In today’s world there is one Thanksgiving staple, besides the turkey; that’s the green bean casserole. It is only 58 years old and is perhaps the youngest addition to this celebrated meal.

The green bean casserole was drawn up in the Campbell’s Kitchen in 1955 and it has found its place among the Turkey Day trimmings ever since. Its creation is credited to home economist Dorcas Reilly, who was tasked with combining as few ingredients as possible to create a nutritious dinner using ingredients that most Americans would have in their pantry. Reilly determined that most households had leftover cans of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup and a stash of green beans. So with these two staples she began. The completed dish only required five or six ingredients.

It wasn’t an instant hit; there were three earlier versions of the recipe that didn’t quite make it. But with a bit of adjusting it did take off. When it appeared in an Associated Press Feature ...