Another fun holiday to celebrate woohoo! I have been a fan of St Patrick’s Day for years, mainly because I usually celebrated at our local pub, McGuire’s Irish Pub. I have cooked many recipes from or inspired by McGuire’s on this blog and I am so excited to share this Senate Bean Soup recipe with you. This recipe is my Mom’s version but it tastes pretty close to McGuire’s recipe. They call it “Senate Bean Soup” because it is the same soup served at the US Senate. It was originally sold at the Senate for 18 cents so McGuire’s honors that and still sells it for 18 cents! Best 18 cents you will every spend!

*I remember working here in college and pretty much eating this soup and crackers for dinner every shift! LOL- oh the days of being a poor college kid!

McGuire’s makes their version with navy beans but feel free to try Great Northern or Baby Lima beans instead. Also my Mom and I cook this in the Crock-Pot because as I’ve said before any excuse to use my beloved Crock-Pot I will! But you can also simmer on low on the stove top for a few hours instead. My Mom, like many cooks (myself included!), doesn’t have a written recipe for this soup. She cooks it by memory and doesn’t use measurements. So it took me a while to get the actual written recipe from her but THANK GOODNESS she shared it! It is absolutely delicious and perfect for dinner on St Patty’s Day! Especially since it was 37 degrees in Louisiana today! I added festive Shamrock Tortilla Dippers to make it even more fun for our St Patty’s dinner.

Check out my McGuire’s Irish Pub themed Pinterest board!

McGuire’s version of Senate Bean Soup.

Last year at McGuire’s in Destin, FL with Ava and my parents celebrating Dad’s bday!

*Scroll down to see pics from our St Patrick’s Day 2014 shenanigans!*

Print Recipe

Senate Bean Soup with Shamrock Tortilla Dippers

Ingredients

1 - 1 1/2 lbs dried Navy beans or you can use Great Northern Beans
2 32 oz containers of chicken broth
2 large carrots peeled and diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 sweet yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic pressed
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire
1 large ham bone or 2 ham hocks
2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp mustard powder
3 bay leaves
salt/pepper to taste
parsley chopped for garnish

For the Tortilla Dippers:

2 large tortillas of your choice I used green spinach tortillas for St Patrick's Day
non stick spray
salt optional

Instructions

Start by rinsing your dried beans and then covering them in water and soaking overnight in a covered dish.
In the morning drain and rinse the beans and pick out any bad or discolored beans.
Pour beans into Crock-Pot (or a large stockpot if making on the stove).
Add diced onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.
Then add brown sugar, Worcestershire, and seasonings. Mix well.
Top with both containers of chicken broth.
Finally nestle in ham bone or hocks and place 3 bay leaves on top.
Cover and cook for 2 hours on high and 3 hours on low.
Remove and discard bay leaves and remove ham. You can shred some meat off the ham bone and mix in. But if using ham hocks I find the meat to have too many little bones and fatty pieces so I just discard.
Add more salt and pepper if needed. You can also serve with hot sauce.
Pour into bowls and garnish with parsley and tortilla dippers.

For the Tortilla Dippers:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut out tortillas to desired shapes. I used a small shamrock cookie cutter. I was able to get 9-10 from each tortilla.
Place on baking sheet, spray tortillas with non-stick spray and sprinkle with salt (optional).
Bake for 5 minutes or until crisp.
Serve with soup for dipping.

Notes

If you like it thicker you can add flour at the end of cooking. I did not add flour to this recipe- I love the liquid for dipping.

Start by rinsing your dried beans and then covering them in water.

Soak overnight in a covered dish.

In the morning drain and rinse the beans and pick out any bad or discolored beans.

Pour beans into Crock-Pot (or a large stockpot if making on the stove).

Add diced onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.

Add brown sugar, Worcestershire, and seasonings. Mix well.

They may not be pretty but ham hocks (or bones) add great flavor!

Add both containers of broth and nestle in ham hocks and top with bay leaves.

Cover and cook on high 2 hours then low for 3 hours.

Remove and discard bay leaves and ham hocks.

Pour into bowls and garnish with parsley and tortilla dippers.

Cut out tortillas to desired shapes. I used a small shamrock cookie cutter. I was able to get 9-10 from each tortilla.

*Bake the scraps too for snacks later!

Place on baking sheet, spray tortillas with non-stick spray and sprinkle with salt (optional).

Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Senate Bean Soup with Shamrock Tortilla Dippers was a hit in our house!

This recipe makes a lot so I froze half for another night. LOVE leftovers!

Sweet, Salty, Savory and Delicious!

St Patty’s breakfast of champions: Green Chocolate Chip Pancakes!

She’s such a ham! Wonder who she gets that from?

She insisted on rockin’ her shades today! Such a cutie!

Don’t you love her top? Wal-Mart $4, y’all! I am all about a deal…

and Wal-Mart is the only store in our town!

I had planned a picnic at the park today but we woke up to 37 degree weather! Yikes! So we had fro yo instead and then went home and watched “FreeBirds” while we ate our Senate Bean Soup.