Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup | A Leftover Ham Recipe | Mantitlement (2024)

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Make this Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup recipe with your leftover ham and ham bone! This hearty soup recipe will feed your family for days!

Whenever we make our addicting Glazed Ham Recipe, we always have enough leftovers to make this soup!

Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup | A Leftover Ham Recipe | Mantitlement (1)

Not Chicken Noodle Soup, HAM Noodle Soup!

I mean, how much do we LOVE chicken noodle soup? Our family sure does. So much so that we make it all year long, it doesn’t have to be cold outside to be soup weather in our house.

So when we were coming up with another leftover ham recipe, our youngest son asked why we can’t use ham to make chicken noodle soup. Without the chicken, he said.

Pretty genius if I do say so myself, but I have to admit that I never thought of it. So now this Slow Cooker Ham & Noodle Soup is one of our most favorite leftover recipes! Gotta give the little guy credit for this one.

Do You Need A Ham Bone To Make This Soup Recipe?

You do, yes. The ham bone adds so much flavor to the broth in this soup recipe, you really can’t replicate the flavor without the bone. Just like when we make Homemade Turkey Soup with the leftover turkey bones, you need that homemade flavor the turkey carcass adds.

Do we find ourselves making a ham just for the leftover ham and ham bone? Well, kind of. When we need to make a large dinner for a holiday or a family party, we often pick ham as one of our main courses. Everyone likes ham, it’s super easy to make and we get all the leftovers!

How Do You Make This Slow Cooker Soup?

Start by cutting away most of the ham from the bone and save it to add in when the soup is close to being done. The ham bone is what really adds the rich, deep flavor to the broth in this soup so you can add the cut up ham in at the end. You will need about a pound of leftover ham for the soup, so if you find that you don’t have enough you can always grab a ham steak from the grocery store.

Everything goes into the slow cooker, the bone, carrots, onions, celery a bay leaf and about 8 cups of water. To make the best most flavorful stock, you only want the water to just cover the ham bone so use that as a general rule.

Cook for 8-10 hours on low and you’ll end up with a rich, delicious, homemade ham stock. You can also do this on your stove top if you have time, just throw everything into a pot and let it cook down for about 3 hours.

But the slow cooker is always a good option for when you don’t have time to sit and watch the pot boil! Plus this is a slow cooker recipe that you can actually start in the morning and it cooks ALL day while you’re gone. Instead of some crock pot recipes that only need 4-6 hours, which wouldn’t be good if you have to be gone for the whole day.

At this point you can taste your ham stock for seasonings and add in any salt and pepper you think it might need. The ham bone will add a lot of saltiness to the stock so make sure you test it out before adding any additional salt.

Get your ham that you saved from the bone and shred it into big pieces and add it to the stock. Next throw in a couple of cups of short tube pasta, short cut spaghetti or really any type of noodle that you like.

Stir in the pasta, cover and let it cook for another half an hour on high.

Use a ladle to skim any grease that rises to the top of this Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup when it’s done cooking. When you cool the soup and put it away in the refrigerator this will be much easier to do.

But if you can’t wait until the next day then do your best to skim it off the top before serving.

What Can I Serve With This Ham Soup?

This soup recipe is a meal in itself if you ask me. You don’t need much else besides some crackers or a few pieces of bread to make it a complete meal. You’ve got your protein, vegetables and carbs all in one bowl! But you know we have some ideas here for you anyway…

  • Homemade Garlic Bread
  • Caesar Salad with Creamy Caesar Dressing
  • Cheesy Garlic Bread
  • Roasted Broccoli with Buttery Breadcrumbs

The best part about this soup recipe, like many soup recipes is that it just gets better the next day! Leftovers are always the best, because who wants to cook dinner every night?

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Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup | A Leftover Ham Recipe | Mantitlement (8)

Looking For More Soup Recipes?

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  • Homemade Turkey Soup (From the Leftover Turkey Bones!)
  • Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup (No bones needed!)

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    Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup | A Leftover Ham Recipe | Mantitlement (9)

    Slow Cooker Ham and Noodle Soup

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 3 reviews
    • Author: Dan
    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
    • Total Time: 6 hours 40 minutes
    • Yield: 10 servings 1x

    Print Recipe

    This delicious and hearty soup recipe is the perfect way to use up your leftover ham!

    Scale

    Ingredients

    • 1 ham bone from approximately a 20 lb. ham (give or take a few pounds isn’t going to matter)
    • 1 pound of ham, leftover or cut off from bone, shredded
    • 3 onions, quartered
    • 3 cups diced carrots
    • 1 1/2 cups diced celery
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 tablespoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 8 cups water
    • 2 cups short tube pasta
    • chopped parsley for garnish

    Instructions

    1. Add all the ingredients except the pasta and the 1 pound of ham to a slow cooker.
    2. Just add enough water to cover the ham bone, too much water will make a weaker stock. We used approximately 8 cups of water for this size ham bone. Set on high and cook for 6-8 hours
    3. Remove and discard the ham bone and the onion quarters.
    4. Taste the stock for seasonings, then add in the pound of reserved ham and pasta.
    5. Stir, cover and cook on high for an additional 30 minutes.
    6. Garnish with the chopped parsley if desired.

    Recipe Notes

    If you’d rather make this recipe on the stove top, just follow the same instructions in a dutch oven or soup pot and cook for about 3 hours, simmering. Taste for seasonings, remove the ham bone and add the pasta. Cook for another 10 minutes until the pasta is tender.

    • Category: Soup
    • Method: Slow Cooker
    • Cuisine: American

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    Slow Cooker Ham Noodle Soup | A Leftover Ham Recipe | Mantitlement (2024)

    FAQs

    Can you heat a fully cooked ham in the slow cooker? ›

    A large slow cooker, with its moist environment, is perfect for reheating a fully-cooked ham. As the ham heats up, it releases juices that blend with the glaze, creating a delicious sauce to spoon over the sliced meat.

    What soups can be made from ham stock? ›

    10 Hearty Ham Soup Recipes
    1. 01 of 10. Classic Lentil Soup With Ham. ...
    2. 02 of 10. Spicy Black Bean Soup With Ham. ...
    3. 03 of 10. Classic Split Pea Soup With Ham. ...
    4. 04 of 10. Green Tomato Soup With Country Ham. ...
    5. 05 of 10. Creamy Potato Soup With Ham. ...
    6. 06 of 10. Lima Bean Soup With Ham. ...
    7. 07 of 10. Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup with Ham. ...
    8. 08 of 10.
    Feb 2, 2023

    Can a ham bone be used twice for soup? ›

    Ham Bone Soup Recipes

    Depending how much meat comes off the bone, you may be able to reuse it if you refrigerate it between uses. Salt and pepper the recipe to taste.

    Can you slow cook already cooked meat? ›

    Reheating leftovers in a slow cooker is not recommended. Cooked food should be reheated on the stove, in a microwave, or in a conventional oven until it reaches 165 °F. Then the hot food can be placed in a preheated slow cooker to keep it hot for serving—at least 140 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

    Does ham need to be submerged in a slow cooker? ›

    Pour in the cola, and make sure the ham joint is submerged in the liquid. Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on medium/high. I find that 5 hours is enough in my slow cooker. You want the gammon joint to be cooked through and tender but still retain its shape.

    What is the difference between stock broth and soup? ›

    So to recap and for a quick rule-of-thumb, stock is made with cleaned animal bones. Broth uses bones with meat still on them, or meat alone. And soup is made from either broth or stock, and has other ingredients added to it for texture and flavour.

    How long is leftover ham good for? ›

    Spiral-cut hams and leftovers from consumer-cooked hams may be stored in the refrigerator three to five days or frozen one to two months. Keep your refrigerator at 40 °F or less and your freezer at or near 0 °F.

    Is ham hock broth healthy? ›

    Ham hock soup

    It is also extremely nutritious thanks to the protein, minerals and antioxidants provided by the various ingredients.

    How do you thicken ham soup? ›

    Add flour or cornflour

    Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

    What is a good substitute for ham hock in soup? ›

    Ham Hock Substitutes

    You can easily substitute pork shank, smoked bacon, or smoked sausage without affecting your recipe too much. Not eating pork? Smoked turkey bacon should work just fine. Vegetarians may have a tougher time replicating the ham hock's rich flavor and the unctuous mouthfeel it gives to stewed dishes.

    Do you eat ham hock in soup? ›

    Most ham hocks are smoked and cured, so they have a deep, smoky, salty flavor that's perfect as a base for stock, soups, and stewed dishes. Try using one in your next recipe!

    Is ham still good after 7 days? ›

    Whole cured hams last in the refrigerator for up to a week. However, fresh ham only lasts a few days in the refrigerator, about three or four once you've cooked it. It doesn't matter if the ham is whole or sliced; the lack of preservatives allows it to spoil more quickly.

    Does Honey Baked Ham sell ham bones for soup? ›

    The reason why Honey Baked Ham sells these, you know, a lot of times. you can go get lunch at Honey Baked Ham, and they don't throw away the bones, they sell them. So you can, 365 days of the year that they are open, go buy ham bone.

    What is the difference between a ham bone and a ham hock? ›

    A ham bone and ham hock are two different parts of the pig. Ham bones typically come from the leg, while ham hocks come from the shank or bottom part of the leg, close to the ankle. Ham hocks are typically sold cured and smoked, so they provide more flavor than ham bones.

    How long does it take to heat up a precooked ham in a slow cooker? ›

    As a rule of thumb, an eight to 10-pound precooked ham will take about four to six hours on low in a slow cooker. But a smaller ham that's four to six pounds may only need two to three hours when cooked on low.

    How do you heat up a precooked ham without drying it out? ›

    The goal is to reheat the ham without drying it out. The best way to do this is to place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan. Add water to the bottom of the pan and cover the whole thing tightly with foil. Bake at 325F for 16-20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 135F.

    How to warm up a fully cooked ham? ›

    Reheat in a 325-degree oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 135 to 140 degrees. You can also place the ham in an oven bag. Figure no more than 10 minutes per pound for reheating. For hams that are fully cooked (again, check the label) and not spiral sliced, first cut off any skin.

    What is the best way to cook a precooked ham? ›

    If the ham is labeled "fully cooked" (does not require heating), heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes per pound, or to an internal temperature of 140 F. If the ham is labeled "cook before eating," heat in an oven set no lower than 325 F to an internal temperature of at least 145 F.

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