Slow cooker ham and beans is a cheap, easy dinner recipe. And it’s a great way to use up the ham bone after you’ve cooked a ham.
We have a tradition of always having ham for Easter. So, every Easter, after our family dinner, I have a ham bone available to use.
That’s when I like to make slow cooker ham and beans.
This recipe is frugal and easy to make. It cooks all day in the crock pot while you focus on other things. It’s so simple!
Slow Cooker Ham and Beans Recipe
I’ve been making this crock pot ham and beans recipe for years. I love how cheap and easy it is, and it’s a cozy meal for a cold day.
This recipe uses dried beans, which is what makes it so cheap.
You do need to soak the beans the night before, but that’s easy to do, and overnight soaking helps make them more digestible.
After soaking the beans and pouring off the water, you simply add the ham bone, soaked beans, fresh water, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker and let it cook all day. Add the salt during the last hour of cooking time.
This dish is delicious served with cornbread, garlic bread, and a salad or other vegetables.
Supplies Needed for This Recipe
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- Slow cooker (I have this 6 quart Crock-Pot and you can also find one here)
You could try using a smaller slow cooker, but I wouldn’t go much smaller than a 4 or 5 quart. I haven’t tested this recipe with other slow cooker sizes, as I’ve just used this 6 quart one for years.
This recipe serves 8-10, depending on the size of your ham bone and how big your serving sizes are.
For our family of seven, I usually add an extra pound or two of dried beans (keeping the water about the same—you just want enough water to cover the beans and the ham bone).
Printable Recipe
Slow Cooker Ham and Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry great northern beans (about 2.5 cups)
- 1 ham bone (or 1 lb. ham pieces)
- 5 cups water
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Sort and rinse beans. In a large bowl (or the slow cooker insert), cover beans with water and soak overnight.
- In the morning, drain beans. Discard the soaking water.
- Add beans, ham bone, water, onion, and garlic to slow cooker.
- Cover. Cook on low 7-8 hours, or high 4 hours.
- Add salt during last hour of cooking time.
- At the end of cooking time, remove ham bone. Allow it to cool, remove meat from the bone, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Stir back into bean mixture.
- Serve with hot corn bread or garlic bread and a side salad.
Notes
Related Posts:
- Caribbean Beans and Rice Recipe
- 20 Frugal Depression Era Recipes
- How We Cut Our Grocery Bill in Half
- Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy. Sharing here.
P.S. I’ll be featuring this later today at the TFT party. Congrats!
Thanks for this. I used to make ham and beans fairly often, and I would cook it for a long time on the stove. What a pain! When I got tired of doing that, I just started buying the cooked beans in a jar and adding ham. Not as tasty, and of course a less frugal way to do it. So, now I will start using my slow cooker. I don’t know why I wasn’t doing this before! I really love ham and beans with cornbread. Still a favorite. Thanks for sharing with us at the TFT party!
Thank you, Pam!
This brings back memories of growing up. Thanks for sharing with us on the Homestead Blog Hop. This looks delicious!
Thanks Kelly!
Wow. That looks heavenly, I’d love to try this!
Thank you! It’s one of our favorite cheap and easy meals to make!
love using the slow cooker for ham and beans oh so easy and ready when we want it
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Yes, it makes it so much simpler!
I love a good ham and bean soup. And making it in the slow cooker is just fantastic. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Slow cooker meals are my favorite! Thanks for stopping by, Heidi!