up with water until all the ingredients are submerged.
- Put the lid on and bring the water to boil then simmer until the beans are ready on low heat which could be anywhere between 60 – 120 minutes. Optionally, add more vegetables to the soup like broccoli, brussel sprouts 10 minutes before finishing the soup.
Enjoy!
Ham hock soup with vegetables
- Place all the ingredients into a pot.
- Fill the pot up with water until all the ingredients are submerged.
- Put the lid on bring the water to boil then on low heat simmer the soup for about 2 hours until the meat is tender and comes off the bones easily.
- Add vegetables to the soup and cook them ready in about 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
Note: Once the ham hock is cooked it can be roasted under the broiler in 10 minutes that will serve as a perfect main meal. Cooking ham hock with vegetables is the perfect stock for later meals, store it in batches.
If ham hock was a joy check out some other mouthwatering happy feet that can be served at the table:
Ham Hock in Soup
Ingredients
Ham hock soup with beans
- 2 tablespoons Lard or cooking oil
- 2 medium Onions diced
- 2 medium Carrot diced
- 3 stalks Celery diced
- 3 teaspoons Salt only if not cured ham hock is used
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 medium Tomato
- 2 lb Ham hocks
- 1 lb Beans
- 8 cups Water
- Optional extra
- Carrot sliced
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- …
Ham hock soup with vegetables (low carb)
- 2 lb Ham hock
- 1 medium Onion
- ½ piece Green pepper
- 3 cloves Garlic crushed
- 3 medium Carrots whole
- 1 medium Tomato
- 1 bunch Parsley
- 3 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper whole
- 8 cups Water
- Vegetables to consider
- Carrot sliced (not on keto)
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
Instructions
Ham hock soup with beans
- Pour oil into a pot and on high heat saute the diced onion, celery, carrots and salt until the onion gets a glassy / translucent look for about 3 -5 minutes.
- Mix in the diced garlic, black pepper and the ham hocks. If we have quick cooking beans or any other legumes like lentils, we have to precook the ham hock now. Pour water into to the pot until the ham hocks are submerged, bring it to boil and on low heat simmer them for an hour.
- Add beans, tomatoes and fill the pot up with water until all the ingredients are submerged.
- Put the lid on and bring the water to boil then simmer until the beans are ready on low heat which could be anywhere between 60 - 120 minutes. Optionally, add more vegetables to the soup like broccoli, brussel sprouts 10 minutes before finishing the soup.
Ham hock soup with vegetables (low carb)
- Place all the ingredients into a pot.
- Fill the pot up with water until all the ingredients are submerged.
- Put the lid on bring the water to boil then on low heat simmer the soup for about 2 hours until the meat is tender and comes off the bones easily.
- Add vegetables to the soup and cook them ready in about 10 minutes.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later!
