How to Use a Leftover Ham Bone in Soups, Stews, and More

Next time you serve a country or city ham for a holiday meal or party, make sure to save the bone. This humble ingredient is the secret to the incomparable depth and richness of countless broths and soups. And, if you’re not making a ham for your feast, you can purchase a ham bone at the grocery store. However you acquire it, here’s how to get the most out of a ham bone during the holiday season and beyond. 

How to use a ham bone

If you can’t pick off every last scrap of meat from a leftover ham bone, don’t worry: These morsels of meat will provide rich flavor and a luscious fatty texture to dishes like garlicky green beans and white bean and ham stew. Here are two delicious ways to use a ham bone. 

Make broth, stock, or braised greens

Aaron Bickham, director of culinary and executive chef of The Bartolotta Restaurants in Milwaukee, loves using ham bones to make rich, flavorful stocks. “The stock is perfect for cooking vegetables such as Swiss chard, escarole, turnip greens, and more. It adds a wonderful smoky flavor that you wouldn’t get from a chicken or veal stock.”

Patrick Munster, executive chef at Don’s Prime inside Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, also likes to pair ham broth with greens. 

“At home, I love using ham bones to make a hearty braised greens and peas dish — my version of Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Day,” he says. “I start by simmering the broth with the ham bones, then add a blend of mustard and collard greens, cooking them down with black-eyed peas. It’s one of my special traditions that symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the new year.”

To make ham broth or stock, submerge the bone in water and simmer along with aromatics like onions, carrots, celery, peppercorns, and herbs. (Here’s a step-by-step recipe.)

Add to soup

You can use ham broth as the base of a soup, or add a ham bone to your already simmering soup to impart its flavor. 

“I grew up with my mother making ham and bean soup, and to this day, it always reminds me of those chilly St. Louis winters as a kid,” Munster says.

“My mom starts by scraping the ham off the bone and then uses the bone and mirepoix to make a broth,” he says. “After letting it simmer for a while, she tastes it to make sure it’s flavorful enough before removing the bone. Next, she adds the cannellini beans and lets the soup simmer until it’s thickened to perfection. When it’s ready, she serves the soup topped with freshly shaved Parmesan — the best.”

A salty, meaty ham bone also provides a perfect complement to earthy beans or peas, especially in a split pea soup. If there is still meat left on the ham bone after it cooks in a soup or broth, you can tear it off and use it as a garnish. (Just note that it will likely be a bit tough after such a long cooking time.) 

What if you don’t have a ham bone? 

You can buy a ham bone from many grocery stores and butchers. Despite the name, a ham bone is often sold as two or more bones, including cartilage and ligaments. Ham bones typically weigh several pounds and will still have some meat attached; they might also be sold smoked or unsmoked. 

If you can’t find a ham bone in the meat section or butcher case of your grocery store, just ask; they sometimes are sold frozen. “Ham bones are very common down South and can be found almost everywhere,” Bickham says. “A home cook in the rest of the country may have to visit a butcher or an [international] market to find the right cut.” 

If buying a ham bone (rather than using one you have leftover), make sure to cook it before enjoying any of that salty, fatty meat. 

How to substitute for a ham bone

If you don’t have a leftover ham bone and you can’t find one in your grocery store, you can substitute it with a ham hock in most recipes. While a ham bone generally comes from the leg of the pig, a ham hock comes from the ankle. Similar to ham bones, ham hocks are sold smoked as well as unsmoked and include tough, fatty bits of meat that add porky flavor to soups and broths.

Keep in mind that ham hocks often have a stronger, more pronounced fatty flavor; and that smoked ham hocks also have a smokier flavor.