Senate Bean Soup is an iconic recipe that’s been a fixture on the menu in the U.S. Senate cafeteria for decades. Made with navy beans, a ham hock, and aromatic vegetables, this simple soup simmers slowly until the beans are tender, and the ham practically melts off the bone. It’s a great reminder for us soup lovers that sometimes the humblest ingredients create the most enduring meals.
A Brief History of Senate Bean Soup
Senate Bean Soup has been a tradition in the Senate dining room for over a century, with its origins shrouded in a bit of mystery. One story credits Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho with demanding that the soup be added to the menu in the early 1900s. Apparently, the senator who chaired the committee responsible for the Senate Restaurant had a fondness for bean soup and wanted to ensure it was always available. Another version claims that it was Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota who, in 1903, insisted on a daily serving of bean soup.
Regardless of who deserves the credit, the soup has become a symbol of Senate tradition and bipartisanship. While the exact recipe has evolved over the years (early versions included mashed potatoes!), the core ingredients remain the same: navy beans, a ham hock, and aromatic vegetables slow-simmered to tender goodness. It’s a simple, hearty dish that’s fed senators and staff for generations.
If you want to check out the official history for yourself, visit the Senate’s site here. I also snagged a screenshot of the 2008 version of the page, for posterity and in case they rearrange the current site and don’t provide a redirect.
Reasons we love it here at Casa SoupAddict:
Chilly weather is starting to settle in as of this writing, and its arrival always reminds me just how lovely a simple bowl of hot soup truly is. With just a handful of ingredients, this recipe creates a filling and satisfying bean soup that’s perfect for a relaxed afternoon at home. Here are a few of its worthy qualities:
- Historical Charm: Served in the U.S. Senate cafeteria for decades, it brings a touch of tradition to your table, and an interesting bit of trivia for your dinner guests.
- Simple Ingredients: Just a handful of ingredients—navy beans, a ham hock, and veggies—makes it an affordable and accessible meal.
- Make-ahead Friendly: This soup reaches its full potential after a long rest in the fridge. A few hours is good; overnight, even better.
- Perfect for Meal Prep: It freezes and reheats well, making it ideal for batch cooking and enjoying later.
- Healthy and Hearty: Packed with fiber and protein, it’s a nutritious and filling meal.
Main Ingredients, Preparation Notes, and Substitutions
Navy beans — As with all bean soups, buy the best beans you find/afford. And check the expiration date on the package for sure. Old beans will have trouble cooking to tenderness, if they do at all. It’s worth noting that the original recipe doesn’t call for pre-soaking, and I don’t either in my version. Navy beans are small and can get away without soaking.
If you can’t find navy beans, another small white bean will do. Great northern beans are delicious. Cannellini beans are larger and probably should be soaked first overnight.
Ham hock — With so few ingredients, the pressure on the ham bone to flavor the soup is pretty fierce lol. You can use a ham hock, a pork shank, or, at a minimum, a ham steak with the bone.
Aromatic veggies — The current Senate recipe uses only an onion, but I borrowed celery from the older variation to add more flavor.
Water — When making bean soups from dried in general, I wouldn’t recommend substituting broth for water. Beans actually make their own broth — called pot liquor — that’s pretty tasty after salting. I’ve tried broth with a variety of bean soups, and it’s just … unnecessary, is probably the easiest way to say it. Even though the soup is not at full flavor directly off the stove, letting the beans’ and ham’s native flavorings get established is the way to go.
If you can’t overcome the compulsion to add a broth of some sort, I would suggest using water to cook as instructed, but then at the end, take a benchmark taste test, and add boullion, such as Better Than Boullion, a little at a time until you get the soup where you want it to be.
Cook’s Notes
- This is a simple soup that relies on basic ingredients for its flavors. It reaches its full potential after it’s sat for a while. If you can, make the soup at least 4 to 5 hours ahead of time, let it cool, and store in the fridge for a couple of hours. The next day is even better. The flavor boost is quite noticeable.
- The recipe here reflects just a minor change from the original. As someone who is used to making fully-flavored soups, I usually embellish the seasonings to suit my tastes when making it for myself. At a minimum, I’ll add a teaspoon or two of poultry seasoning blend (which is an herb blend with thyme, sage, and rosemary) or an Italian blend to the soup about halfway through the cook.
- Soup toppings are your friend here. I suggest setting out a fun little topping bar for your family, maybe with bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, crispy fried onions, pickled jalapenos, chili oil, chopped chives, seasoned croutons — whatever your faves.
And lastly, one word about thickening the soup: When cooked with the right amount of water, this bean soup will be naturally thick and creamy. What’s the right amount? That’s a hard question to answer in exact measurements because that’s where art meets science, and soup-making experience comes into play. But here’s some advice.
As the beans cook, the water base will both be absorbed by the beans and cook off through evaporation. In order to keep the beans from drying out and scorching, you’ll very likely need to add more water during the cook, sometimes two or three times. The goal is to keep the beans covered in water — enough for cooking, but not enough to make the soup thin and watery. If you’ve done it just right, the soup base will thicken as it rests, without you doing anything at all.
However, if the soup remains too soupy, don’t attempt to fix it with a cornstarch slurry or flour roux. Simply scoop out a heaping cup of the beans with a little liquid, blend them to smoothness, and stir them back into the soup and see where things stand. Repeat with another cup of beans if necessary.
How to Make Senate Bean Soup
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to get the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through of making the soup.
Step 1: Saute the aromatics and sear the ham
In a large 5 or 6 quart Dutch oven or soup pot, saute half of the onions and celery in some oil until soft. Scootch them to one side and place the ham hock in the pot. Sear all sides of the ham hock as best you can.
Step 2: Add the beans and liquids to the pot
Rinse and drain the beans and add to the pot, along with water. Bring the water to a hard boil for 10 minutes, then reduce to a bubbly simmer. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar and cook for 2 to 3 hours.
Step 3: Check the soup periodically and top off with water
Check the soup every half hour or so, giving it a stir, and topping off the beans with more water as needed. In the photo above, it’s time to add more water!
Start checking the beans for doneness at the 2-hour mark. When the beans are easily smashed, they’ve finished cooking.
Step 4: Remove the meat from the bone
Saute the remaining onions and celery in a small skillet with some butter. Remove the ham hock from the soup and set to cool. When you can handle the ham, remove the meat from the bones, chop, and add to the soup, along with the onions and celery. (Hold back some if you’d like to use them as garnish for the soup.)
Step 5: Finish the soup
Stir the soup well and taste for seasonings. Add a sprinkle of salt if it needs a little flavor boost. The soup will develop a more intense flavor as it rests, and the starches released from the beans will thicken the broth.
Storage
Like most bean soups, Senate Bean Soup stores very well. Let the soup cool completely, transfer to an airtight container and stash in the fridge for up to 5 days. You’ll notice a significant flavor boost the next day, after the ham and beans have had a chance to let their flavors mingle and intensify.
Or, seal in a freezer-safe zipper bag or container — leave about an inch of headroom for expansion — and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Every cook should have a simple, from-scratch bean soup in their recipe repertoire, and I vote for this one. It’s a lovely meal, and leftovers make tasty, nourishing lunches.
Senate Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 cup chopped onions (one small or half a medium onion)
- 1 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
- 3/4 pound ham hock or pork shank*
- 1 pound dried navy beans
- 8 cups water (plus extra)
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven or soup pot over medium, until the surface shimmers. Add half of the onions and celery and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Scootch the veggies to the side place the ham hock in the pot, flatest side down. Sear all sides off the ham as best you can. Use tongs to hold the ham hock in place against the hot surface as needed. About 5 minutes total.
- Pour the navy beans into a large bowl and pick through and remove debris and broken beans. Rinse and drain several times then add to the pot.
- Add 6 cups of water to the pot and raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface. Let the soup boil hard for 10 minutes, then adjust the heat to maintain a bubbly simmer (not spitting, just where the bubbles break the surface). Cover the pot with the lid ajar to allow steam to escape.
- The beans will need to cook for 2 to 3 hours: two hours if the beans are fairly fresh, and longer if they are not. Check the pot every 20 to 30 minutes, and add more water as needed to cover the beans. As you reach the end of cooking, you can add less water.
- Test the beans for doneness by scooping out 2 beans and letting them cook a bit. Press one bean between your thumb and forefinger: it should easily smash flat. If it does, taste the second bean. It should be tender and savory. If the first bean is still undercooked, replace the lid set ajar and continue cooking the soup for another 30 minutes, then test again, keeping an eye on water levels.
- When the beans are done, transfer the ham hock from the soup pot to a bowl to cool and turn off the soup’s heat
- Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the remaining onions and celery and saute until softened.
- While the veggies saute, remove the meat from the ham hock and chop. Add some to the pan with the onions, stirring well, and then the rest goes in the soup. When the veggies are soft, scrape the skillet into soup. You can hold some veggies back for garnish, if you’d like.
- Stir the soup well and taste. Add salt if the soup needs a little flavor boost.