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What Item Is Always on the Menu in the U.S. Senate?

Last Modified Date: February 15, 2024

Tempting as it may be, please refrain from making any humorous connection between bean consumption and the verbal flatulence that sometimes emanates from Capitol Hill. You see, "U.S. Senate Bean Soup" is a time-honored tradition in American lawmaking circles, right up there with apple pie.

The soup -- made from navy beans, ham hocks, onions, and (in some variations) potatoes -- has been on the menu in Senate dining rooms nearly every day since 1903. The lone exception was September 24, 1943, when World War II rationing briefly left the Senate kitchen without any beans.

Senate bean soup has been served in U.S. Senate restaurants since 1903.

Even if you're not a high-ranking politician, you can still sample it for yourself. Today, members of the public who visit Washington, D.C., can order the famous bean soup at the Capitol Visitor Center ... or simply scroll down for an official recipe.

The most famous soup in politics:

Some credit the soup’s exalted place on the menu to Sen. Fred Thomas Dubois of Idaho, who gaveled through a resolution that it remain on the menu indefinitely. Others credit Sen. Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who just loved the soup.

In a speech on the Senate floor in 1988, Bob Dole recounted the effects of that fateful soup-less day: "Somehow, by the next day, more beans were found and bowls of bean soup have been ladled up without interruption ever since."

Some tweaks to the recipe have taken place over the years. For example, there was a time when the ham hocks were replaced by soup base, a travesty in the eyes of some Southern legislators. If you want to make it yourself, try this recipe: www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/bean_soup.htm.