This Southern-style Crock Pot Great Northern Beans Recipe combines hearty white beans that are slow cooked to creamy perfection with a ham hock, carrots, celery, and a touch of cayenne. Southern comfort food at its finest!
So simple to put together - like any good slow cooker recipe - and yet so flavorful after all-day cooking! I recommend serving with my Southern Cornbread recipe for a full meal your family will love!
💖 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy: This recipe uses common ingredients and simple techniques. Just put all the ingredients in your slow cooker, turn it on, and the cooking takes place with hardly any oversight.
- Quick to put together: Slice or chop your carrot and celery sticks and assemble all your ingredients and add them to your slow cooker. Dinner will be ready in 4-8 hours, depending on whether you cook on low or high.
- Family friendly: Great Northern beans are a mild, buttery bean that's well liked by most people, including kids. Add in the smoky flavor of ham, and you have lots of flavor without much fuss.
🥘 Ingredients
- 2 pounds dry great northern beans
- water
- ham or pork hock
- salt to taste
- black pepper
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large celery stalk
- cayenne pepper
🔪 How to Make Crock Pot Great Northern BEans
- Add all ingredients to a large slow cooker.
- Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours.
- Remove ham hock to cool a bit. Remove ham bits and add them back to the slow cooker.
- Stir the ingredients, taste, and add salt if needed. Serve hot with corn bread or biscuits.
Easy peasy - and so delicious!
(See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions)
💭 Expert Cooking Tips
- I like to soak the beans in water for 12-24 hours so they will cook more quickly and not be as hard to digest (yes, less gas for you and your family!)
- After soaking, make sure to rinse the beans well before cooking. Some foam may form at the top of the liquid while cooking. It's good to skim that foam off if you have the time, as this is more gas forming on the surface.
- If you don't have a ham or pork hock (which is simply a portion of pork leg bone with some meat on it), you can substitute some cooked ham pieces (about 2 cups worth) to flavor the beans.
- No need to add broth, as the ham hock will do the job broth would do. Simply adding water is sufficient.
- You may not need to add any salt at all. This all depends on how salty your hock is and your preferences. That's why I'll leave it up to you. I didn't need to add any to mine.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
Great Northern beans are a large white bean that's similar in taste to navy beans, but they hold up a bit better than navy beans during cooking. They are definitely not "northern" or anti-southern, however. They have a hearty, creamy flavor and serve up nicely with ham, veggies, and other seasonings. For Great Northern beans, you can easily substitute navy or cannellini beans.
Cornbread, specifically my Southern Cornbread, is an excellent pairing with these Great Northern beans. Adding a hearty salad is also a good choice for a complete meal.
Yes, I would definitely cover with the lid while cooking these beans. Otherwise, all the moisture will escape into the room during cooking, which would ruin your dinner. You want to keep the moisture in so the beans soften and cook properly.
If your beans are still hard after a lengthy cook time, they are likely not very fresh. Beans that are older take longer to soften during cooking. You can add a pinch of baking soda and cook a bit longer if that's the case.
More Bean Recipes to Love:
Ham and Bean Crockpot Soup (using Leftover Ham)
📋 Recipe
Crock Pot Great Northern Beans - Southern Style with Ham
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds great northern beans , dry
- 6 cups water
- 1-½ pounds ham hock
- salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large carrot sliced or chopped
- 1 large celery stalk sliced or chopped
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large slow cooker.
- Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours.
- Remove ham hock to cool a bit. Remove ham bits and add them back to the slow cooker.
- Stir the ingredients, taste, and add salt if needed. Serve hot with corn bread or biscuits.
Tina S says
Just threw some in my crockpot, didn’t have a carrot but did celery seed instead of celery, and added minced garlic, and an onion can’t wait to wake up later and enjoy it….. working overnights has me rely on crockpot meals frequently so I have something yummy to feed the hubby and kiddos in the evening
Sally says
Sounds awesome Tina!
Tim says
Can you use tomato juice instead of water what do think
Sally says
I wouldn't use just tomato juice in place of the water. If you try it, I would just use one cup of tomato juice to see how you like it - it may clash a bit with the ham, but may be delicious! Also, keep in mind that the tomato juice is thicker and probably wouldn't cook the beans as well as the thinner liquid (water or broth). Hope that helps! Let me know how yours turns out, Tim!
John Macleod says
Making this tonight
Sally says
Hope you loved it, John! Thank you for commenting.
Sherri Rodriguez says
Been cooking beans Perry much all my life and your recipe is on point. I’ve used neck bones in place of ham hocks, Turkey tails also like one gentleman asked. That’s the great thing about cooking beans you can tweak it how you want depending on what your taste is!
Sally says
I agree, Sherri!
Delores says
Sounds like a yummy meal. Will pieces of pork loin work as well in the beans for flavoring, or will I need to notch it up a bit with some ham or chicken stock?
Sally says
Delores - Thanks for your question! Ham certainly does take the flavors over the top, but you could try it with pork loin as well. The smoky, saltiness of the ham adds lots of flavor. Let me know how yours turns out!
Kathy says
Have this in the crockpot right now. Thanks for a recipe using 2 pounds of beans. Everything else I could find only used one pound. I feel like the whole point of making a meal like this is to share it with family, so the larger recipe is great. (my only note is that I needed about 8 cups of water to cover my beans and ham hock)
Sally says
Thank you for your feedback, Kathy!
Deb says
I didn't have celery or carrot but have everything else, will it ruin the flavor?
Brandon Miller says
I do the same except sub the ham for about 2 lbs chopped New York strip. I also cut the large strip of fat from the top of the loin and place it on the top of the pot to flavor the soup. Remove when finished cooking of course. And with chopped onion and minced garlic... Trust me, even the biggest bean hater u can find will eat this.
Tobias says
Is it okay to use the ham bone in thus recipe?
Sally says
Yes, the ham hock is a bone with meat on it. You will put the whole thing in to cook and then remove it at the end of the cook time. Remove the meat from the bone, then return the meat to the pot and discard the bone.
Bettina Blalock says
I made this recipe and it was delicious!! So easy I can’t even believe. I added some chopped onion too. So warm and creamy and satisfying. . I’ve always made by beans stovetop… adding water, watching for boil overs. This way is super easy and the water just soaks up all that flavor.
Great with cornbread and greens.
This is now in my permanent rotation.
Tina
Sally says
Awesome Tina! Thanks for letting me know!
Bethany says
For the nurturer facts, is that per serving or whole meal? If per serving, is that like 1 cup?
Sally says
Bethany - The nutrition facts are per serving and are an estimate. The serving sizes are quite large - a large bowlful like you see in the picture. Thanks for asking!
Jessica McInvale says
Can you use bacon instead of ham?
Sally says
You could, but it would be better if the bacon is cooked before adding (in my opinion). Thanks for your question, Jessica!
Fred says
Can you use smoked Turkey tails instead of hawks?
Sally says
Should work well, Fred, although I've never tried them. Let me know!
Dixie says
I hope these turn out I've never cooked or had them. But husband ask for them
Sally says
Let me know, Dixie! Hope you love them!
Shannel says
Do I have to pre soak beans?
Sally says
You don't have to pre-soak the beans. However, they are more easily digested if you do (meaning, less gas discomfort). That's the main purpose to pre-soaking. Thanks for your question, Shannel!