This ham cabbage and white bean soup can feed a large family on a budget easily.
Grandma and mom always used the leftover Holiday ham for this meal but you can flavor the broth with any meat you like.
This soup is so versatile since you can also add your favorite vegetables to make it even heartier.
It sure is a family favorite here all year round and is pure comfort food.
The soup makes a large amount and freezes well too so if you make too much just freeze this bean soup for later
IF you love soups try our roundup of Best Soup Recipes where you will find all of Grandma's favorites.
Don't miss out on trying this old classic just scroll down for this printable recipe!
Cabbage is so Good For You!
When it comes to cabbage, I never can eat enough of it.
We love it stuffed, with potatoes and ham. in soups, and even raw for my mandarin orange coleslaw.
It's healthy, delicious and so inexpensive to feed a large family, and very versatile.
We even use cabbage to make Oriental Salad and of course Homemade Egg Rolls.
Health Benefits
Cabbage is such a healthy vegetable, it's surely packed with vitamins!
Even though it looks a lot like lettuce, it actually belongs to the Brassica genus of vegetables, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, and kale.
So many varieties are available along with shapes and colors, including red, purple, white and green, and its leaves can be either crinkled or smooth.
Additionally, just 1 cup of cabbage has some Protein, Fiber, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Folate, Manganese, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, and Magnesium so it's the perfect addition to anyone whose diet conscious.
Low In Calories
Most soups are low in calories, eat fewer beans to cut the carbs if watching.
The soup is hearty and filling.
Great for weight watchers with healthy delicious low calories inside this bowl!
Suggestions
- use any beans you like canned or cooked from dried
- flavor the broth with ham, pork bone from the shoulder, bacon, kielbasa, or chicken
- for a spicy broth add cayenne pepper
- any other vegetables can be added to the soup while cooking, carrots, celery, cubed potatoes, tomatoes, onions, or whatever else you like
Cooking Methods
- slow cooker: place everything in the slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours on high ( for quicker soup boil the cabbage separately first)
- instant pot: place on pressure cooker mode for 1 hour
- stovetop: place everything in the soup pot and simmer for 2 hours or more until cabbage is tender
- oven: place everything in a dutch oven in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 2 hours, keep checking to add more water if needed
Greens to Use
- green cabbage
- curly cabbage
- escarole
Note: I have substituted other greens in this soup like escarole instead of cabbage which is a much milder green, still, the taste will be fabulous.
Mom called this made with savoy curly cabbage. beans, ham, minestra.
Ingredients You Will Need to Make Ham, Cabbage, and White Bean Soup
- Leftover Ham with bone or use any of these chicken breast, leftover pork roast bone (shoulder or butt) bacon, and smoked pork chops work
- carrots
- potatoes
- small navy beans or any white beans
- plum tomatoes
- celery with leaves minced
- minced garlic
- granulated garlic
- regular or savoy curly cabbage, cut into quarters
- chicken broth
- white wine
- water
- oregano, basil, garlic powder, thyme, parsley
- salt and pepper
- cayenne pepper (optional)
Tips:
- This is a basic recipe for ham and cabbage soup and anything really can go into the pot
- Sometimes I just add potatoes and whole plum tomatoes, and even zucchini
- Almost any leftover meats to flavor the soup work great, pot roast leftover, meatballs, Italian sausage, kielbasa, even bacon or even a pork shoulder roast bone will go great in this to make a tasty soup
- This soup makes a huge pot so freeze it for later in freezer containers
Don't Forget To Pin Me For Later
Try Some More Of Our Favorite Recipes
Grandma's Home Chicken Soup
Italian Minestrone
Best Soup Anytime!
Since this makes a large pot, I freeze it into individual plastic containers and have it all year long.
I really look forward to Easter when we make our holiday ham dinner.
The bone is always the tastiest part of the ham to make this soup, I just throw it in a plastic bag after any holiday dinner and use it for another meal.
My Honey Glazed Baked Leftover Spiral Ham bone with cabbage and white beans makes a thick rich broth while cooking, it is an amazing pot of hearty deliciousness!
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Ham, Cabbage and White Bean Soup
Yield: 12
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 20 M
This soup is perfect any time of the year. It's full of cabbage, meat, and some vegetables that make this a hearty delicious bowl of pure comfort food and so healthy for you.
Ingredients
- Leftover Ham with bone attached pull chunks off and add to the pot along with the bone.
- Note: You can also just buy pre-packaged ham cubes to add. Chicken breast, leftover pork roast bone (shoulder or butt) bacon, and smoked pork chops, bacon, pot roast, kielbasa, or whatever leftovers you have! (around 2 cups or more)
- 6 carrots cleaned and sliced or a few cups of fingerling carrots
- 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups small navy beans freshly cooked or canned other cooked white beans (if canned rinse well) Note: you can also use any kinds of cooked beans you like
- 5 or 6 cut-up plum tomatoes fresh or canned
- 2 stalks of celery with leaves minced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 head regular or savoy curly cabbage, cut into quarters
- 16 oz can chicken broth or homemade that's what I use
- 1/2 cup white wine
- water
- 1/2 teaspoon each oregano, basil, garlic powder, thyme, parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper (optional) just a pinch
- Note: if you do not like beans, substitute rice or orzo pasta
Instructions
- In a large pot, fill water half full, add broth, wine, all the vegetables, ham bone, and herbs.
- Sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cook until all vegetables are tender.
- Add cooked beans, cook 1/2 hour more.
- If in need add more water or chicken broth.
- Remove ham off the bone and add back to the pot.
- Serve with crusty Italian bread broken up in the bowl... or just dunk it!
Calories
486.63Fat (grams)
17.73Sat. Fat (grams)
5.73Carbs (grams)
50.88Fiber (grams)
12.54Net carbs
38.34Sugar (grams)
8.06Protein (grams)
31.41Sodium (milligrams)
1361.21Cholesterol (grams)
76.88Don't Forget To Pin Me For Later
More Family Recipes:
Best Soup Recipe Roundup
25 Italian Best Recipes We Love
20 Beans Recipes We Love
15 One Pan Recipes
15 Easy Pasta Recipes
Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2011. It was edited and re-published in 2021.
This is an affiliate link and I do make a small commission See Disclosure Policy
Love, Love, LOVE bean soup - this looks amazing! BRAVO!
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious soup :) I love them in this season,. Bye, have a great week
ReplyDeleteI love the! My dad used to make it all of the time, but he did not add the beans. We called it a "boiled dinner".
ReplyDeleteMy mom called it New England boiled dinner.
DeleteI remember doing research on a soup with cabbage and Greg's comment sounds familiar being an Eastern states related recipe... I do like a hearty soup loaded with beans, meat broth and veggies - this is a great and easy recipe Claudia... have a great week...
ReplyDeleteAh! A soup to warm body and soul. It looks wholesome and delicious and I'd love to have a bowl. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteWhite beans are something I always eat with cornbread, but this soup does look like a delicious change of pace. Love the big chunks of ham and veggies in there. Well done Claudia! XOXOX
ReplyDeleteThat looks so warming and delicious! Just took off a pot of split pea soup, but want to try this one soon. You don't happen to have a recipe for shin beef soup, do you? My mom's was amazing and, sadly, I never got the recipe. I've played around but never gotten it just right.
ReplyDeleteIt's dreary. And raining. And gray. I have all the ingredients - except ham - but turkey kielbasa might work. And I am going to bring this honey together.
ReplyDeleteThis soup looks wonderful and so do the ones in linkedin photos below it. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis looks lovely! Cabbage is so overlooked in other soups, and the white beans are gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a comforting bowl of soup! I love your pictures - really gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm making this with my ham bone that I have. It looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt's like a big, happy hug in a bowl :) Looks delicious and warm and perfect!
ReplyDeleteBuzzed
I love this soup, my mom used to make this all the time after Christmas dinner (because we always had ham for Christmas). Yours looks great!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious, Claudia! There is just something so comforting about bean soup. This will go on my must try list to use with leftover Christmas ham! Yum and buzzed!
ReplyDeleteDear Claudia, A beautiful and comforting soup. Blessings, Catherine xo
ReplyDeleteI love white beans. I was surprised to see all the potatoes in there. Very tasty!
ReplyDeleteFor sure, I would love to make this version of the bean soup in the crock pot, with the ham! Love, love, cabbage in the soup. The ingredients sound amazing!
ReplyDeleteI just threw this soup together in my Crockpot using part of a big, thick-cut ham steak and cannot wait to get home this evening to eat it! The soup looks wonderful (just like the pictures) and is going to taste even better! Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a hearty way to use leftover ham.
ReplyDeleteThis soup looks delicious!! I would love to try it!
ReplyDeleteThis is one I think my mother in law would love. I am going to pass this one on for sure.
ReplyDeleteThis soup looks and sounds so hearty and comforting! Simply delicious! I love the combination of ham and cabbage - so delicious.
ReplyDeleteSuch a wholesome and delicious soup! I have cabbage and beans in my pantry and I'm going to try it out right away!
ReplyDeleteOne of my dad's favorite but we haven't had it with cabbage. Sounds great and we'll be making it very soon!
ReplyDeleteI love a good soup -- even though it's still 85° here in Florida! Great recipe, Claudia!
ReplyDeleteSO yummy! And I love how adaptable it is!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the ultimate comfort food for me. I usually don't put cabbage in mine, but now that I see your soup I need to start adding it again.
ReplyDeleteYum! This sounds perfect with the chilly weather we have here. Can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteI love ham and bean soup. This recipe has all the deliciousness that I would expect from a soup like this. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCan you please clarify the amount of white wine used in your Ham & Cabbage & White Bean Soup? Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for catching that. It's a 1/2 cup of wine. Glad you like the recipe and your welcome, thanks again!
DeleteAwesome recipe! Wonderful use of leftover ham and ham bone!
ReplyDeleteI love soup made with leftover ham and ham bone! This looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis soup looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm just drooling! I love everything about this delicious recipe!
ReplyDeleteThis is comfort food at its best. Definitely on my to do list, Claudia. I hope you had a wonderful birthday! Xo xo!
ReplyDeleteI am always looking for ways to use leftover ham!!
ReplyDeleteI made this stew and added can pinto and black beans before serving and OMG, it was unbelievabley tasty, superb!! I also doubled the spices and it was perfect, my husband and son raved about it....thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so tasty and comforting. I always love the creamy white beans.
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for new soups to make for dinner, and this white bean soup looks incredible! I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteI love cabbage in soup and this reminds me of a dish from childhood. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so delicious and tasty! I can’t wait to give this a try! So excited!
ReplyDeleteDelicious and filling comfort food right here! It's loaded with all kinds of good for you ingredients too.
ReplyDeleteThis is so comforting! A new favorite meal at my house!
ReplyDeleteIt's chilly and raining right now which calls for a tasty and comforting soup like this! YUM!
ReplyDeleteI'm such a huge fan of cabbage. It's so great in this soup!
ReplyDeleteIf you can beleive it- my kids love this soup! It's such an easy way for me to get them to eat protein and veggies all in 1 dinner without complaint.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a tasty and fulfilling soup and my kids love it - I love that I know they're getting a lot of goodness from it too!
ReplyDeleteThis was a total homerun! Pure comfort food that didn't weigh us down after eating. Loved every bite!
ReplyDelete