I just had to dedicate a topic soley to this amazing, delicious dish which is, by far, my favorite at Thanksgiving (although I’ve made topics about it on here in previous years).
I love the stuff. It’s a must have for Thanksgiving and oftentimes for our Christmas dinner too. It’s not Thanksgiving if there’s not GBC on the table.
Does anyone else here consider it to be a must need thing at Thanksgiving?
Poll question: Do you have GBC at Thanksgiving?
I do.
The garbage disposal has to eat. 
Not only do I not, I have no idea what goes into it.
Nope. Like ChefGuy: said, I don’t even understand what’s*** in*** green bean casserole. We do try to have plain french beans, with olive oil, vinegar and garlic.
Hell, we make it even when it’s NOT Thanksgiving.
Whole lot of nope here. Never had it growing up and I didn’t care for it when I had it as an adult, so it doesn’t show up on my table.
This Thanksgiving I was enjoying extra helpings of the GBC and musing: This is the pinnacle of Midwestern cuisine. It’s the onions on top that totally make it. No onions, no deal.
It’s on the table at every holiday and I make it from time to time just to have it because I like it. I can happily make a meal of just gbc and bread.
Only when someone else brings it. 
Yep. We’ve had many permutations, from frozen green beans, canned cream o’ mushroom to fresh hand cut green beans and homemade béchamel with mushrooms with home fried onion slivers on top… we’ve settled for halvsies. We do frozen green beans with fresh sauteed mushrooms and onion and then add cream o’ mushroom soup from the can and canned french fried onions. The béchamel wasn’t worth it for the difference in flavor as compared to the extra time and effort.
One year I didn’t make it, and there was a huge outcry when the guests arrived, so someone had to run to the store for the fixings so I could throw it into the oven last minute. We take our green bean casserole seriously in this family.
We’ve had it once, when the dinner was handled by a different cook than usual, and that was more than enough. Nothing against the cook; I don’t like green beans.
When my immediate family or their immediate family are cooking? Never. However, more often than not I’m a guest somewhere else, and I’ve had it a few times. I had never made it before.
Although I was asked to make some this year. This was not at my house, and the cookware was lacking. I was using a disposable aluminum pan. I bought some fresh green beans and cooked those in the oven first because that was the only place where there was room. I pulled them out, added the sauce, and then made a mess trying to get the floppy foil pan back in the oven. Somewhere in this process I tossed a paper towel on a hot burner. Fire happened, but I fixed that and dinner prep proceeded without further complication.
That’s similar to the compromise I reached, right down to the sauteed onions and mushrooms, except I do stick with fresh green beans whenever possible
And as far as the OP’s question: this dish is a must. In fact, most Thanksgivings there are only two things I go back to get seconds of: stuffing and green bean casserole.
Never served it in my family. It’s possible my in-laws had it once, but I don’t recall.
I made it once as a bit of a joke, and my normally food-snooty mom loved it.
After that, I had to make it for several years.
I refused after the fifth year, because I prefer real, french-cut green beans with a little butter to beans coated in glop.
None of your options quite do it for me. We never had it when I was growing up. Now, we sometimes have it if my brother comes – he sometimes brings it. But he joins only every-other year, and doesn’t always supply green bean casserole. And when he does, no one but he and his wife eat it, as far as I can tell.
So, we’ve had it, but it’s definitely not a must needs thing.
(I learned this year that pumpkin pie is. Next year, I’ll bake a pumpkin pie.)
It was never served in my family, and I’ve had it a couple times since at Christmas dinners and really wasn’t interested in making it part of the Thanksgiving tradition. Not a fan of it, but I’m not a fan of green beans in general.
steamed or lightly boiled with some butter and dill is my favorite.
I’ve always associated it with white people.
Green Bean casserole isn’t a thing in my family. We serve seasoned green beans (use scrap pieces of ham to season) but never a casserole. The only casserole we did for Thanksgiving was a sweet potato casserole with brown sugar, raisins, nuts etc.