Is Luigi Mangione How Pizza Beans Finally Go Mainstream?

CNN’s Jean Carroll seemed sort of confused. While reporting on Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, she noted that in his confinement at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, he had the choice for dinner between “chicken Parmesan and something called pizza beans.”

But anyone who’s read a food blog since 2017 knows what pizza beans are. The recipe was first developed by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen for her second cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day. She describes it as “a mash-up of a giant-beans-in-tomato-sauce dish from Greece and American-style baked ziti, with beans instead of noodles,” and though she arrived to a party calling her creation “Tomato-Braised Gigante Bean Gratin,” potluck attendees lovingly nicknamed them pizza beans. Later, Ali Sagle published a similar recipe in the New York Times, and now the phrase has come to refer to any cheesy, tomato-based bean casserole.

“When I created this recipe for my second cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day in 2017, I wouldn’t have in a million years expected it to land on a prison menu,” Perelman tells Eater, saying she came back from the gym today to an inbox full of pizza bean TikToks. Since 2017, she says the recipe has taken on a life of its own. “I have to make clear that the Smitten Kitchen doesn’t condone or endorse murder, however the memes are hilarious,” she says.

The breathless reporting over what Mangione is eating for dinner is part of the breathless reporting over Mangione in general, as his alleged actions have sparked genuine sympathy among some of the many Americans who have struggled to receive care through the health care industry. People have been tracking down the backpack and jacket he wore in security camera footage; scouring his Goodreads page; and flooding the McDonald’s location he visited in Altoona, Pennsylvania with negative reviews, after an employee supposedly called in a tip to police. Now, the phrase “pizza beans” is spiking on Google search. Is this how pizza beans go fully mainstream?

NewsNation reporters recently heard from fellow inmates, who called through their windows “Free Luigi!” and “Luigi’s conditions suck!” We must assume that the pizza beans available to Mangione and other inmates are not the kind lovingly crafted with Rancho Gordo beans. According to a report from Impact Justice, over 62 percent of prisoners say they have no access to fresh vegetables, and that “cuts or stagnant spending in what already comprises a minuscule portion of a prison system’s overall budget ... have led to fewer hot meals, smaller portions, lower-quality protein, and more ultra-processed foods that can be quickly heated and served; along with poorly equipped and ill-supervised kitchens that further compromise food quality and safety.” This ultimately leads to negative health outcomes for all prisoners, whether they’ve been convicted or are just awaiting trial.

The idea of a viral recipe making it all the way to prison is certainly funny — maybe the Stew will show up next. But perhaps the fervor over Mangione will result in more awareness over the conditions inmates face. “I’d like to think that this means that inmates are receiving balanced and nutritious meals with solid vegetarian options. Little I’ve read about actual experiences in prison supports this, but this makes me hopeful, nonetheless,” says Perelman. “I hope they serve it scooped onto garlic bread, like we do at home.”