Classic Green Bean Casserole w/Mushroom Soup Recipe
The classic Green Bean Casserole was created in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly, a home economist working in the Campbell’s Soup Company test kitchen in Camden, New Jersey. There she developed a simple, everyday side dish using ingredients most American households kept on hand at the time — and one that prominently featured Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup, which had been introduced in 1934.
Reilly’s original version — first called the “Green Bean Bake” — combined canned or cooked green beans, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, milk, a dash of soy sauce and black pepper, and a topping of French’s French Fried Onions.
The soup acted as a creamy binder and sauce for the beans, while the fried onions added texture and a flavorful crunch. The soy sauce adds deep savory notes (glutamates) that amplify the mushrooms. In the 1950s, soy sauce was becoming a trendy “exotic” pantry item, and here it quietly boosts flavor in a way Worcestershire sauce might in other casseroles.
The dish was designed to be quick, affordable, and hard to get wrong, which helped it catch on with home cooks.
Campbell’s began printing the recipe on its cream of mushroom soup cans in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and that exposure turned it into a Thanksgiving staple across the United States. Today, it’s estimated that millions of Thanksgiving tables feature Green Bean Casserole every year, and a significant portion of Campbell’s mushroom soup sales goes into making it.
The recipe was developed specifically to showcase Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup and helped cement the product’s role as a convenience-food base.
Ingredients:
1 can (10½ ounces) Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
A dash of black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans (fresh, frozen, or canned)
1⅓ cups French’s French Fried Onions, divided
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
In a casserole dish, stir together the condensed mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, green beans, and about 2/3 cup of the fried onions.
Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling.
Stir, then sprinkle the remaining French fried onions evenly over the top.
Bake for an additional 5 minutes until the onions are golden brown and crispy.