Skip to main content

Classic Green Bean Bake

In anticipation of Thanksgiving, I feel I must post a recipe with plenty of good old American tradition.

The classic Green Bean Bake was invented in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly, a home economist who worked for the Campbell's Soup Company. A study was done determining that 50% of all Americans have eaten the classic Green Bean Bake, and 38% of those believe it is best served during the holidays, mainly Thanksgiving. So, for the other 50% and for those in other countries where this dish may be unfamiliar--my treat:

The Classic Green Bean Bake
serves 6 to 8

1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash of fresh pepper
1 20-oz. bag frozen cut green beans, thawed*
1 2.8 oz can French-fried onions

-Preheat the oven to 350 F
-In a casserole dish, combine the soup, milk, soy sauce and pepper. Stir in the green beans and half of the onions.
-Bake until bubbling, about 25 minutes. Top with the remaining onions and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

*Or cook 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans in lightly salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.

Note: I found this recipe in Thanksgiving 101 by Rick Rodgers, but you can find almost anywhere if you look hard enough.

Comments

dive said…
Yum!
Though I prefer my green beans just lightly steamed and eaten with a spoon before they get a chance to reach the plate.

And Dorcas is a great name!
there must be a billion things you can make with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

Thanks for the recipe.
Scout said…
I actually prefer them slightly steamed and eaten with fingers instead of a spoon, but at least once, everyone should have a heaping helping of Classic Green Bean Bake on their plate.
peahen said…
Thanks for this, Robyn, I'll give it a go!
CMC said…
I have never, in 29 years, had this. It's a standard joke at Thanksgiving that someone is going to make it, but it never happens.
Scout said…
Welcome Ween. This could be your year. You have to try it just once. I know people who refuse to eat Jello salad, which is a good policy, but really, experience the green bean bake.
Sassy Sundry said…
You know, we don't do Green Bean Bake in my family, but I have had it before. It's one of those things that just has to be consumed once in a while. Comfort at its best.

Popular posts from this blog

Bring On the Bombs

In today's edition : I generally try to keep on top of cultural trends even if I don’t adopt them, but there is a growing movement that I have only just discovered. Not long ago, I was walking along in Berkeley, California while visiting my daughter, and I saw a signpost that had been covered with yarn, like someone had sewn a knitted scarf to it. It was colorful and randomly striped, and I pointed it out as if it were the most unusual thing in the world. That’s when my daughter explained the nature of what is known as yarn bombing. It’s when knitters attach something they’ve created to a public object, most often doing their deed stealthily and anonymously. They leave a “bomb,” so to speak, for no other purpose than to brighten up the place and to bring a little cheer to those passing by. Their work has been equated with graffiti, except that the woven yarn is not permanently installed and does no damage to the object it covers. And instead of signifying the territory of a street

Voting Now and Then

Here is a link to an editorial I have written about how I feel about voting. In preparation for this piece, I called my mother and talked to her about what her mother thought about having the right to vote. She explained something that is haunting and makes me cherish my right to vote even more. When the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, my grandmother was just under the legal voting age at the time, but she would be of voting age before my mother was born five years later. During the first campaign in which she could have voted, though, there was a poll tax. After blacks were given the right to vote with the 15th amendment, some of the southern states like Alabama enacted poll taxes knowing full well the local blacks, Native Americans, and poor whites couldn't afford them. There was an exception to the tax called the "grandfather clause" allowing any male whose father had voted previously to vote for free. Of course, the only men who qualified under the clause were w