Yahoo Lifestyle Our Most Popular Thanksgiving Recipe of All Time Is Embarrassingly Simple
"This has been my family's go-to recipe for 40 years!"
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Looking to crowd-source your menu this Thanksgiving? We've dug deep into our database of 100k+ recipes and over-25-year history to find the best of the best of our Thanksgiving recipes here on Allrecipes. In that research we discovered our most saved Thanksgiving recipe, our most popular desserts, and even the top Turkey Day drink to wash it all down. But what about our most popular Thanksgiving recipe of all time? It may just surprise you—it certainly surprised us!
Allrecipes' Most Popular Thanksgiving Recipe of All Time
Without further ado, the recipe sitting at the top spot is none other than our Best Green Bean Casserole. Now, green bean casserole on Thanksgiving is nothing revolutionary, but it has seemingly fallen out of favor a bit in the last few years—it came in fourth place in Campbell's annual poll of America's favorite side dishes. But there are many, many reasons to love this recipe.
Dotdash Meredith Studios
Recipe author Jan writes, "A green bean casserole makes the Thanksgiving holiday complete, and this version can be on the table in no time at all thanks to just four ingredients from your pantry or fridge." That's right—it takes just four ingredients, yet tastes rich, complex, and like so much more than the sum of its parts.
All you need is canned green beans, condensed cream of mushroom soup, French-fried onions, and shredded Cheddar cheese. So why is this dish so popular, you ask? We have a theory and it can be summed up by one word: nostalgia.
Green Bean Casserole is a dish that feels quintessentially retro, but in the best way. It instantly hits with a comforting dose of nostalgia that takes you right back to grandma's table. One community member writes, "Made it for Thanksgiving today, used French-style beans, 'cause that's how I remember it as a kid, and it was a perfect blast from the past."
Much like canned cranberry sauce and butter turkeys, it just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving without a French-fried onion-topped green bean casserole on the table. It's hard to mess up, can easily be made ahead of time, and is just so darn easy, making it a no-brainer for your Thanksgiving menu. And thousands of Allrecipes community members agree year after year: This has more than 800 5-star ratings and 750 reviews. Among them? Gems like this:
"This has been my family's go-to recipe for 40 years!" -Luci Herron Ismert
"Made an account just to say this is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted in my life. Swear I’ve made this 6-8 times in the last month." -Azeem Shabbir
"My other half is a Green Bean Casserole snob and he has asked that I make this dish on a regular basis and no other. So big win!" -Linno
In our green bean casserole taste test, our taster noted this was the "absolute easiest" recipe of the bunch, writing, "Salty, cheesy, and exceptionally easy: This 4-ingredient casserole gets rave reviews for a reason. I was surprised by how much I liked the canned green beans, and the use of shredded yellow Cheddar cheese makes it all look just as good as it tastes."
What's more, this recipe was declared the #1 Thanksgiving side dish in 19 different states in our recent poll of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes in the country.
Cynthia Ross
Ways to Make Green Bean Casserole Taste Even Better
Even with all those positive reviews, there are ways to customize this casserole to your taste preferences. Swap in frozen or fresh green beans for canned, crispy jalapeño pieces for French-fried onions, or use a stronger cheese like Gruyère in place of the Cheddar. Some reviewers note adding chopped, cooked bacon (or bacon bits) for a smoky twist. A few dashes of soy sauce go a long way to add umami to the base of the casserole, too.
No matter how you make it, there's no denying it: Our most popular Thanksgiving recipe of all time has undoubtedly earned its place on your Turkey Day table.
