You Can – And Should – Freeze Your Ham Bone For A Later Time

At some point during the holiday season, you'll inevitably have to face up to a big pile of leftovers, from armies of uneaten veggies to leftover ham. But, once the meat off the ham joint is gone, what should you do with the bone? There's a simple answer: freeze it for later. Ham bones, just like other meat bones, can be used to add flavor to a host of other dishes. 

To store a ham bone, you don't need to worry about getting every single bit of meat off first – just put the cleanish bone in an airtight bag and pop it in the freezer. When you want to reuse it, simply defrost it in your refrigerator overnight (tossing a frozen ham bone in a soup or stew can affect your dish's temperature, which may slow down the cook-time of the other ingredients). You'll find there are a ton of cozy dishes that really benefit from the smoky, meat flavor of a boiled ham bone.

One of the best ways to use a ham bone is to make it the backbone (pun intended) of a ham and bean soup — bonus points if you manage to keep some ham scraps around to throw in as well. I'm a big fan of a simple white bean and ham soup, which involves slowly simmering all the ingredients until they've reached their full flavor potential flavor. Another option is the always warm and comforting split pea and ham soup. Admittedly this broth is not a looker, but it tastes perfect on a cold day. Don't forget the crusty bread on the side.

If a multitude of legumes isn't quite your thing, you can also use the ham bone for things like ham and potato chowder, which goes in a creamier yet no less hearty direction. You can also use ham bones to create a flavorful black bean stew or cook it down with collard greens, which soak up the flavor of their simmering liquid. If you have leftover meat as well, you can experiment with deviled ham, ham salad, or ham fried rice (check out these chef's suggestions on what to do with leftover ham). For rich, smoky flavors you really can't beat a ham bone — I can already smell the potential ideas cooking in the kitchen of my imagination.