Here’s a fun one. The U.S. Senate has served the exact same bean soup in its dining room every day for over a hundred years. Navy beans, smoked ham hocks, an onion browned in butter. That’s pretty much it, and that’s kind of the point.
The official Senate bean soup recipe has only a handful of ingredients and takes about three hours, most of which is just the pot doing its thing on the stove. Below you’ll find a home-size version (with one small trick for a creamier soup), the strange history behind it, the “other” official recipe with mashed potatoes, plus slow cooker and Instant Pot directions.
What’s the Deal With Senate Bean Soup?
It’s the Senate’s house soup. It’s been on the Senate restaurant menu daily since the early 1900s, and regular visitors can sometimes catch it at the Capitol Visitor Center restaurant or the Longworth Cafeteria too.
Why every day? Nobody really knows! The popular stories say either Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho or Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota demanded it, but neither story has ever been proven. What we do know: on September 14, 1943, wartime rationing meant the kitchen ran out of navy beans, and there was no soup that day. Senator Bob Dole told the story on the Senate floor in 1988, more beans turned up by the next day and it’s been served nonstop since. There’s more on the Senate bean soup history page if you’re curious.
What’s Actually In It?
The Senate restaurant version is almost comically short. Dried navy beans (they specify small Michigan navy beans), smoked ham hocks, onion, butter, salt, pepper, water. No broth. No carrots. No herbs.
The hocks basically make their own stock while they simmer, and the beans thicken it as they break down. Fun detail: at one point the kitchen switched to soup base instead of real ham, and when a manager brought ham hocks back in 1984 he said there was “a real difference.” So yeah, use real hocks.
Two “Official” Versions
| Senate restaurant | Older “Dirksen” style | |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | Smoked ham hocks | Ham bone or hocks |
| Veggies | Just onion | Onion, celery, garlic, parsley |
| Thickener | The beans | Mashed potatoes |
That mashed potato version? Folks usually pin it on Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois. You’ll spot it in tons of old church cookbooks, the spiral-bound kind. This recipe lands in between. It follows the Senate’s ingredients, then mashes about a cup of the cooked beans right against the side of the pot. Creamy like the potato version, same simple flavor as the original.
Ingredients for This Senate Bean Soup Recipe
Short list, promise. A pound of dried navy beans, though Great Northerns are fine (bit bigger, that’s all). Couple of smoked ham hocks, 1 1/2 pounds or so, or that ham bone hanging out in your freezer. Big yellow onion. Butter. Around 10 cups water, or go half chicken broth for a richer pot. Salt, pepper. Want to fancy it up a little? Celery, a garlic clove, parsley on top. Totally up to you.
RECIPE
Senate Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans sorted, rinsed and soaked
- 2 smoked ham hocks about 1 1/2 pounds total
- 10 cups water plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 1 rib celery finely chopped, optional
- 1 clove garlic minced, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- kosher salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Method
- Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water, or quick-soak: boil 2 minutes, cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse.
- Put the beans, ham hocks and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then lower to a gentle simmer. Partly cover and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring now and then and adding hot water if the beans peek above the liquid, until they’re very soft.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onion (and celery) for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Add the garlic for the last minute.
- Lift out the ham hocks and let them cool a little. Pull off the meat, discard the skin and bones, and chop the meat.
- Mash about 1 cup of the beans against the side of the pot with a spoon. Return the ham and add the browned onion. Simmer 15 minutes.
- Season with pepper and salt to taste (taste first; the hocks are salty). Stir in the parsley and serve.
Nutrition
Notes
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Do You Have to Soak the Beans?
Nope, not technically. We still would, though. Soaked beans cook quicker, they cook more evenly, and you get way fewer burst ones. Easy way is the night before, cold water a few inches over the top, go to bed, drain them in the morning. Forgot? Happens to everyone. Bring them to a boil for 2 minutes, turn it off, put a lid on, give it an hour. Drain. Done.
No soak at all? Still works. Just plan on closer to 4 hours. And before anything, spill the beans (ha) onto a sheet pan and look through them. Little stones sneak into bags more often than you’d think.
How to Get More Flavor Out of It
It’s mostly about the hocks. Ask at the butcher counter for meaty ones, because some are basically all bone and skin. Brown the onion in butter instead of tossing it in raw, which is how the Senate does it, and you get this toasty sweetness.
Salt? Hold off until the ham’s back in. Those hocks bring plenty, and since the soup reduces, salting early is how you end up with a pot that tastes like the ocean. Mash some beans for body. And this isn’t traditional at all, but a teaspoon of cider vinegar right before serving really wakes it up.
Where Bean Soup Goes Wrong
Old beans are the sneaky problem. If that bag’s been in the pantry for years, they might never soften, no matter how long you cook them. Buy a fresh bag. Adding tomatoes or vinegar too early can also keep beans firm. A hard rolling boil is bad news too, it splits them so they’re mushy outside and still hard inside. Keep it at a lazy simmer. And peek in every 45 minutes or so, if the beans start poking out of the liquid, add hot water.
Slow Cooker Version
Still brown that onion in butter on the stove, it’s worth the extra pan. After that, toss everything in a 6-quart slow cooker: soaked beans, hocks, onion, 8 cups water. Low for 8 or 9 hours, high for 5 or 6. Beans should squish easily. Fish out the hocks, strip the meat, back it goes, smash a few beans, salt and pepper. NYT Cooking ran a slow-cooker version in August 2026 with potato, carrots and smoked paprika if you want something a little busier.
Instant Pot Version
Brown the onion in butter on Sauté. Add rinsed beans (unsoaked is fine), hocks and 8 cups of water. Pressure cook on high, 45 minutes for dry beans, 30 for soaked. Then leave it alone for 20 minutes so the pressure drops naturally. Shred the meat, mash some beans, and let it bubble on Sauté for 5 more minutes to thicken.
What to Eat With It
Cornbread, no question. Our sweet Mexican cornbread is great with it. Crusty bread or a pumpkin sourdough loaf works too this time of year, or just saltines, which is how it’s served in the Capitol.
In a soup mood? Try our crockpot loaded potato soup, the high-protein broth bowls, or heirloom Anasazi beans. Craving seafood instead? Our spicy Maryland crab soup is another fall favorite.
Storing and Freezing
It keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge and gets really thick as it cools, so add a splash of water when you reheat. It also freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Leave an inch of room in the container since it expands.
Is It Healthy?
Pretty good, actually. Navy beans are loaded with fiber and plant protein. A cup of cooked navy beans has about 19 grams of fiber and 15 grams of protein, according to USDA FoodData Central. The hocks add salt and some fat. Watching sodium? Use one hock plus a pinch of smoked paprika for that smoky flavor, and go light on the salt.
FAQ
What’s in U.S. Senate bean soup?
Navy beans, smoked ham hocks, onion browned in butter, water, salt and pepper. That’s it.
Do they still serve it every day?
Yes. It’s been on the Senate restaurant menu daily for 100+ years, with one known gap in September 1943.
Can I use canned beans?
For a shortcut, sure. Simmer the hocks in water for about 1 1/2 hours to make a quick stock, then add four 15-ounce cans of drained navy beans and the browned onion and simmer 30 minutes.
Why’s it called Senate bean soup?
Because the Senate restaurant serves it every day, and this is their recipe.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Yep. Skip the ham, use vegetable broth, add a bay leaf and a teaspoon of smoked paprika, and finish with a little extra butter or olive oil.
What was George Washington’s favorite soup?
People often say cream of peanut soup, but that’s more legend than fact. Either way, it’s got nothing to do with Senate bean soup, which came along much later.
One last tip: stash the bone from your holiday ham in the freezer. Best possible start for your next pot.
