Community Pick
Senate Bean Soup
"This is an old recipe given to me by my mother. I have tasted different versions but this one is my family's favorite."
photo by imacontreras
- Ready In:
- 3hrs 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
8-10
ingredients
- 1 lb dry navy beans
- 1 meaty ham bone
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2⁄3 cup mashed potato flakes or 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
- 1⁄4 cup chopped parsley
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 bay leaf
- salt, to taste
directions
- Wash and sort beans; in large kettle, cover beans with 6-8 c hot water.
- Bring to a boil; boil 2 minutes; remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
- Add another 2 quarts of cold water and ham bone.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
- Stir in remaining ingredients; simmer 20-30 minutes until beans are tender.
- Remove ham bone, trim off meat and return meat to soup; remove bay leaf.
- Serve hot; freezes well.
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Reviews
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This is the best!! I followed your directions exactly and wouldn't change a thing. The beans were very tender. The soup was rich and creamy and had the most wonderful ham flavor. The ham bone really makes a difference. Thanks Nurse Di. -
This was absolutely wonderful. Smells great cooking, tastes even better. I couldn't find a ham bone, so I used one of those packages of ham cubes (real ham, just cut in cubes). Still tasted awesome. -
I have made this soup twice since finding this recipe site. We think it is the best and I have tried quite a few bean soup recipes. So creamy and thick. I used the ham bone but it wasn't all that meaty so I added some chopped up leftover ham. Wonderful and thanks for sharing this recipe. -
I have wanted to make this for a long time, but didn't because I didn't have a ham bone. I recently discovered that you can purchase them at the grocery store. So, having obtained the sacred ham bone, I made this incredible soup. The flavor is unbelievable. I added some extra chunks of chopped ham because we like it so much. Great creamy texture and full of tender beans. This is one heckuva soup recipe you've got here.
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I have tried many bean soup recipes and this one is the best I think. I used potato flakes and the result was a very creamy texture. The ham flavor made me drool. A top-notch comfort food for sure. Thanks Nurse Di.
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Tweaks
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I'm hoping the paragraphs are separate this time, it's hard to read otherwise. I see no way to edit the other tweak. If using a 48 oz. Jar of Randall’s Beans; add beans to pot, while bringing beans up to a simmer add 1 quart of water plus 1 Tablespoon of Chicken Base. No need to simmer for 1/ ½ hours as called for at the end of step no. 4. Continue with Step No. 5 to finish the soup. For Pressure Cooker: If possible soak the dried beans overnight. If not soaking beans overnight then place dry beans and 3 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat, and allow to stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.Drain the soaking water and rinse the beans again. Put the beans back into the PC. Add 6 cups of water and up to 2 Tbl of Minor's Chicken Base. Add ham and and all other ingredients to PC and cook for 10 minutes at 15 psi. Let pressure drop naturally. Beans are done if easily mashed with a spoon. Pressure Cooker using un-soaked hard beans: Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the navy beans, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans and set aside. Pressure cook the beans: Drain the navy beans, rinse, and add to the pressure cooker. 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. After pressure cooking, I needed about 7 or 8 minutes of simmering with a regular lid to get the beans to the doneness I like. -
If using a 48 oz. Jar of Randall’s Beans; add beans to pot, while bringing beans up to a simmer add 1 quart of water plus 1 Tablespoon of good quality chicken base like Better Than Bouillon. No need to simmer for 1/ ½ hours as called for at the end of step no. 4. Continue with Step No. 5 to finish the soup. For Pressure Cooker: If possible soak the dried beans overnight. If not soaking beans overnight then place dry beans and 3 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat, and allow to stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.Drain the soaking water and rinse the beans again. Put the beans back into the PC. Add 6 cups of water and up to 2 Tbl of Minor's Chicken Base. Add ham and and all other ingredients to PC and cook for 10 minutes at 15 psi. Let pressure drop naturally. Beans are done if easily mashed with a spoon. Pressure Cooker using un-soaked hard beans: Sort and rinse the beans: Sort the navy beans, removing broken beans, stones, or dirt clods. Rinse the beans and set aside. Pressure cook the beans: Drain the navy beans, rinse, and add to the pressure cooker with all the other ingredients. 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. After pressure cooking, I need about 7 or 8 minutes of simmering with a regular lid to get the beans to the doneness I like.
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That was fantastic! I had to substitute ham hocks for the ham bone and I threw in 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning and it came out great. Leftovers are going to friends at our church.
