15 Bean & Ham Soup

  This was the first time I have made this soup and pressure canned it as well...it has a wonderful flavor - I wish I had made MORE to can!!  It's a great use of leftover Easter ham...save your Ham-bone to make the Homemade Ham Stock (recipe here)  ~Enjoy! Diane 

15 Bean & Ham Soup 
(with Pressure Canning Instructions) 
**new InstaPot Instructions added for the Homemade Ham Stock

Ingredients: 
1 bag Hurst's 15 Bean Mix, (20 oz. bag) 
1 (14.5 oz can) diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced 
1 Tbs lemon juice
1-2 Cups Ham, diced
2 Quarts of your Homemade Ham Stock**
2 Cups water
kosher or sea salt, to taste (I add 2 tsp sea salt) 

Directions:
Soak 15-bean mixture for 8 hours or overnight in 9 cups water.
**Note: you can also do the quick hydration method offered by NCHFP. 
…"To quickly hydrate beans, you may cover sorted and washed beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak 1 hour and rinse & drain..." 

Take drained & rinsed beans and place in large stock pot.
Cover beans with 2 quarts of Homemade Ham Stock, and 2 cups fresh water. Bring mixture to a boil, uncovered.  Lower heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes if canning (2 1/2 hours if eating right away and not canning;) add the diced tomatoes, onion, garlic lemon juice and ham.  Continue to simmer 25 more minutes, covered, Taste soup and add any salt, if preferred. 

Pressure Canning:  (makes approx 7 pints) 
Using a slotted spoon, fill canning jars half full with hot 'solids' from the soup mixture. Using a ladle add enough hot stock/liquid from soup to fill jars to 1" head space.  Wipe rims with vinegar to clean rims before applying a new, sterile lid,  Add screw bands on to finger-tip tightness.  Vent Pressure Canner 10 minutes. 
Process pint jars 1 hour and 15 minutes or quarts 1 hour 30 minutes; at your canners proper pressure (psi)

I am at 5280 ft. altitude and use a dial-guage canner so, my psi is 13 lbs. Always check to ensure you are processing for your canners needs. 

Recipe Adapted from: Hurst's Bean Mix 
Canning Instr Adapted from: Ball's Bean Soup in 'Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving'
Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home