Slow Cooker Ham and Northern Beans is an all around family favorite during the winter months. Actually, we eat it pretty much year round.
The smokiness of the ham pairs perfectly with the creaminess of the white beans. And served up with homemade cornbread, you just can’t beat it!
For so many years, I served my family baked ham dinners and threw away the ham bone. Now I’m kicking myself. To think I could’ve been serving up this delicious comfort food all along!
I first stumbled across this recipe when my cousin brought it to a Christmas Eve potluck. Hubs loved it and I requested the recipe.
It came to me across a Facebook message in my family’s normal format….add a little of this, some of that, maybe a little of this. No measurements, no exact instructions.
And that brings me to one of the greatest obstacles I face in sharing recipes with you…I hardly ever measure anything. I just throw things in, eye it until it looks right and taste it until it’s yummy.
That’s what I normally do with this recipe, but I love you too much not to share it with you, so I set about working out a more exact recipe. This works.
It’s so easy! Just throw all the ingredients in and cover with water and cook slow. Voila!
After your beans cook for awhile, you may need to add in more water. Use common sense and eye it and it should turn out fine. Keep in mind that it should be the consistency you see in the image above and possibly creamier, but not necessarily thicker. Make sense?
I us this Programmable Cook and Carry Oval Slow Cooker, but any 6-7 quart slow cooker will work.
How to Make Slow Cooker Ham and Northern Beans
Ingredients
- Hambone with some ham still attached
- 2 lbs Northern Beans
- 1 small onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs chipotle tabasco optional
Instructions
- Pick through and rinse beans.
- Place ham bone with meat attached in bottom of slow cooker.
- Pour dry beans on top.
- Add onion, garlic and salt. Add chipotle sauce if desired.
- Cover ham and beans with water, making sure the slow cooker is filled to within 3/4 inch of the top.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
- Stir and continue to cook on low for 4 hours. Stir occasionally to encourage creaminess.
- Cook on low for the rest of the day, stirring often to encourage creaminess.
- Serve ham and beans in bowls with cornbread on the side.