It’s not part of my family’s Thanksgiving tradition, but someone made it once, and I tried it for the first, and last time.
I grew up with GBC, we always teased our mom about it but we always ate because we secretly liked it. One year, after we were all grown mom didn’t make it. We were very upset, she said she thought we didn’t like it since we always made fun of it, we had to explain that the complaining was part of the tradition. Another good thing about is what that it was so easy to make that it got to be my job when I was younger, that and opening the cranberry “sauce”.
I grew up with Campbell’s Soup food. My favorite dish of my mom’s was chicken and rice with Cream of Mushroom soup. Sure it’s not highbrow fancy schmancy food, but it’s good home cooking and it’s reminds me of better times.
Dammit! I’m getting verklempt thinking about green bean casserole.
Yeah, you forgot this option. I love green beans, and many of the other elements, but can’t stand the combination.
I think you’re right. It isn’t canned beans that are essential. It’s well cooked (overcooked?) beans.
Never had green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, but I’ve had it at other times and enjoyed it.
My mother has never made it, nor have I, nor has anyone in our family that I can think of. So it’s never been part of any of our holiday meals. But I’ve had it at potluck events.
It’s pretty much meh, IMHO.
I’m like a lot of other people here, where I love green beans, love cream of mushroom soup, but HATE the casserole. It just seems like there’s nothing to bind the ingredients together, flavor-wise. You take a bit and it’s like “huh, green beans sitting in mushroom soup. Hmmm.”. And that’s it.
It has to be made right. I’ve had it at potlucks and such, and mostly it was ho hum or worse, but occasionally it’s good.
When my grandmother made it or when my mother makes it, it was/is delicious. I don’t know what the difference is but it seems like it’s hard to get right. One thing I’ve noticed is that it has to have real onion rings, not those dried stringy things. I don’t know what the other variations are that make or break it. Undercooked beans are definitely a problem.
No - it was either an Alton Brown or a Cooks Illustrated recipe and they were indeed al dente.
I’d try making them cooked to death, but frankly I hate Thanksgiving because I have to serve my food made with love to people I hate. I do it with pride, usually, but I’m running out of pride. This year we’re outsourcing the turkey, unbelievably.
Is this a southern/midwestern thing? I grew up in New England (home of the original Thanksgiving, if you must know) and I never saw it on any of my relatives’ Thanksgiving tables. The traditionalist in me sees it as an abomination. Something like serving cranberry jelly instead of cranberry sauce, made from actual cranberries.
Yummy, love me some creamed pearl onions. Haven’t had any in 25 yrs. When Mom passed away. I have probably been to 20 different house for TG since Mom passed away, never seen creamed pearl onions anywhere else.
IMO, Green bean casseroles taste better with beans that have been “French Cut”.
I wonder if anyone has ever made green bean casserole with wax beans instead of green beans. It would look very strange. I don’t think I have had wax beans in over 30 years.
I like both. They aren’t the same thing, though they are related, and they both have their good qualities: The cranberry sauce has more texture and variation in flavor, and is usually tarter, whereas the jelly is more spreadable, doesn’t have all the bitter notes, and doesn’t tend to get everywhere as it isn’t soupy.
As for green bean casserole, I love the stuff though I think it’s been a few years since I’ve had it. It’s definitely a Thanksgiving food for me.
French cut is required. Don’t ask me why, but it’s way better. Fancy!
Just to brag a bit, a co-worker that insisted she hated green bean casserole tried mine at the potlock and is now making it for her own Thanksgiving dinner. 
Now that people have figured out vegetables don’t have to be cooked to within an inch of their lives, it seems there’s a bit of an overreaction in the other direction, and folks are afraid to have long, slow-cooked veggies. It’s all about context and what you’re shooting for. Beans, in particular, are good both al dente and slowly simmered for hours. They’re completely different flavors and textures, but both are good in their own right. I’m partial to the slow braised beans, myself. Depending on your preference, you can have them ready in 30-45 minutes, where they’re soft but still retain a little bite, but without the “green” flavor. However, I like to go hours until they start to almost fall apart.
Yes. I didn’t think about that. So now I have three requirements for proper GBC:
[ol]
[li]Real onion rings[/li][li]French cut green beans[/li][li]The beans must be WELL cooked.[/ol][/li]Two cans of Green Giant french cut green beans seems to work well, but I’m sure you could buy fresh, cut them properly, and cook them to death on your own.
It’s like I said in an earlier post, it has to be done right. There doesn’t seem to be an in between, at least for me. It’s either right, or inedible.
I’m in southeastern PA and as far as I know it’s been a family tradition since before I was born.
It’s a tradition in our house and everybody loves it. My grandma always made it and she would put bacon in it. No one knows what her recipe was because she never told anyone. It may have been just the Campbells recipe with the added bacon but now she has alzheimers and the recipe is probably lost to the ages.
It’s always served and I never eat it.