Holiday staple: 50 years of green bean casserole

By CAMDEN EASTERLING, Chronicle Staff Writer

Ahhhh, from the green beans smothered in cream of mushroom soup to the crisp French-fried onion topping, the green bean casserole has proved itself to be a favorite of many - and a boon to food companies.

The famous casserole's lineage isn't as impressive as many of the other items that have been part of Thanksgiving dinners since the Pilgrims' time.

But this year marks the 50th anniversary of the green bean casserole.

I thought maybe this dish's origins were steeped in nostalgia. I pictured a little old grandmother baking up the first-ever green bean casserole. I imagined how her family passed the recipe through generations and circulated it among friends until a nation of people grew to love Granny's signature casserole.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, contended that the food company French's invented the dish to push its French-fried onions that top the green bean casserole.

I scoffed at his skepticism. But I did have to admit that I'm aware of few other recipes calling for the onions.

Turns out Dorcas Reilly created the casserole for the Campell Soup Company when she was the manager of the corporation's kitchen.

According to Campell's, Reilly set out to come up with a recipe that combined two items commonly found in American kitchens: green beans and cream of mushroom soup.

She added just three other ingredients: milk, soy sauce and French-fried onions. There are four ingredients if you count the dash of pepper.

Reilly's creation now ends up on 30 million tables each year, says Campell's spokeswoman Beth Jolly. About 15-18 million of those are made for Thanksgiving.

Those casseroles translate into $20 million in cream of mushroom sales for Campbell's.

Not to be outdone, French's credits green bean casserole for $56 million in onion sales.

Local caterers also ring up sales thanks to Reilly's creation.

"It's the epitome of comfort food," says Caroline Gallaway, catering manager for Frank's Custom Catering of Bozeman.

Also a plus is that the dish is inexpensive and adds nostalgia to a catered meal, even when 500 people are sitting down to eat.

"It's low cost and it's something people always order for Thanksgiving because it's pretty common," said Frank's owner Frank Winkler.

Carly Meehan of Gallatin Valley Catering in Four Corners says people often want something "home style" and the dish does the trick.

Beyond its nostalgia and taste, part of the recipe's endurance is its simplicity, Jolly says.

"It's the perfect dish to take anywhere because it's almost foolproof," she said.

The idea behind green bean casserole is to plunk the ingredients in a dish, stir, bake, then throw on some onions for a few more minutes of baking. Hardly culinary rocket science.

But some people - ahem Martha Stewart - are determined to complicate the simple.

Notably absent, though, from Stewart's casserole is both cream of mushroom soup and the French-fried onions.

Her recipe also calls for more than three times the number of ingredients as Reilly's. And Stewart's instructions are more complicated and labor intensive than the plunk, stir and bake approach.

Stewart isn't the only one to mess with the classic. Type in "green bean casserole" online and you'll get loads of variations, some even include bean sprouts or tofu.

I must confess, I once made green bean casserole using low-fat, low-sodium soup.

The result was low taste and low approval from those eating it.

Now, whenever I mention making green bean casserole, my boyfriend's standard comment is, "You're not going to use that soup again, are you?"

It seems Reilly had it right the first time.

So as you plow your fork through a heap of green bean casserole this Thanksgiving, be thankful for Dorcas Reilly's culinary creativity.

Camden Easterling is at ceasterling@dailychronicle.com

Green Bean Casserole

10 3/4 ounces Campbell's cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce

dash pepper

4 cups cooked cut green beans

1 1/3 cups French's French-fried onions

Mix the soup, milk, soy, pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot.

Stir, then sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 5 minutes.

Source: Campbell Soup Company

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