Green Giant’s record-breaking casserole feeds more than 3,000 New Yorkers in time for Thanksgiving

With America’s Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, Green Giant wanted to do something giant to raise awareness about the importance of giving back.

The brand first achieved the largest serving of green bean casserole in 2017 to mark the inaugural year of its float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and decided that attempting to break its own record would be the perfect opportunity to make a large impact.

"Green bean casserole is an iconic Thanksgiving dish, and true to form for Green Giant, we wanted to do something giant to bring attention to the importance of giving back to the community this season," said Jordan Greenberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at B&G Foods.

On 20 November, a team of ten chefs from Stella 34 Trattoria along with Green Giant representatives gathered at Macy’s in Herald Square, New York City to create the massive casserole dish, cooking for a total of eight hours.

According to Green Giant, the average bake time for a typical serving of green bean casserole is only 25 minutes!

With official adjudicator, Michael Empric, onsite to verify the record in real-time, it was confirmed that Green Giant successfully surpassed its 2017 record of 637 lb with a new total of 457.674 kg (1,009 lb)!

The team used an estimated 125,000 individual green beans in the recipe (or 1,069 cans of Green Giant Cut Green Beans) in addition to 485 cans of mushroom soup, 65 quarts of milk, and 95 pounds of French-fried onions to create the record-breaking dish.

While it sounds like an excessive amount of food, it was all donated in the spirit of giving.

Green Giant partnered with Citymeals on Wheels - a local non-profit that prepares and delivers holiday and emergency meals each year for the city's homebound elderly - to donate the casserole to those in need.   

"We're proud to partner with Green Giant to deliver servings of the record-breaking casserole to Citymeals on Wheels recipients," said Beth Shapiro, Executive Director of Citymeals on Wheels.

"The holiday season is a time to enjoy food and family.

"Citymeals ensures that our vulnerable older neighbors, many of whom are homebound and alone, are not forgotten this time of year."

With the record-breaking green bean casserole, Green Giant and Citymeals on Wheels were able to serve more than 3,000 people at senior centres across New York City.