ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

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Green bean casserole has never been given its due. It is easy to make fun of green bean casserole, since almost every grandmother has made it for Thanksgiving, based on what was on her family’s table in the 1950s. Guess what? Green bean casserole is delicious, and we want you to enjoy the heck out of it this year. The fact is, this recipe was made in waves across the country in the 1950s, since it was not hard to put together and was made from readily available ingredients in a thrifty post-war America. It celebrated the kinds of new-food innovations of the time: canning, freezing, and processed foods. And since so many women were entering the workforce for the first time, people wanted food that was not fussy. That’s part of the reason this new generation disdains green bean casserole. It’s so old-fashioned.Hush your mouth. The recipe was created by Dorcas Reilly, a home economist who had a college degree. She was asked by Campbell’s soup company to create a recipe based on ingredients anyone would have in their kitchen. Of course, that included a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. She used 6 ingredients: cream of mushroom, green beans, milk, black pepper, soy sauce, and fried onions. Apparently, she and her team had thought about putting in celery salt and ham too, but they backed off from that. Listen, if someone you think to be a good cook said she was making a dish with green beans, mushroom soup, celery salt, ham, soy sauce, and fried onions, wouldn’t you jump on it? Frankly, in this culture, people might think it more innovative if a male chef made it. Almost all the familiar dishes of the 50s and 60s we look down on now were created by women home economists. Hm. We at ChefSteps LOVE green bean casserole. The only part that needs leveling up is the canned cream of mushroom. Since we have made you <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/wild-cream-of-mushroom">our own cream of mushroom,</a> you really should make green bean casserole this year. Forks up to Dorcas Reilly! Let’s enjoy a great green bean casserole this year.