Navy bean soup has been on the Senate menu every day since 1903.

Spoonful of Navy bean soup

Though no one’s sure who to thank for the tradition — some say Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho, while others credit Minnesota’s Knute Nelson — one item has been on the menu on the Capitol Building’s Senate Dining Room every day since 1903: navy bean soup. Also known as Senate bean soup, the hearty stew can trace its mandate back to either Dubois, who chaired the committee that oversaw the Senate Dining Room and passed a resolution in favor of the meal, or Nelson, who simply enjoyed his soup so much that he requested it be served every day.

The recipe, available on the U.S. Senate website, calls for 2 pounds of dried navy beans, 4 quarts of hot water, 1 ½ pounds of smoked ham hocks, a chopped onion, 2 tablespoons of butter, and salt and pepper to taste; Dubois’ version added mashed potatoes, garlic, and parsley. Navy beans are also known as Boston beans, pea beans, haricot beans, Jigna beans, earl haricot beans, and white pea beans. Their moniker is owed to the fact that the U.S. Navy has served them to its sailors since the mid-19th century, making them as American as apple pie.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Three senators were former Olympians.

Wendell Anderson, Bill Bradley, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell have something in common beyond the fact that they were Democratic senators: All three competed in the Olympics. Anderson, who represented Minnesota from 1976 to 1978, won a silver medal in hockey at the 1956 Winter Games held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Bradley won a gold medal in basketball at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, prior to spending 10 years in the NBA and 18 years representing New Jersey in the Senate. And before his 12 years serving Colorado in the upper chamber, Campbell competed in judo at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as the first Native American on the U.S. team.