Spend a morning canning ham and bean soup and have jars of ready made meals quickly at hand.

The great thing about canning soup at home is that it can be customized for your family’s tastes and full of ingredients you can feel good about serving.

Pressure Canned

This must be pressure canned. Do not try to can this in a water bath process, it simply is not safe for low acid meats and vegetables. Please don’t try.

The trick to canning soup at home is just that you process the jars for the thing that takes the longest amount of time. Carrots for example only take 30 minutes but beans and ham take 90 minutes for quarts.

Remember to adjust the pressure for your elevation!

There are very few tested recipes for using ham in canning. However, there are a few. This recipe is based on a tested recipe from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving for split pea soup.

Soak & Boil Dried Beans First

Soak those dried beans overnight. This is the best way to keep them more easily digested for everyone.

The beans should be drained and then boiled in fresh water for 30 minutes prior to packing jars.

Broth Choices

Choices for broth are fairly unlimited here. Use whatever is your favorite. Bring the liquid to a boil for filling the jars.

• You can use the liquid from boiling the beans.
• Chicken or ham broth works wonderfully.
• Tomato juice will work if that’s a favorite.
• A combination of the bean liquid and tomato juice is quite tasty.

Bean Options

I usually go with navy beans for ham and bean soup but any dried bean would work. Go with your favorite. Simply remember to soak them the night before you can.

Vegetable Additions

You can add onions, garlic, celery, carrots, etc. as you prefer. These can be raw packed or added to the broth and cooked a bit first, if desired. Out of general laziness and ease I usually go for raw pack.

Easily Scalable

The recipe can easily be adjusted for more or less based on ingredients you have on hand. This is a great way to use up leftover ham and so you can scale up or down based on that as a starting point.

Can in either pint or quart jars as desired.

Filling the Jars

To fill the jars, you can add all the ingredients to the bean pot while the beans are cooking. Then fill each jar about three-fourths of the way with solids and then the rest of the way with the cooking broth.

You could also layer the beans, then the ham, then the veggies. I personally leave a good bit of space that I have plenty of broth.

Then, fill the jars with the boiling broth liquid leaving 1 inch headspace. Then remove air bubbles, wipe rims, add lids, rings, and can.

How to Use Canned Ham & Bean Soup

Simply dump the jar into a pot and bring to a simmer. Add seasoning and serve hot.

You could pack the boiled soup in a thermal container for packed lunches.

Add more vegetables or broth when reheating for a bigger meal and serve with bread and salad for a filling meal.

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Other Ways to Use Dried Beans

Dried beans are a great way to stretch a meal and save money in the kitchen. We’ve gathered up over 20 fantastic, tried and true, dried bean recipes that cover everything from breakfast to dessert to get you started.

Recipe Source

Split Pea Soup. In: Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. Rubbermaid, Inc. Edition 38. 20234 Page 135.

Thanks for sharing!