# How 'bout that greenbean casserole... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418 "2009-11-13T05:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pythonzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/1 "2009-11-13T05:43:40Z")
What combination do you use for your greenbean bake? - Greenbeans, shortcut or french sliced - Cream of mushroom soup - Canned sliced mushrooms - Sliced waterchestnuts - French fried onions for topping What are your variations? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/2 "2009-11-13T05:46:30Z")
French sliced green beans, because that’s the kind I normally buy. And salted sunflower kernels for the crunch, just because I like them. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/3 "2009-11-13T06:25:52Z")
A dash of soy sauce? NOT canned green beans, either, must be 90% cooked frozen beans. Otherwise, the recipe needs no variation. Otherwise, it’s not Green Bean Casserole. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/4 "2009-11-13T08:39:36Z")
Fresh green beans, steamed. Bechamel sauce. Caramelized onions and sauteed mixed mushrooms. A nice dose of good parmesan cheese. A totally different take on the classic, but it tastes so much better! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/5 "2009-11-13T12:24:34Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Fresh green beans, steamed. Bechamel sauce. Caramelized onions and sauteed mixed mushrooms. A nice dose of good parmesan cheese. > > A totally different take on the classic, but it tastes so much better! Wow, that sounds good. I’d actually eat that! The others… I think it’s something you have to grow up with to appreciate it, and I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/6 "2009-11-13T12:53:58Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Fresh green beans, steamed. Bechamel sauce. Caramelized onions and sauteed mixed mushrooms. A nice dose of good parmesan cheese. > > A totally different take on the classic, but it tastes so much better! Do you have a recipe for this? It sounds great. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/7 "2009-11-13T13:37:39Z")
Yes - I want that recipe too! Sounds marvelous. Mmm. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/8 "2009-11-13T13:47:31Z")
Agreed. I don’t do green bean casserole - I find it really rather bland and uninteresting - but I’d totally eat **tumbleddown** ’s version. Last time I had T-Day at my house, we had green bean almondine instead of the casserole. Fresh steamed green beans, garlic butter, and almonds. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/9 "2009-11-13T14:24:00Z")
I like the “real” kind with bechamel and all, but it isn’t “green bean casserole”. Which I make with cream of celery, thank you, because cream of mushroom is ass-nasty. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/10 "2009-11-13T15:21:30Z")
I get minorly annoyed at the assertion perpetrated by marketing that green bean casserole and Pillsbury cresent rolls are present on every Thanksgiving table in America. Now, I have no problem with either thing, but I’ve had almost 40 Thanksgivings since I was old enough to eat solid food and we’ve never had either thing. Now, as far as the OP, I’m not a big maker of greenbean casserole, but I’ll take a big scoop at a potluck. Once I was a guest at the home of someone who made it, and it had sliced water chestnuts in it and that was the best version I’ve ever eaten. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/11 "2009-11-13T15:50:45Z")
Ditch the water chestnuts, add crumbled bacon, saute fresh green beans in the bacon fat with sliced shrooms (I prefer the baby bella, YMMV) top with french’s onions, no sauce necessary. Although a bechamel may be interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/12 "2009-11-13T15:55:29Z")
This is Alton Brown’s recipe for Green Bean Casserole which is now my default (with a few tweaks here and there). Only eat this if you never want to eat the traditional kind again! > **[Not Your Mama's Green Bean Casserole](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/not-your-mamas-green-bean-casserole-recipe-1956481)** > > Get Not Your Mama's Green Bean Casserole Recipe from Food Network ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/13 "2009-11-13T16:08:35Z")
I use Alton’s recipe but saute shallots and use half white mushrooms and half chanterelles. I use the canned onions as well, I prefer the texture. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/14 "2009-11-13T16:11:26Z")
Why must people mess with perfection? No variation. Follow the recipe on the Durkee Onion can. That’s what it’s there for. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/15 "2009-11-13T16:40:20Z")
I didn’t know until a few years ago that black people don’t eat green bean casserole. The black ladies I work with approached me en masse one day before Thanksgiving and asked if we _really_ eat that green bean casserole thing, and if so what does it taste like? I had no idea it was divided along racial lines. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/16 "2009-11-13T16:42:45Z")
I was in my twenties before I ever saw a green bean casserole. However, I made Cook’s version a few years back and now it is required or much pouting ensues. Except I put the canned fried onions on it - it just ain’t right without those. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/17 "2009-11-13T22:27:23Z")
This is the first I’ve heard of water chestnuts in green bean casserole, and now I’m wondering why. On thinking about it, they’d be a wonderful addition. **parthenokinesis** , it goes without saying that everything’s better with bacon, but most of my formative Thanksgivings were at Gramma’s house, and enough of my relatives are vegetarian that the rule is “If it’s not obviously a meat dish, it doesn’t have meat in it”. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/18 "2009-11-13T23:40:46Z")
> [@pythonzzz](#): > > What combination do you use for your greenbean bake? > > - Greenbeans, shortcut or french sliced > - Cream of mushroom soup > - Canned sliced mushrooms > - Sliced waterchestnuts > - French fried onions for topping > > What are your variations? We have this as a main dish. Delete the cream of mushroom soup, replace with creamed corn. Add browned ground beef. Dinner. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/19 "2009-11-13T23:46:32Z")
We _never_ had this growing up for Thanksgiving dinner. (Broccoli cheese casserole was our ‘fake green’ dish.)\* At one point, I started attending potlucks, etc at work and everyone makes this. I’m learning how to cook, so I made it last year. (I’d never tried it at the potlucks b/c I’m squeamish about eating some people’s cooking–and the fact that it tends to sit on a table all day.) I used the classic recipe and ummmm…no. The bf ate it and said it was fine. I’ve been thinking that if I could find one with fresh green beans I might like it! Thanks for the link to the recipe! \*Also what I’m working on for this year. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418/20 "2009-11-14T00:33:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Why must people mess with perfection? No variation. Follow the recipe on the Durkee Onion can. That’s what it’s there for. I’d like to recommend perfection + real bacon crumbles. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bout-that-greenbean-casserole/517418.md?page=2)