Navy Bean Soup (Slow Cooker)

What a delicious and ridiculously easy soup!  I made a few changes to the original recipe (nothing major), but it was because I couldn't find a dried navy bean soup mix.  So I ended up buying a 16 oz. bag of dried navy beans and adding my own seasonings.  I just added 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tsp. onion powder and one bay leaf.  I cubed up what meat I could get off of my ham shanks (after they cooked for 8 hours in the soup) and then discarded the bones/fat, but absolutely loved using the extra tender meat!  OH and I did not soak the beans over night first.  All I did was rinse them and throw them in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients to cook.  It worked wonderfully!  I'm sure soaking them before hand turns out great too, but I've made beans in my slow cooker before without pre-soaking, so I decided to give this a shot.  And it worked.  My soup was technically done at about 8 hours, but if you let it cook just a little longer, it allows the flavors to develop beautifully.


Ingredients

1 bag dried navy bean soup mix (or just the beans, like me)
1-2 cups chopped ham or ham bone (I used 2 cups cubed ham plus 3 ham shanks)
3 stalks celery chopped
3/4 cup onion chopped
2 cups carrots sliced (I used frozen carrots)
8 cups water
2 cups skim milk
Spices to taste

Directions

Soak beans overnight in a bowl of water. The next morning drain the water and place beans in the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients including the soup pack that came with the beans. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.



Gluten free:  this recipe is gluten free!  (Not sure what is in the navy bean soup mix, because I did not use one, but if you make it the way that I did, then you should be safe.)


Recipe from thehappyhousewife.com and photo from debskitchen.com- thank you!!