At some point during the holiday season, you’ll inevitably have to deal with a big pile of leftovers, from armies of uneaten vegetables to leftover ham. But once the meat of the ham is gone, what to 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 many other dishes.

To store a ham bone, you don’t have to worry about removing each piece of meat first: just put the clean bone in an airtight bag and put it in the freezer. When you want to reuse it, simply thaw it in your refrigerator overnight (throwing a frozen ham bone into a soup or stew can affect the temperature of your dish, which can slow down the cooking time of other ingredients). You’ll find that there are a ton of cozy dishes that really benefit from the smoky, meaty flavor of a boiled ham bone.

Learn more: 10 weeknight meals to prepare with a roast chicken

Soup is a perfect way to use up your leftover ham bones

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 can save leftover ham to also throw away. I’m a big fan of a simple white bean and ham soup, which involves slowly simmering all the ingredients until they have reached their full potential flavor. Another option is split pea and ham soup, always warm and comforting. Sure, this broth isn’t pretty, but it’s perfect for cold weather. Don’t forget the crusty bread on the side.

If a slew of legumes isn’t for you, you can also use the ham bone for things like ham and potato chowder, which goes in a creamier but no less hearty direction. You can also use ham bones to create a tasty black bean stew or cook it with green cabbagewhich soak up the flavor of their simmering liquid. If you also have leftover meat, you can experiment with deviled ham, ham salador ham fried rice (check out these chefs’ suggestions at what to do with leftover ham). For rich, smoky flavors, there’s really nothing better than a ham bone – I can already smell the potential ideas cooking in the kitchen of my imagination.

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