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Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
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Homemade Green Bean Casserole

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This totally Homemade Green Bean Casserole recipe features fresh green beans in a creamy mushroom sauce topped with crispy onions. Green Bean Casserole is a Thanksgiving classic! While I grew up with the canned version, this totally homemade green bean casserole has everything you love about the classic in a fresher package.

Rather than canned soups and green beans with tons of preservatives, we make our own super creamy and delicious mushroom sauce. Perfectly blanched green beans are tossed in the creamy mushroom sauce and topped with crispy onions. The crispy onions are always a must!

The Best Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Green Bean Casserole is always a must on our thanksgiving table! It’s a cozy and delicious dish made even better by a mound of crispy fried onions on top. It’s a nostalgic dish that simply cannot be skipped. This recipe is even better than the classic because it’s 100% made from scratch. No canned soups or vegetables, here!

This is by far the best Green Bean Casserole that I’ve ever made. The green beans stay slightly crisp after baking so you don’t end up with mush. The creamy mushroom sauce is savory and perfect and so much better than the canned stuff. You can use classic French’s crispy onions, but I love the crispy fried onions from Trader Joe’s. They are absolutely the best fried onions I’ve ever tried.

Whichever crispy onions you use, this Homemade Green Bean Casserole is going to be a welcome addition to any thanksgiving feast!

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Fresh Ingredients – While the traditional green bean casserole is delicious, using fresh veggies and a homemade cream sauce takes it to the next level, flavor wise. You just can’t beat the fresh green beans!

No Mushy texture – The beans in this casserole are going to be crisp-tender, rather than mushy like the canned green beans. Canned green beans also tend to be overly salty. The fresh green beans absorb all the flavor while keeping their crisp texture.

Make Ahead Friendly – You can prep this green bean casserole ahead of time and just pop it in the oven on the big day. I love when I can prep my thanksgiving sides ahead of time! It saves time and stress on the big day.

Classic Flavors – It’s not a perfect thanksgiving meal without green bean casserole! You can bring this to a pot-luck style holiday meal and everyone will rave about how flavorful this homemade green bean casserole recipe is.

How to Make Homemade Green Bean Casserole

This is a great make-ahead recipe that is classic and nostalgic! Because we’re basically making a cream of mushroom soup, I always recommend using a dutch oven. Mine is a staple in my kitchen and gets tons of use!

Tools Needed

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Green Beans. Fresh green beans are definitely the play here. I like regular green beans vs the french green beans because they’re thicker and hold up to baking better. You can use frozen green beans, just be sure to defrost and drain them before using. I don’t recommend using canned.
  • Mushrooms. I love cremini or baby portobello mushrooms because they have tons of flavor. You can use white button mushrooms also. Don’t use canned.
  • Butter. Butter makes everything better!
  • Shallots and garlic. Shallots give a subtle onion flavor and garlic is a must!
  • Flour. Flour helps thicken the soup so that your homemade green bean casserole ends up creamy and not watery.
  • Broth. I usually use homemade chicken broth, but you can use vegetable broth to keep this side dish vegetarian.
  • Worcestershire. A bit of Worcestershire adds umami and savory notes to our creamy mushroom sauce.
  • Cream cheese. Whisking in some cream cheese makes the sauce extra creamy and thick. This is totally the secret ingredient!
  • Half and half. Adding half and half also makes the creamy mushroom sauce rich.
  • Parmesan. It never hurts to add some cheese!
  • Crispy onions. It’s not a green bean casserole without a crispy onion topping! Use your favorite brand, mine is always the crispy onions from Trader Joe’s.

The Process

  1. Blanch the green beans. Bring salted water to a boil in a 4 qt dutch oven. Add the chopped green beans to the water and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the green beans are bright green and no longer raw. Drain the green beans in a colander and set aside.
  2. Cook the mushrooms. Return the same dutch oven to the stove after drying it. Add the oil to the dutch oven over medium high heat and once the oil is hot, add the chopped mushrooms. Season with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned. Remove the mushrooms from the pot. Add the butter, and once hot add the minced shallot and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes.
  3. Make the roux. Add the flour to the pot and stir often to really mix it well. Cook for 3-4 minutes stirring constantly. Add the cream cheese and whisk until melted. Add the broth to the pot, stirring constantly, and bring to a simmer. Once thick, add the half and half and Worcestershire and a pinch of nutmeg. Add the mushrooms back to the pot with the parmesan and stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Add the green beans. Add the green beans to the sauce and stir well to combine. Pour the green beans and sauce into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish and spread it into an even layer. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Increase the heat to 400, remove the foil and bake 20 minutes more. Top with crispy onions and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead Instructions for Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Green Bean Casserole is a great make-ahead dish for thanksgiving! It’s easy to prep and advance and pop in the oven on the big day.

To prepare green bean casserole ahead of time: This casserole can be prepped up to 2 days in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator. Blanch the green beans and make the creamy mushroom sauce. Let the mushroom sauce cool for 30 minutes before adding the green beans. Pour into a greased 9×13 pan and cool to room temperature. Cover with foil and refrigerated.

To bake: Bake covered at 350 for 40 minutes, then increase the temp to 400 and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Add the crispy onions and bake for 5 minutes more.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

What to Serve with Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Green Bean Casserole is such a versatile side dish! Some of my favorite recipes to enjoy with it:

Storing and Reheating Homemade Green Bean Casserole

While I don’t recommend freezing your Homemade Green Bean Casserole, you can store it after baked! Freezing sauces thickened with flour tends to hurt the texture.

To store: Let the green bean casserole cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, microwave at intervals until warmed through or in a dish in the oven until steaming.

Making Homemade Green Bean Casserole Gluten-free

While this recipe calls for flour for the roux, you can adapt the recipe to make it gluten-free! If you want to make Homemade Green Bean Casserole gluten-free:

  • Omit the flour from the recipe. When it comes time to saute the shallots and garlic, don’t add the flour. Instead, add double the cream cheese and melt it into the shallots before adding the broth and half and half.
  • Make a slurry. Once you’ve added the half and half, bring it to a simmer. In a small bowl, whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch with 1/4 cup of cold water until smooth. Pour the slurry into the creamy mushroom sauce and bring back to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the green beans to the sauce.

That’s it! Follow those steps and you’ll have a delicious gluten-free Homemade Green Bean Casserole!

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

More Holiday Side Dish Recipes

Parmesan Creamed Corn
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
Honey Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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Homemade Green Bean Casserole
Side Dish

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

This totally Homemade Green Bean Casserole recipe features fresh green beans in a creamy mushroom sauce topped with crispy onions. Green Bean Casserole is a Thanksgiving classic! While I grew up with the canned version, this totally homemade green bean casserole has everything you love about the classic in a fresher package
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Makes: 6 – 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 24 oz fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
  • 2 tablespoons neutral oil
  • 12 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups crispy fried onions
  • kosher salt
  • freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat an oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
  • Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the green beans are bright green and no longer raw-tasting. Drain through a colander and set aside.
  • In a pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped mushrooms to the pot. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned. Remove from the pot and set aside.
  • Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pot. Add the sliced shallot and garlic to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft. Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir well to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Add the cream cheese and stir until it's melted.
  • Add the broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the half and half and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle in the nutmeg and parmesan and stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Once the sauce is thick, stir in the blanched green beans.
  • Pour the green beans and sauce into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover, increase the temp to 400 F and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the crispy onions over the top and bake for 5 minutes more. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Notes

*For instructions on making this recipe gluten-free, refer to the above blog post. 

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