Slow Cooker Senate Bean Soup
Published Aug. 7, 2025
- Total Time
- 6¼ hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 6 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound dried navy beans or small white beans, rinsed
- 5garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
- 3medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2medium ham hocks (about 1½ pounds total)
- 1small red or yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1medium russet potato, peeled and quartered
- 1tablespoon butter
- 1tablespoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 1½teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1teaspoon dried thyme
- Black pepper
- 1tablespoon cider vinegar
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
895 calories; 27 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 90 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 77 grams protein; 1892 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker, combine beans, garlic, carrots, ham hocks, onion, potato, butter, salt, smoked paprika and thyme. Top with 8 cups of water and several generous grinds of black pepper. Cook until the beans are very tender and creamy, about 6 hours on high. (Beans need to reach a simmer to be fully cooked and safe to eat, so be sure your soup reaches a vigorous bubble. This shouldn’t be a problem on the slow cooker’s high setting. Additionally, beans vary in cook time by age, so if your beans are older, you may need to cook a bit longer than 6 hours.)
- Step 2
Pull out the ham hocks and put them on a cutting board to cool a bit. Using a fork, mash the potato pieces against the side of the slow cooker. Stir well to break down some of the beans, too. Stir in the vinegar. Pull the meat off the bones, add it back into the soup and discard the bones. Taste and add more salt or pepper as needed.
Private Notes
Comments
@David Looks like most of the sodium is coming from the 1 Tbsp of salt divided by 4 servings, which 4 servings may be a very generous bowl of soup. With the ham hocks alone, you should get enough salt to be flavorful. I’d make it without the added salt, and let people add salt to their servings.
I make this often with no meat, it highlights the great taste of the beans. Meat tends to overshadow the beans imho. I do use celery as well. And I saute the onions first. until browning, to add a little more depth of flavor. I alsolike to add some chopped carrots and celery in the last half hour or so to give it some color and a little of the texture you would get from the ham or turkey. Check out thermal cooking for another way to cook beans or soups in summer without adding heat to kitchen
@Jeanmarie Look for smoked turkey necks. They have the salty smoky essence and are used in French stews.
This was delicious. Even my picky-eater husband loved it. I'd only make two small changes: a little less salt, and only one pork hock. I used two but only put half the meat back into the soup. This one will definitely go into regular rotation!
This is great. I did it on the stovetop for about 3 hours. The beans were buttery soft. 1tbsp salt is correct, unfortunately, despite the ham hock. I cut it down to about .75tbsp. Any less would be bland. "4 servings" is a typo, pure and simple. It makes 6 servings of 16 fl oz each, which is a hearty portion, or 8 servings of 12 fl oz, which is appropriate for a first course.
Made this with gigante beans and frozen pork bones. Awesome. Adding it to my winter rotation. Just salt and pepper at the end!!