Green Beans with Ham or Bacon (Crockpot Recipe)

Here in Utah, the weather has been fickle this past summer. Temps have reached unusual highs for days at a time, but it has also rained a lot. While the weather hasn't been cold enough to make a pot of soup yet, this green bean and ham crockpot recipe can be served as a side dish by using a slotted spoon to scoop out the good stuff. That way you don't have to wait for soup weather.

If you choose to serve it as a side dish, don't forget to add a pat of butter to the top of your serving. Yummie stuff!

Green Bean and Ham Soup (Crockpot Recipe)

Most of the time, I make this using raw bacon end pieces instead of ham because we are partial to the Sugardale brand of ham, and stores in our area do not carry it as often as we would like. Usually, it just shows up during holidays, such as Mother's Day or Easter. We did find a pile of Sugardale ham steaks at LoLo's. That's a relatively new store around here that is managed by the original Food4Less folks, and owned by Ridley's grocery store. But they wanted about $6 for a single steak. That was quite high as far as a 1-lb slice of ham goes.

I didn't measure the green beans. We purchased them at a roadside stand that charged us $5 for a bucketful. I would guess they were about 2 pounds. But I'm not sure about that. Usually, I just buy a large bag full, about what you could fit into your crockpot with a ham bone added. Make sure that if you're using fresh green beans you cut off both ends. The end with that curly tip is supposed to be toxic.

I just used basic seasonings for this soup because the ham or bacon really carries the flavor well. You won't find a better crockpot recipe than green beans with ham or bacon.

Green Beans With Ham

(Crockpot Recipe)

• about 2 pounds of fresh green beans, ends cut off
• small chopped onion
• 16-ounce can stewed tomatoes
• large spoonful minced garlic
• ham bone
• seasoning salt, seasoned pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon, chicken flavoring

Simply pile everything but the bouillon into your crockpot. Then fill the crockpot with enough water to cover the beans. I probably filled the crock about half way, then added the teaspoon of bouillon paste. I gave the water a bit of a stir, but didn't worry about dissolving it because the bouillon will melt when the water comes to a boil. Allow the crockpot to simmer on low heat for most of the day, until the green beans are nice and soft. The older the green beans are when picked, the longer that will take.