7 facts on green bean casserole

Whether green bean casserole is solely a Thanksgiving tradition or a more regular staple in your household, there are probably cool facts you didn’t know about it. It’s a simple dish to put together. All you need are green beans (fresh or canned), mushroom soup, soy sauce, milk, black pepper, and fried onions, all of which you can find online or on the shelves of a Gelson’s store.

If yours is one of the millions of households that enjoy this delicacy, here are some things you may have never heard about green bean casserole:

1. It Was Created by Campbell’s in 1955

The original recipe was created in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly, a recipe supervisor for Cambell’s Soup Company. Reilly was one of the company’s first full-time home economists while working at Campbell’s Test Kitchen. At the time, she was testing recipes for a feature in the Associated Press. This required some testing, during which Reilly tried ingredients such as Worcestershire sauce, ham, and celery salt.

 2. Green Bean Casserole Was Inspired by Soup

It used the company’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom as its binding agent. Even though fresh mushrooms and frozen green beans weren’t as widely available as they are today, the recipe caught on. Nonetheless, taste testers weren’t immediately enthusiastic about the casserole until Reilly added soy sauce to it.

3. The Casserole Can Feature Various Toppings

Aside from the standard ingredients, the casserole can include almonds, crackers, potato chips, and others. There are countless variations. Some people even fry the beans to a crisp and turn the mushroom soup into a dipping sauce. But, French-fried onions remain a core element; initially, they were added only to the edges, but nowadays it’s acceptable to space them all over the top.

4. Green Bean Casserole Didn’t Start as a Holiday Dish

In its origins, the recipe was intended to be an everyday side dish. It didn’t become part of Thanksgiving meals until the 1960s. This followed Cambell’s inclusion of the recipe on the label of a Cream of Mushroom soup can. 

5. The Recipe Has Helped Elevate Soup Sales

The casserole is said to account for 40% of the $20 million in cream of mushroom soup sales in the U.S. each year. This Campbell’s classic has a thick, creamy base like none other. It’s estimated at least 20 million households serve green bean casserole as a holiday dish.

6. This Side Dish Is Easy to Prepare

The preparation time is just about 10 minutes. While that’s longer than pouring a can of soup into a pot and serving in a bowl, it’s much less than some other Thanksgiving staples, which can take hours if you make them fresh at home. There are only six core ingredients and countless ways to customize the casserole. Yet, it’s always a crowd-pleaser and remains an iconic dish to this day.

7. Green Bean Casserole Wasn’t Originally Called Green Bean Casserole

The original recipe is referred to as “Green Bean Bake”. It is now in the same museum as Thomas Edison’s light bulb‒the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in Akron, OH. The recipe, written on an 8-by-11-inch card, was donated to the museum’s archives in 2002.

Find Recipes and Prepared Meals at Gelson’s

Gelson’s has numerous markets throughout Southern California. You can order groceries and ingredients, prepared meals to go, and holiday meals for pickup or delivery. We’ve also created a resource to help cook healthy dishes, where you can find green bean casserole and countless other recipes for any meal of the day.

Continue browsing to find groceries and your favorite recipe, visit one of our locations, or contact us today.  
 

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