Kentucky Named the Capital of that Infamous Thanksgiving Dish, the Green-Bean Casserole

by Laura Begley Brown

This is an ode to my mother. Actually, it’s an ode to the green-bean casserole, that quirky vintage dish that I grew up with — along with many people in this fine country. The basic ingredients include Del Monte green beans, a can of Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions on top.

My dad worked for Campbell's when I was growing up, so we got all the free soup we could eat, so I assumed my mom’s amazing recipe for this comforting Thanksgiving casserole was a Begley family special. Alas, it turned out that we were not alone in our love of this dish, originally created in 1955 by a member of the home economics department at Campbell’s. According to Del Monte, 30 million green-bean casseroles will appear on tables across the country this Thanksgiving.

This year, the Del Monte Green Bean Index also tracked the top 20 states where the recipe is most popular across this country, and the winner is… Kentucky, where 78 percent of residents “really like or love the dish.”

The survey also revealed some quirky factoids, like the fact that Florida residents like to add mushrooms at an unusually high rate… 25 percent pick it as their favorite secret ingredient. And overall, bacon (no surprise) is the most popular secret ingredient across the country.

To conduct this study, Del Monte’s “bean counters” (sorry, couldn’t resist) surveyed 1,500 Americans. Here’s a look at the top 20 states for consuming green-bean casserole, proving that no matter where you travel this Thanksgiving, you’re sure to stumble across the iconic dish:

1. Kentucky
2. Wisconsin
3. Missouri
4. Iowa
5. Maine
6. New Hampshire
7. Florida
8. Colorado
9. California
10. Mississippi
11. Oklahoma
12. Utah
13. Kansas
14. Texas
15. Maryland
16. Ohio
17. Massachusetts
18. Illinois
19. Michigan
20. New York