Bean soup is on the menu in the U.S. Senate’s restaurant every day.
No one is exactly sure why this tradition started, but since 1903, U.S. Senate bean soup has been served in the Senate dining room every day - the only mandatory recipe on the menu.
The only exception, according to Senator Elizabeth Dole, as told to her by her husband, Bob Dole, was in 1943, during World War II rationing. It only happened for one day, and then bean soup was back on the menu.
Senate bean soup a simple recipe - navy beans, ham hocks (or ham and a hambone), onions sauteed in butter, and salt and pepper. “The Senators like their soup straightforward” said Don Perez, the Senate dining room’s executive chef back in 2003.
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I’m taking a couple of liberties with the soup - Chef Perez admitted he adds a little garlic - and a recipe attributed to Senator Fred Dubois in 1903 includes mashed potatoes and parsley. I’m skipping the potatoes, but the parsley adds a splash of color that I can’t pass up.
So, why bean soup? Because I will have a ham bone and leftover ham from Easter dinner. (I’m notorious with my in-laws for taking bones home with me from family dinners.) This recipe was invented to use up leftover ham. (Well, I don't know that for sure...but it looks like what the Senate's chef would do the day after serving ham.) That said…the pictures have a (huge) smoked ham hock from my butcher. Don’t be afraid to use leftover ham; this recipe was made for it.
If you're looking for other recipes with dried navy beans, check out my Instant Pot White Turkey Chili. For another bean soup, try my 15 Bean Soup with Sausage (Instapot).
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup
Adapted from: Senate Bean Soup (via Senate.gov)
Video: Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup (1:47)
Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup - Time Lapse [YouTube.com]
Equipment
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot Electric PC)
Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup recipe. It doesn't get more American than bean soup from the United States Senate lunchroom.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried navy beans, sorted and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, cut into ½ inch dice
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 ½ pounds smoked ham hocks (or a hambone and some leftover ham)
- 8 cups water
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
- Minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the navy beans, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans and set aside.
- Saute the aromatics: Heat the butter in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat until it stops foaming. Add the onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt. Saute until the onions are softened and browning around the edges, about 8 minutes.
- Pressure cook the beans: Drain the navy beans, rinse, and add to the pressure cooker. Set the ham hocks on top of the beans, then pour the water over everything. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker, and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes in an electric PC, or 26 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure release naturally, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid carefully, opening away from you - even when it’s not under pressure, the steam in the cooker is very hot.
- Shred the ham hock, season, and serve: Remove the ham hock from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs, and set aside to cool. Ladle 2 cups of beans into a blender and puree the beans, then stir back into the pot. (I use my stick blender for this step.) When the ham is cool enough to handle, shred it, then stir the ham back into the pot. Stir in the fresh ground black pepper. Now, taste the soup, and add salt until the soup tastes sweet and full of body, and you can just feel the taste of salt on the tip of your tongue. (I needed 2 teaspoons of kosher salt to get the taste I wanted.) Serve with a sprinkle of minced parsley on each bowl.
Notes
- Want to speed up the cooking time of the recipe? Soak the beans.
- Overnight soak: Sort the navy beans, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans and put them in a large container with the salt. Cover with 2 quarts water. Let the beans soak for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- Quick Pressure soak: Sort the navy beans, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans, put them in the pressure cooker pot, add the salt, and cover with 2 quarts water. Lock the lid, bring the pressure cooker up to high pressure, and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure (stovetop or electric PC). Let the pressure come down naturally (about 20 minutes - there’s a lot of water to cool down), then drain and rinse the beans.
- Cooking soaked beans: With soaked beans, change the cooking time to 12 minutes at high pressure in an electric PC, or 10 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure release naturally, about 20 minutes.
- Look for meaty ham hocks, if you can - the ones in the video I shot were from the end of the hock, and didn't have much meat on them. Larger hocks are usually meatier, so if you have an option, get big hocks instead of small ones.
- Please, do not forget to season to taste at the end! Soup tastes bland and flat without added salt. Don’t worry if it seems like a lot of salt - you’re still adding a lot less salt than you’d get in canned beans.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Sources
- Senate Bean Soup Ladles Up Tradition for 100 Years Jennifer Frey, Washington Post (via OrlandoSentinel.com)
- Senate Bean Soup (via Senate.gov)
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Black Bean Soup
Pressure Cooker Pasta and Bean Soup (Pasta e Fagioli)
Pressure Cooker Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla)
Instant Pot Tuscan Bean Soup
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Eric says
Did you change the recipe? In the past it told how to do a quick soak of the beans in the pressure cooker, also I think it called for removing 1 or 2 cups of beans and puree them and add them back in. Was it 1 or 2 cups?
Mike Vrobel says
You’re right - seem to have lost a few steps when I moved to my new recipe plugin. I’ll get that fixed.
Mike Vrobel says
Done. Missing parts of the recipe are back in there.
Adam Crews says
Just got my instant pot and this was the 1st recipe I tried. It's amazing! Thank you!
Substituted half the water with vegetable broth and the ham hock with 1 lbs of chopped up ham steak (there were no good ham hocks at the store and saved time shredding anyways) , 1tsp of kocher salt after cooking.
Took about 17 min to come to pressure and I allowed 45 min NPR before I finally just did QR. I just did manual pressure normal because I didn't know better but was still awesome!
Frank Fulmer says
Yo,I had cooked this before using a pot on the stove. Tried it in my new electric. I soaked the beans over night. They were great. I am from the south, if the beans don't fall apart they an't no good. These did.
Mike Vrobel says
Great! Glad you liked it.
Judy says
This bean soup is delicious. I followed the recipe as given except I forgot the parsley and added a chopped carrot with the onion and garlic. I am just learning to use my Instant Pot and this recipe is another reason to love it.
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks!
Mike Vrobel says
Glad you liked it!
Teresa says
Wow!! That was amazing! Took a long time to come to pressure, then a very long time to release the pressure, but was it ever worth the wait!
Mike Cozine says
I was visiting my Congressional representatives in DC today and had lunch in the Dirksen Senate Building cafeteria, just so I could try the original version of Senate Bean Soup. I must report that your recipe here tasted so much better. My family absolutely loves when I make this. Keep the great recipes coming.
Karissa says
I'm so glad you included instructions for non-soaked beans because I am a terrible planner! I wanted to make a simple ham and bean soup tonight, but of course I didn't soak my beans ahead of time. Your recipe was a great guide for me and even worked with some necessary substitutions I made since I didn't have everything exactly. I only had about a cup of northern beans so I added about the same amount of pintos and it was perfect. 100% better than the awful attempt I made last month that resulted in unevenly cooked beans and terribly gassy tummies; I had to throw the rest of that batch out all together to save myself the tummy aches.
I am thankful for you and other chef bloggers who do the trial and error so we don't have to!
Ann Beery says
I am eating this right now... I speed cooked the beans...and cooked the soup for 30 minutes after rinsing the pre cooked beans.. added celery, onion, carrots and 4 cups chicken broth and 4 cups water... so yummy... I didn't blend any of the beans yet...
so yummy and directions were sooooo clear... thank you
Mike V says
You're welcome!
Diane says
My mouth is watering! I'm confused about one thing...in the recipe introduction it gives the cooking time as 75 minutes. I can find only half that in the actual recipe.
Mike V says
That's just an estimate of the total time, including the pressure cooker coming up to pressure. The specific timings in the recipe are the ones that matter.
Mar says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! Unfortunately, I purchased the 5 qt. Instant Pot-any suggestions for adapting these amounts?
Mike V says
Use 3/4 pound of dried beans and 6 cups of water - you can leave everything else.
Susan Blanton says
I'm excited to make this great-looking recipe today when I get home from work. My Instant Pot is brand new, and I love finding recipes like this that will help me learn to cook my old favorites in my new pot. I'm going to use some leftover turkey that my husband smoked in place of the ham hock. I think it will shred and be delicious. If not, there's always another time, right? Thank you!
Mike V says
Leftover turkey will work great - I just posted a Pinto Beans with Turkey Drumstick recipe today, in fact...
Susan B says
My husband gave this a 10 out of 10! It was perfect with the smoked turkey legs. He's sold on the Instant Pot now, and we're both enjoying your blog. Thank you.
Greg says
Hi Mike -
Thanks for this recipe, just made it today and it was fantastic! I followed all directions and just added:
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 Tbsp of tomato paste to add a little more flavor
- 4 carrots, chopped in 1/4" segments.
I will definitely make this again. So simple and a great use of left over ham and ham bone.
Gloria Algeo says
my understanding is you should always cook your beans first and then add the salt second otherwise the beans will not get done. I have seen this over and over - in Southern Living and elsewhere. FYI Great recipe, though. I have cooked Senate Bean Soup for years but use Great Northern Beans rather than Navy.
Mike V says
Yes, I've read the same myths about salting beans. They're wrong: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/the-food-labs-top-6-food-myths.html
Carol Voigts says
On another site, I found the suggestion that when soaking the beans, double the amount of beans and then divide them in half to make the bean soup recipe and freeze the other half in a plastic freezer bag labelled "soaked" . I've been doing that lately and it is such a great suggestion.
Kristen says
Not sure if you'll answer soon, but I'm confused on instructions of heating everything and bringing everything to high heat, then lowering but still at high pressure. Can you explain that please? When will my pot each high heat and when do I know to lower heat but keep pressure?
Thanks a lot! Looking forward to making this!
Mike V says
Those instructions were written for a stovetop PC - you have to control the heat manually. In an electric PC, just set to to Manual mode for the specified time and the cooker will take care of the rest.