Stretch your food dollar by using the ham bone from your holiday ham to create this richly flavored Slow Cooker Ham Broth. This easy ham stock recipe is so simple that it almost makes itself.
Whether you’re a seasoned home chef or a kitchen novice, these easy-to-follow instructions will have you creating a broth that’s rich in flavor and perfect for using as a base for soup or any other recipe you make calling for ham broth.
I love making homemade broth. By using your crock pot you can easily make broth without much effort. Whenever I cut vegetables I place the vegetable ends and pieces that I’ve cut off (onion skins, carrot tops, broccoli stalks, the stems of fresh parsley, etc) and place them in a bag in the freezer. Keep these on hand to add to your batch of broth to add flavor.
By using these kitchen scraps and leftover bones you can easily create just about any flavor of broth – ham broth, chicken broth, beef broth and more. Or use all vegetable scraps to make vegetable broth.
Check out this recipe to make homemade Turkey Broth.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Ham Broth
Here’s what you’ll need to make your slow cooker ham broth:
- Ham Bone – use a leftover ham bone, a ham hock or ham shank to make this broth. I usually make it using my leftover holiday ham bone.
- Water – you will add enough water to fill your slow cooker up.
- Onion – add in one or more onions to this broth.
- Carrots – you can use use just about any form of carrot to make your broth – carrot sticks, shredded carrots or even just the carrot tops.
- Celery – Add in some pieces of celery.
- Seasonings – you can add in bay leaf, parsley, thyme and garlic. You can also add salt and black pepper to taste.
How to Store Broth
You can store your crockpot ham broth in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days until you need it for your recipes.
If I know I will be using the broth in a few days I will sometimes store it in a large quart sized or even a much larger half gallon sized mason jar. It makes it easier to keep a large amount of broth in my refrigerator without taking up lots of space.
You can also portion out the broth into smaller containers to freeze. I often use containers that hold 2 to 3 cups of broth at a time. This makes it easier to pull out a container when I’m making homemade soup and need ham broth.
How to use Slow Cooker Ham Broth:
Ham broth adds amazing flavor to your homemade soups! It adds a depth of flavor and smokiness to your soup that you just can get from store bought ham broth (if you can find it) or from a ham flavor packet found in dry soup mixes.
In my local stores I only can find chicken broth, beef broth and vegetable broth (canned, boxes and bouillon cubes or broth concentrates. So making my own ham broth is the only way I can have it on hand for making soup.
What kind of soup can you make with ham broth? It tastes delicious in just about any type of bean soup recipe (white bean soup, pea soup, soup made with packages of Hurst’s Hambeens, etc).
It also make a delicious base for potato soup (try adding in leftover cubes of ham for an incredible potato and ham soup). It adds amazing flavor to any type of tomato/vegetable soup.
Use ham broth in place of water to cook your dry beans.
Cook your rice in ham broth instead of plain water.
Use the ham broth to thin out your potatoes when you make mashed potatoes.
You can also swap out any type of broth in your recipes with ham broth. It adds a delicious flavor to most recipes.
Can I make Ham Broth on the Stove?
Yes, you can make your ham broth on the stove. Add all the ingredients into a large stockpot and simmer over low heat for 4 to 6 hours.
Can I make ham broth without a bone?
Yes you can make ham broth even if you don’t have a bone. You would need to have leftover ham to make the broth. Add about 8 to 16 ounces of ham and the other ingredients into the stockpot.
Simmer over a low heat for 4 to 6 hours. Remove the pieces of ham and strain the broth. You can dice up the meat to use in your recipe.
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How to make Slow Cooker Ham Broth
Equipment
- Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Ham Bone
- 1 large Onion
- 2-3 stalks celery
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots or 1-2 whole carrots
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons parsley
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1-2 quarts water
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the ham bone, onion, celery, carrots and seasonings into the slow cooker.1 Ham Bone, 1 large Onion, 2-3 stalks celery, 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 3 bay leaves, 2 teaspoons parsley, 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon Thyme
- Add 1 to 2 quarts of water or however much water is needed to fill your slow cooker up leaving about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of space at the top.1-2 quarts water
- Cook on high for 8 to 10 hours.
- Strain solids from the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste and the broth is ready to be used in your favorite recipes or frozen for future use.Salt and Pepper
Notes
Nutrition
How to make Slow Cooker Ham Broth
It doesn’t get much easier than this to make slow cooker ham broth. Start by adding in all the ingredients into your slow cooker. Add in enough water to cover the ham bone and fill the top to within an inch or two of the top of the pot.
Cook on high heat for 8 to 10 hours. You can easily cook this longer for 10 hours if desired. After 10 hours you can turn the slow cooker to low heat and continue to cook for another 8 to 10 hours.
Remove the ham bone and vegetables with a slotted spoon. Pour the broth through a strain to remove the herbs.
Portion out the broth into airtight containers to save to use in your favorite recipes.
Or add this delicious back into the slow cooker and add in 1 pound of dry beans (try great northern beans, navy beans, white beans, cannellini beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas or even a store bought bean soup mix) and cook until soften to create a delicious soup.
If you love saving money by storing food in the freezer or freezing leftovers then you may want to check out some of the great freezer tips in these posts:
How to freeze avocado (chunks, slices, whole, halve and mashed)
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