Senate Bean Soup (With a Shortcut)
This is an old-fashioned Senate bean soup recipe with a shortcut that includes tender beans and smoked turkey in a flavorful broth for the most hearty comfort food dish imaginable.
Have you heard of Senate bean soup before? Made with navy beans, ham hocks, and onion, its name originates from the fact it’s been traditionally served in the dining room of the United States Senate daily since the early 20th century. I love this famous soup because it’s simultaneously flavorful, filling, and the ultimate comfort food dish.
But in my mind, it needed to be made a bit more accessible for folks who don’t have all day to soak their beans as you do for my pinto beans and ham recipe. So, this is my shortcut Senate bean soup recipe. Fortunately, it tastes every bit as good as the old-fashioned version. So, wondering what ingredients you need to get your hands on to make Senate soup? It’s simple: lots of navy beans, onion, garlic, celery, butter, chicken broth, instant mashed potatoes, and a smoked turkey leg is the piece de resistance!
The instructions are just as easy. We first cook the turkey leg in the broth, saute the veggies and seasonings in the butter, then combine all the ingredients together. Then we just have to patiently wait for it to simmer and for all the flavors to mingle together before we can serve it to our hungry family! Sometimes it’s the simple flavors that are the best and the combination of the beans, smoked turkey, and flavorful broth will have you coming back for more.
I don’t think you’ll find a saltier, heartier, or thicker soup recipe, which is why this easy Senate bean soup is a favorite in my household. A little goes a long way and leftovers can be reheated and enjoyed for lunch the next day. I mean, say less!
Recipe Ingredients
- Navy beans
- Minced garlic
- Onion
- Unsalted butter or margarine
- Chicken stock/bullion cubes
- Celery
- Instant mashed potatoes
- Smoked turkey leg
How to Make Senate Bean Soup
Place bullion cubes in a pot with six cups of water (or substitute for chicken broth if you prefer) and add the turkey leg.
Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
The turkey leg does not have to be covered with water/broth.
Place butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute until lightly brown.
Like this.
Remove turkey leg from broth and dice it up once cool.
Add onion mixture, beans, and diced turkey.
Stir in salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes before serving.
Oh my goodness, glorious comfort food on a chilly day!
I hope you get to make this Senate bean soup soon.
Storage
- Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheat in the microwave.
- It also freezes VERY well for up to 3 months. I took my leftovers and put them in a mason jar, leaving plenty of head space, and froze it to eat later. When it was time, I let it thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- Now, you can substitute the instant mashed potatoes for actual mashed potatoes if you prefer. You’ll need to boil 1 large Russet potato and mash it with about 1/2 cup of milk before adding it to the soup. But this recipe is all about shortcuts, so I’ll stick to the instant option!
- Another option is to substitute the turkey leg for smoked ham hocks or a meaty ham bone. You may need to simmer for another 30 minutes to ensure the meat is tender.
- Have a leftover ham bone from Easter? Turn it into Senate bean soup!
- You can really use any type of white beans in Senate bean soup, like cannellini beans or Great Northern beans.
Recipe FAQs
How do you thicken Senate bean soup?
With a thickening agent. In this case, I’m using instant mashed potatoes because they’re the most brilliant soup thickener. Another option is to make a slurry by stirring one teaspoon of cornstarch or all-purpose flour into cold water and adding that to the soup. You can continue to use this method a teaspoon at a time until it’s to your desired consistency.
How do you serve Senate bean soup?
Here are some soup serving suggestions:
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chives.
- Serve with homemade biscuits, cornbread, or crusty bread.
Can I make navy bean soup in the Instant Pot?
Yes, Instant Pot Senate bean soup is just as simple. Follow Instant Pot directions for cooking the turkey leg and sauteing the vegetables if you like. Then add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and cook on the manual setting for 45 minutes before releasing naturally.
Check out these other comforting soup recipes:
Creamy Vegetable Soup (Low-Carb Version)
How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup
Taco Soup (The World’s Easiest Supper)
Ingredients
- 4 15-ounce cans navy beans, undrained
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 chicken bullion cubes (6 cups of chicken broth)
- 1 smoked turkey leg
- 1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
- 1 stick margarine or butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place bullion cubes in a pot with six cups of water (or sub for straight chicken broth instead) and add the turkey leg. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. The turkey leg does not have to be covered with broth.4 chicken bullion cubes, 1 smoked turkey leg
- Place butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute until lightly brown.3 stalks celery, chopped, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 onion, chopped, 1 stick margarine or butter
- Remove the turkey leg from the broth and dice it up when cool. Add instant potatoes to broth and stir. Then add onion mixture, beans, and diced turkey. Stir in salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes before serving.4 15-ounce cans navy beans, undrained, 1 cup instant mashed potato flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper
Nutrition
Gentle reminder: We don’t talk politics on any of my platforms. This post was originally published in 2010 and I updated the photos and the post in 2020.
This recipe was featured in Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck!
I know this recipe posting was several years ago and I read it then, but I just read it again to refresh myself about making the soup since we are about to be iced in. When my kids were little they did a lot of print work in Dallas, especially my son. He modeled clothes and played with toys every week for circulars, magazines and other ads. They also took photos of ‘food’ there for those publications. I thought you were going to say your food stager had great looking but non-edible food, because that is what they had there. They would have meat look like it was cooked on a grill by taking a hair curling iron to it. Some of the shots contained real food, but it had been rendered inedible. Glad yours was real and you got to eat it! I am amazed they could transport it there without damaging it in some way.
This is the funniest post! I about fell out of my chair laughing. LOVE. IT. !!
I’ve had the real Senate Bean Soup and it was goooood. But to be honest, this is probably just as good if not betta! 😉
There is a dining room just for the Senator’s, then there are several places for us regular real folk and those are located in the Senate Building.
I have to agree with the other comments on here ~ there is no ‘save’ button and I would really love to save this recipe to my recipe box. If you would add one, it would be great! Thanks. 🙂
There is now 🙂 This is an older post and I had to go back over a period of several months and hand code each post to be print and save friendly so I ended up missing a few. Thanks for letting know!
Thanks so much, Christy! I’m making this right now and I know it’s gonna be wonderful! 🙂
I do one that is similar but instead of using the instant potatoes I use the Blue Runner brand beans, they add the thickness. I also add a can of Rotel tomatoes to give it some color and spice. I’ve made this with sausage as well. Always a favorite in our home.
Yummy, sounds delicious Robyn!
I have found Honey Baked Ham Hocks for years now because when I’m serving a lot of family, I spurged for the Hone Baked Ham even thought it’s expensive but worth it! The lines here at the HBH store will be out on the sidewalk and wrapped around the building this weekend today and tomorrow. Try their frozen scallopped potatoes sometime..they are full of potatoes and yummy.. All my family knows when they cook a ham, I want the ham bone to make bean soup with. Sometimes the grocery stores don’t carry ham hocks and that’s when I started buying mine from HBH store. Same way with fat back..if you can find it in your grocery store, it’s so expensive for just a small piece. My sister and I fuss about it all the time when we have to buy some.
Christy, I love your recipes and love everybody’s memories as well as yours. How do you cook your black eye peas? When I wrote about the fat back, my sister always cooks Black eye peas for us on New Year’s Day but has to have fat back to cook in them. Yummy! I’m getting hungry for some just writing about them. Sister lives 25 miles from me that makes the black eye peas. I’m the only one here in this house that eats them so I don’t cook them.
Can this recipe be cooked in a cook pot?
This recipe looks like it would be delicious. I have a suggestion concerning canned beans. For those who have a pressure canner – why not can your own. I buy dried beans (which are probably cheaper than I could plant and harvest them myself) and can them in my pressure canner. They taste better than canned beans in the grocery and don’t have all of those preservatives in them.
There are recipes online that tell you how much beans, water, and canning salt to put in the jars; and how long to process and at what pressure. I love having jars of beans on my shelf in the basement to use when I need them, and I saved a lot of money. Since dried beans are available year round in the grocery store I can make more when I run out.
Please note, they do have to be pressure canned since they are a low acid food and need to be processed for a long period of time under pressure in order to kill any organisms that may cause food borne illnesses.