White Beans and Ham Hock Soup (Instant Pot friendly)

This hearty and flavorful white bean and ham hock soup might be the simplest comfort meal you can make.

I absolutely love bean soups and stews. They're probably my favourite food group.

I love beans so much that I will readily albeit somewhat abashedly admit that lately I've taken to calling myself 'the bean queen' between me and my husband...and now you. Spread the word.

Beans bring so much beautiful hearty flavor and satisfying texture. If you are willing to put in a bit of prep and start with dry beans, they soak up all the flavors of the cooking liquid they're made in and then also help to thicken it too.

This is part of the reason beans are such a perfect match with pork. The flavors and textures are perfect together, especially smoked pork hocks. After cooking the pork hocks are so unbelievably tender and buttery they just fall off the bone.

This recipe is inspired by the ingredients and flavors of Romania but isn't really a traditional Romanian recipe - for that you can see my smoky Romanian bean stew.

If you want a sweeter tomato-based stew then you might like Slow Cooked Pork & Beans with Smoked Ham Hock.

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• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestion
• Related
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Ingredients

Smoked ham hock: The ham hock I used is cured, smoked and cooked. You can usually find ham hocks at specialty Eastern European or German delicatessens. It also doesn't have to be the hock necessarily. Usually other cuts are available and prepared in the same way (ribs are great and trotters can be good too if you're not weird about it being feet). If you can't find whole smoked and cured pork cuts then diced streaky or back bacon are good options.

Dry white beans: Dry beans add a lot to a soup in terms of better texture and more flavor. Any variety of white bean (lima, cannellini and navy are all good options). If you can't be bothered with dry beans then the recipe card has a substitution with canned beans.

Yellow onion: Yellow onion brings depth of flavor, especially when it's browned a little bit before adding the other ingredients and water.

Tomato paste: Tomato paste is there to give the broth a bit of umami and color - not necessarily for it to be tomato based. If you want a tomato-based sauce then feel free to add some chopped fresh tomato or a can of crushed tomatoes. You can see an example in my recipe for Slow Cooked Pork & Beans with Smoked Ham Hock.

Vegetable oil: The vegetable oil is for browning the onion before cooking.

Summer savory: Summer savory is known as cimbru in Romanian and is used extensively in soups and stews (also grilled meats). It's a really distinctive flavor that's a bit like an earthy thyme. I recommend using summer savory / cimbru if you have it or alternatively you can substitute thyme.

Salt: There's not so much salt in the recipe because cured ham hocks tend to be very salty since they're cured in salty brine and absorb a lot of that salt. I suggest starting with the amount indicated in the recipe card and then adding more after it's cooked and you can taste.

Black pepper: The black pepper brings a bit of spice and warmth.

Water: So much flavor comes out of the smoked ham hock and beans that plain water is more than enough. You don't need broth or stock but of course you can use it instead of water if you prefer.

Garnish: Fresh dill added at the end brings fresh sweet notes that enhance the smokiness of the pork flavor. Some pickled chilies like hot finger peppers, pepperoncini or pickled jalapeno add a bit of acidic spice which contrasts so well with hearty beans and rich pork.

Equipment

• Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker or just a regular oven-safe pot with a lid like a Dutch oven.

Instructions

This one is so simple. There's a bit of planning up front with the dry beans but it's so worth it in terms of taste and texture.

Pre-soak the dry beans

Long soak: Put the beans to soak in salted water for at least 6 hours or leave them to soak overnight.

Quick soak method: Bring the beans to boil in salted water. Boil for 1-2 minutes then turn off heat, cover and soak for at least 1 hour. Then the beans are ready to use.

Make the soup

Once the beans are pre-soaked, the only prep to make the soup is to finely dice the onion and brown it in oil to bring in more flavor.

After you've browned the onion it's really as simple as adding everything to the pot and cooking it.

I decided to cut up the pork this time so that it's already distributed through the soup and easier to serve.

This isn't absolutely required but it's definitely helpful as it gives the flavor development a bit of a heat start. This is more relevant if you're not using a pressure cooker so feel free to skip it if you are.

Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Method

In the Instant Pot / pressure cooker it will only take an hour to get perfectly cooked beans and amazingly tender and soft pork hock.

Oven Method

If you don't have a pressure cooker then the oven is the next best option because it can do low and slow dry heat. This dry heat method helps develop flavor better than the stovetop.

If you opt for the oven method then you'll need to cook the soup covered at about 175 C / 350 F for at least 2.5 hours. Check at the half-way point and top up the water if it's reduced a lot.

The soup is ready once the beans are fully cooked and fork tender. The pork hock should also be fall off the bone tender after cooking.

Serving Suggestion

My favourite way to eat bean and ham hock soup is with pickled chilies (pickled jalapenos work too) and some nice bread.

A bit of extra garnish just before serving makes it look really nice.

Related

Looking for more soup and stew recipes? Maybe you'll like one of these:

Recipe