Congressional Bean Soup 🇺🇸 A hearty and delicious vegan white bean soup inspired by the famous House Bean Soup and Senate Bean Soup served at the U.S. Capitol since the 1903.
Have you ever tasted a dish so good you never forgot it? Some recipes linger in our memories and become part of tradition, like the white bean soup that has been served at the U.S. Capitol for more than a century. Though the original House Bean Soup isn't plant-based, it can be reimagined in a way that honors its history while making it even better - with all the hearty flavor and comfort, no compromise required.
This thick and rich vegan Congressional Bean Soup makes an unpretentious pairing with Simple Savory Herbed Tofu or can be dressed-up to serve with our State Dinner worthy vegan 5 Star Mushroom Seitan Wellington. It's also the perfect patriotic dish to enjoy on national holidays like the 4th of July!
★★★★★ This soup is awesome! I took your advice, and soaked my beans for 8 hours before making the soup. They turned out perfect, and took less than an hour and a half! Wow, this was so good. A really fine vegan soup! Thanks! Barbara
Table of Contents
Why we created a vegan version of a classic recipe
Many moons ago, while serving in the armed forces in Washington D.C., my husband John had the opportunity to have lunch at the House of Representatives Restaurant in the U.S. Capitol. It was there he experienced an unforgettably delicious white bean soup that had been on the menu for more than 100 years. It's still on the menu today.
Fortunately, the official "House Bean Soup" recipe isn't a top government secret. Unfortunately, it isn't vegan, since ham hocks are a key ingredient. John decided to re-create the flavors and texture of the House of Representatives Bean Soup he loved so much, using all plant-based ingredients. His vegan version is kinder and even tastier than the original. How comforting!
Whether you call it vegan Senate Bean Soup, House Bean Soup or as we refer to it - Congressional Bean Soup, this 21st century plant-based salute to a classic all-American recipe is sure to win your vote!
🇺🇸 Ingredient Notes
See the recipe card below for quantities and details.
- Great Northern white beans - dried (substitute with other types of white beans)
- Onion - brown, yellow or sweet (we prefer brown)
- Vegan sausage - your choice. We used this type in this recipe
- Vegetable broth - homemade or packaged
- Vegan butter - your choice
- Olive oil - or cooking oil of your choice
- Baking soda - (helps reduce the gas-causing sugars in beans)
- Salt
🇺🇸 Instructions
1. Pour dry beans into a large strainer or colander. Sort through the beans and remove any debris and bits. Rinse thoroughly under cold water.
2. Transfer beans into a bowl and cover with filtered water (at least 1.5 inches over the top of the beans). Stir in a teaspoon of baking soda. Allow to soak 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. During hot weather, it is better to keep the beans refrigerated After soaking, drain and rinse with filtered water.
3. Peel and dice onion.
4. Place butter and oil into a dutch oven or deep pot over med-high heat. Add diced onion and sauté over medium heat until transparent and lightly golden. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
5. Tear sausages into small pieces.
6. Add to onions and cook over medium heat.
Cooking Tip
Let the sausage brown, until it's a bit crispy on the edges. It intensifies the flavor & prevents the sausage from breaking down when the beans and broth are added.
7. Stir the sausage pieces so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. You want them to be nicely browned but not burnt.
8. Add soaked and rinsed beans to cooked sausage. Stir to combine.
9. Pour in vegetable broth. Add salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil while stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom.
10. Lower heat and simmer until the broth is reduced enough to see the beans start to surface and are very soft and tender - about an hour and a half or longer if needed. Be sure to stir frequently to avoid burning the beans or sausage.
Once the beans are thoroughly cooked and the soup is nice and thick, remove from heat and serve!
🇺🇸 Serving Suggestions
Top with a sprinkle of chopped scallions, chives, or parsley, and a few crispy croutons. A toasty slice of bread is perfect to sop up the last of the soup in your bowl.
🇺🇸 FAQ's
How did the U.S. House of Representatives Bean Soup recipe originate?
According to the History, Art & Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives: A common item in the U.S. House of Representatives even before the turn of the 20th century, bean soup became a permanent fixture in the institution when Speaker Joe Cannon of Illinois discovered that his favorite meal had not been prepared by the kitchen staff on a hot, summer day in 1904. Dismayed by the omission, the Speaker directed that bean soup be served in the House every day, regardless of the weather.
"Thunderation," roared Speaker of the House Joe Cannon of Illinois. "I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow, or shine, I want it on the menu every day."
More than a century after Speaker Cannon's decree, bean soup remains on the menu in the House Restaurant, making it one of the more longstanding and famous traditions in the House.
Are Great Northern beans the same as navy beans?
Great Northern beans are a common medium-size white bean, similar to navy beans but a bit larger. They have a firm flesh and nutty flavor, making them ideally suited for soups, stews, bean salads, and dips.
Can I use canned beans in this recipe?
If you are short on time, you could use canned beans in this soup, but if it's your first time making it, I strongly suggest trying it first with soaked dried beans, and here's why. Canned beans are pre-cooked. Soaked dried beans cook in the soup itself, absorbing all the fabulous flavors and aromas of the sausage, onion and broth, while simmering on the stove for about 1-½ hours. You wouldn't cook canned beans that long or they would likely turn to mush.
How to store vegan Congressional Bean Soup?
Leftover soup can be stored refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months. I love to use these souper cubes for freezing soup portions. They're souper convenient!
If you're a soup fan like I am, you might like to take a look at my recipe for the best dairy-free cream of mushroom soup, this robust and delicious rustic vegetable soup, and this hearty, cozy, and creamy broccoli potato soup, or this quick and easy 1-pot minestrone soup.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe for vegan Congressional Bean Soup. Please be sure to rate it in the comments section below! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Recipe
Congressional Bean Soup (vegan)
Equipment
- Large soup pot or dutch oven
- medium bowl
- Chef's knife
Ingredients
- 1 lb Great Northern white beans dried
- 1 medium Onion diced (brown, yellow or sweet)
- 4 Vegan sausages we used this type of sausage in this recipe
- 64 oz Vegetable broth homemade or packaged
- 1 tablespoon Vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt add more to taste if needed
Instructions
- Place dry beans into a large strainer or colander.
- Sort through the beans and remove any debris and bits.
- Rinse thoroughly under cold water.
- Place beans in a bowl and cover with filtered water (at least 1.5 inches over the top of the beans). Stir in a teaspoon of baking soda. Allow to soak 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. During hot weather, it is better to keep the beans refrigerated
- After soaking, drain and rinse with filtered water.
- Peel and dice onion.
- Place butter and oil into a dutch oven or deep pot over med-high heat.
- Add diced onion and sauté over medium heat until transparent and lightly golden. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Tear sausages into small pieces. Add to onions and cook over medium heat until brown.
- Add soaked and rinsed beans to cooked sausage. Stir to combine.
- Pour in vegetable broth. Add salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil while stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom.
- Lower heat and simmer until the broth is reduced enough to see the beans start to surface and are very soft and tender - about an hour and a half or longer if needed. (Be sure to stir frequently to avoid burning the beans or sausage,)
- Once beans are thoroughly cooked and soup is nice and thick, remove from heat and serve!
Notes
🥕Cooking Tip
Let the sausage brown until it's crispy on the edges. It helps intensify the flavor and prevents the sausage from breaking down when the beans & broth are added.🥕Serving Suggestions
Top with chopped scallions, chives, or parsley, and a few crispy croutons. A toasty slice of bread is perfect to sop up the last of the soup in your bowl.🥕Storage
Leftover soup can be stored refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months. I love to use these souper cubes for freezing individual portions.Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
signal://void says
This looks like a good base recipe, but I think the tricky part with making this soup vegan is that the original gets a lot of its flavor from ham stock/ham hock. If that’s swapped out for veg broth, you kind of have to build that smoky, salty, savory flavor back in another way.
In my case, my broth was also pretty weak. I only had about 400 ml broth and diluted it with water to reach the full 64 oz/1.9 L. So I added about 1 tbsp white/yellow miso, ½–1 tsp liquid smoke, 1 tbsp soy sauce/tamari, 1–2 tbsp nutritional yeast, ½ tsp apple cider vinegar, ½ tsp sugar or maple syrup, 1 bay leaf, and 3-4 dried shiitakes or ½ tsp mushroom powder.
That gave it more of the smoky/umami depth I was missing. Nice recipe overall. I just think those additions help replace what the ham would normally be doing, especially if the broth itself is on the lighter side.
Connie says
Thank you for sharing your experience and the modifications you made. Those ingredients certainly add smoky and umami notes to many soups.
The primary role of the vegan sausage in this recipe is to replace much of the smoky, savory flavor traditionally provided by ham hocks in the original Congressional Bean Soup. That's why the recipe calls for browning the sausage before adding it to the soup.
I also noticed that you used only about 400 ml of broth and diluted the remainder with water. Since the recipe calls for 64 ounces of full-strength vegetable broth, that would naturally produce a much milder flavor profile and likely explains why you felt the need to add additional ingredients to boost the soup's depth and smokiness.
If you haven't already tried the recipe as written, I would encourage you to do so. You may be pleasantly surprised by how much flavor develops from the combination of browned vegan sausage, onions, beans, and full-strength broth, without the need for numerous additional ingredients and steps.
signal://void says
Thanks for the reply! Just to clarify, I did use the vegan sausage and browned it as directed. I did try it again closer to the recipe as written, with full-strength broth. It was good, but I still found that the extra smoky/umami additions brought it closer to the ham-hock flavor I associate with the original version.
For me, the additions helped the flavor carry through the whole broth rather than mostly coming from the sausage pieces. I’d still recommend those as optional additions for anyone who wants a deeper, smokier version.
The only thing I’d be careful with is the miso amount, since that can vary a lot depending on how salty the broth and vegan sausage already are. I’d start with less and adjust to taste.
Eve says
Can this be made in the Instant Pot?
Connie says
I have not tried making this soup with an Instant Pot, but I bet you could. If you sauté the onions & sausage in the Instant Pot, let the sausage get a bit crispy and be sure the sausage and onions aren't stuck to the bottom of the pot before adding the rest of your ingredients. As for the cook settings, I would follow the Instant Pot instructions. Love to hear if you give it a try!
Barbara says
This soup is awesome! I took your advice, and soaked my beans for 8 hours before making the soup. They turned out perfect, and took less than an hour and a half! I used Beyond Spicy Italian sausage I got on sale. Wow, this was so good. Finally a really fine vegan soup! Thanks!
Connie Edwards McGaughy says
Hi Barbara! Your comments just put a big smile on my face 😊 I'm so happy you enjoyed the soup & will let my husband know you gave his recipe five stars! Thanks a bunch for sharing!🥕
connie🥕 says
My husband has talked about this soup for years. When he created this vegan version, I finally found out why he loved it so much. It’s absolutely delicious & so easy to make!