Casserole is named for the pot, not the food — and the American casserole culture was invented by Campbell's Soup, whose 1955 green bean recipe feeds 20 million Thanksgiving tables.
A large, deep dish used for cooking food slowly in an oven. Also the food cooked in such a dish, typically a combination of meat, vegetables, and starch in a sauce.
From French casserole (saucepan), from Old French casse (ladle, dripping pan), from Old Provençal cassa, from Late Latin cattia or from Greek kyathion (small cup), diminutive of kyathos (cup, ladle) Key roots: casse (Old French: "ladle, dripping pan"), kyathion (Greek: "small cup").
The casserole is a rare example of a dish named after its container rather than its contents or method. In French, casserole still means "saucepan" — the transfer of meaning from vessel to food happened primarily in English. The casserole as a one-dish meal became an American cultural institution in the mid-20th century, driven by the combination of women entering the workforce and the food industry promoting canned