Not Your Grandma’s Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 (12 oz) packages frozen cut green beans, thawed and drained(or use fresh if you want to)
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp Goya Adobo
• 2 tsp C&C seasoning
• 2 tsp Badia Sazón Completa
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 6 oz shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 cup French fried onions

Build:

1. Preheat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and set the oven to 425°F.
2. Add 1 Tbsp butter to the skillet and melt. Add mushrooms, then sauté 5–10 minutes until browned and most of the moisture has cooked off. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Make the roux: Turn off the heat and add 1/4 cup butter to the skillet. Once melted, stir in the flour until fully incorporated. Turn the burner back to medium and cook 2–3 minutes—just long enough to cook the flour without browning it.
4. Make the béchamel: Slowly whisk in the milk, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking over medium heat until thickened, about 3–5 minutes.
5. Turn it into a mornay: Once the béchamel has thickened, turn off the heat and add 3 oz of the Parmesan, stirring until smooth and fully combined.
6. Add the green beans, seasonings, and mushroom mixture to the large mixing bowl. Pour the mornay sauce over top and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
7. Return the mixture to the skillet and bake on the middle rack at 425°F for 10–15 minutes, until it begins to bubble. While it bakes, combine the remaining 3 oz Parmesan with the French fried onions and set aside.
8. Remove the skillet from the oven, stir the casserole, and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the cheese-and-onion mixture, then return to the oven for about 5 more minutes, or until the onions are toasted and the cheese is melted.
9. Enjoy!

From humble beginnings to viral recipe status, green bean casserole has been a staple of American kitchens for nearly 70 years. Originally coined “The Green Bean Bake,” this quintessential Thanksgiving dish was the brainchild of Dorcas Reilly at the Campbell’s Soup Company in 1955. She was tasked with creating a simple, convenient, budget-friendly recipe for an Associated Press feature, something built entirely from ingredients most folks already had in their pantry. Believe it or not, the initial reception at Campbell’s wasn’t exactly the fanfare we know today, and it’s Dorcas’s persistence that’s credited with turning this humble little bake into the iconic side so many of us love.

While it started as an everyday quick side dish(and arguably should still be), the Green Bean Bake got a makeover in the 1960s. It was rebranded as Green Bean Casserole (GBC) and began appearing on the back of the cream of mushroom soup can, kicking off its journey from weeknight helper to full-fledged Thanksgiving co-star. Today it’s so synonymous with the holiday that Campbell’s estimates nearly half of all annual mushroom soup sales happen during Thanksgiving season.

There’s no denying that GBC has earned its praise, so much so that Dorcas Reilly and her original recipe card were honored by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002, where she personally presented the card. Not bad for a dish that started as a simple test-kitchen experiment.

So whether you enjoy the classic version or our kicked-up “Not Your Grandma’s” Green Bean Casserole this Thanksgiving, we hope you take a moment to appreciate Dorcas’s creativity and persistence that brought this quintessential holiday side to life.