Go Back
a bowl of clear amber ham broth with pearl barley, torn and small-cut ham pieces, quartered brown mushrooms and short green bean pieces
Rachel Kim

Ham Bone Soup with Barley

Strip the useful meat from the ham bone after making the stock, then strain the liquid before any barley goes into it. That gives you a clean broth without asking the finished soup to hold the onion quarters and celery pieces that already gave up their flavor. Barley makes the bowl substantial, while mushrooms and green beans keep their shapes if you add them at their own stages instead of simmering everything for the full stock-making time. The extra measured ham guarantees a worthwhile amount of meat even if the bone from dinner has been picked fairly clean.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 meaty cooked ham bone about 2 lb
  • 10 cups water for stock plus enough to restore strained stock to 7 cups
  • 1 large yellow onion quartered
  • 2 celery ribs cut into large pieces
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms quartered
  • 3/4 cup pearl barley rinsed
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 8 oz green beans trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
  • 8 oz fully cooked ham cut into small pieces
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method
 

  1. Place ham bone, stock water, onion, celery and bay leaf in an 8-quart pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, skim foam and cook partly covered for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the meat loosens from the bone.
  2. Lift the bone onto a tray. Strain the stock, discard spent vegetables and bay leaf, skim excess fat and measure 7 cups liquid, adding water if needed.
  3. Pull usable meat from the bone once cool enough to handle. Discard bone, gristle and excess fat and tear the meat into small pieces.
  4. Heat oil in a clean soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown mushrooms for 6 to 8 minutes, then add the measured stock, barley, thyme and pepper.
  5. Simmer partly covered for 25 minutes, then add green beans, the meat from the bone and the measured extra ham. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more until barley and beans are tender and ham reaches 165°F.
  6. Stir in lemon juice and divide among six bowls, distributing the barley, vegetables and meat evenly.