Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy. What comes next? Green bean casserole, of course! Most Americans are looking forward to the upcoming holiday feast. But did you know there’s a person behind the iconic dish? The woman who created that Thanksgiving staple—the green bean casserole—has died at age 92.
Dorcas Reilly died on October 15. Her family will celebrate her life tomorrow in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where she lived.
Reilly was a Campbell Soup kitchen supervisor. In 1955, she combined frozen green beans and cream of mushroom soup and topped the mixture with crunchy fried onions. She created the dish for an Associated Press feature story. The casserole didn’t always get rave reviews. But Campbell’s says Reilly persisted in pushing the souped-up veggies.
According to Campbell’s, the inspiration for the dish was "to create a quick and easy recipe around two things most Americans always had on hand in the 1950s: green beans and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup."
The rest is history. Green bean casserole is the most popular recipe ever to come out of the corporate kitchen at Campbell Soup. The company estimates that 40% of the cream of mushroom sold in America gets blended into green bean casserole.
In a 2005 Associated Press interview marking the recipe's 50th anniversary, Reilly didn't remember having a hand in it. She said the dish was among hundreds she helped create including tomato soup meatloaf, a tuna noodle casserole, and sloppy Joe-like "souperburgers."
(Green Bean Casserole sits in the foreground as Dorcas Reilly prepares another at the Campbell Soup Co. corporate kitchen in Camden, New Jersey. AP Photo)
