Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Forget the gloopy canned version-this fresh green bean casserole recipe is crisp, creamy, and made entirely from scratch. The holiday classic is reborn with bright flavor, real ingredients, and just the right hit of nostalgia.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe
- 🕰️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- ⏰ Cook Time: 45 minutes
- 💚 Flavor Profile: Bright, crisp green beans against crunchy homemade fried onions and a rich, savory mushroom cream sauce.
- 🦃 Good For: One of the best Thanksgiving side dishes! But honestly, it is easy enough that you'll find excuses to make it year-round.
- 🔄 Make Ahead: Prepare this green bean casserole up to two days in advance, leaving you time to put your feet up and enjoy a cranberry gin fizz and your cheese board (here's how to make a cheese plate the easy way) on the big day!
- 🧡 Difficulty: Just as easy as the casserole made with canned soups...but much tastier.
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- 🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe
- 🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 💚 The Ingredients You Need
- 🔁 Variations & Substitutions
- 🥣 Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe How-To
- 🙋🏻♀️ Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe FAQs
- 👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- 🦃 More Great Thanksgiving Recipes:
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Reviews
🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Hi friend: Growing up, green bean casserole was so not a thing at Thanksgiving dinner in my family. In fact, I didn't even set eyes on the stuff until the early 2000s, when we started having Thanksgiving dinner with my brother-in-law's family.
I was...hesitant...to dive in. I finally did serve myself some a few years later, and my thoughts were: oh, this is interesting! It's creamy and rich, and...I can totally make this better.
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Made from scratch: Out with the canned, highly-processed, condensed soups and the stale fried onions from the pantry. In with the creamy, fresh, homemade mushroom sauce and crispy Parmesan onions on top.
- Homemade without the hassle: No fussing with a roux here. Let the blender take the load to make a velvety-smooth sauce in minutes.
- Better flavor: This green bean casserole that has all the creamy goodness of the regular recipe, but with a brighter, from-scratch, homemade flavor. It's a Thanksgiving miracle!
- Make ahead: I love it whenever you can take shortcuts with Thanksgiving meals (like my Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes or Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole... even my Dry Brine Recipe for Turkey will save you a lot of mess and effort), so I'm all about prepping dishes early. This green bean casserole (minus the onions) can rest unbaked in the fridge for up to 48 hours before baking off.
💚 The Ingredients You Need
- Fresh green beans: I much prefer the crisp-tender texture you get from fresh beans here, but frozen will do in a pinch.
- Mushrooms: Baby Bella mushrooms will give you more mushroom flavor, and are my favorite for this casserole, but button mushrooms are also delicious.
- French fried onions: For a classic green bean casserole, store-bought fried onions will work. But for a from-scratch variation, you can make your own Parmesan fried onions with a yellow onion, Parmesan, Panko breadcrumbs, and salt. More on that in the recipe card!
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Variations & Substitutions
- Frozen green beans: You can replace the fresh green beans with frozen (here's how I freeze green beans every summer), just understand that your resulting beans might be a little softer/mushier. Just make sure to completely defrost the beans before adding to the casserole mixture. I actually prefer to defrost them in a colander in the sink so some of the water from the defrosting beans can drain as well-no one wants watery green bean casserole.
- Homemade crispy Parmesan fried onions: Making your own fried onions will take your green bean casserole from classic side to absolute showstopper that you'll be asked to bring to Thanksgiving year after year. The onions come out golden, beautiful, crisp, and just a little cheesy.
- Make it gluten free: It's a BREEZE to make this gluten-free, because my mushroom cream sauce doesn't use flour as a thickener. You'll just need to swap one ingredient: either the fried onions (if you're using store-bought), or the panko breadcrumbs if you are going with homemade. I've been able to find really high-quality gluten-free panko bread crumbs at my regular supermarket, but if you're having trouble tracking it down, you can also find them online.
🥣 Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe How-To
Step 1: Whir all the ingredients for the mushroom cream sauce in a blender until smooth.
Step 2: Transfer the cream sauce to a medium saucepan and heat until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. It should take about five minutes, and be about the thickness of Thanksgiving gravy.
Step 3: Trim your green beans and blanch them in boiling water for 6-8 minutes. They'll still have a little crispness to them, but be overall tender. You're not looking to cook them all the way here-just to soften them up a bit and get them ready to absorb the luscious mushroom sauce. Drain and set aside.
Step 4: Mix the mushroom cream sauce with the green beans, cheddar cheese, and some of the crispy onions.
Step 5: Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. The casserole should be nice and bubbly by then.
Step 6: Sprinkle the rest of the crispy onions on top of the casserole and bake for another 10 minutes to turn the onions golden-brown and crisp.
🙋🏻♀️ Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe FAQs
You sure do! Skip that step, and you'll end up with a lot of bites that are raw and crunchy, with some bites of overcooked mush. A quick blanch makes the green beans crisp-tender, bright green, and full of flavor.
This is the question that sparked the entire basis of me testing this recipe! I knew that canned, condensed cream of mushroom played a big role in the traditional recipe, but I long ago nixed condensed soups from my pantry.
So what do you substitute for the cream of mushroom soup instead? Easy. A simple mushroom cream sauce that you make using fresh ingredients like baby bella mushrooms and garlic. Don't be intimidated! The creamy mushroom sauce is a breeze to make, and oh my, does it taste so much brighter and more flavorful than anything you can get from the can. You won't be sorry!
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👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- Reheat it properly: Cooked green bean casserole will easily last in the fridge for up to a week. But step away from the microwave! It will turn your casserole rubbery-blech. Instead, reheat it in the oven or toaster oven. Cover casserole tightly with foil and bake at 350°F until warmed through, then remove the foil and put the pan under the broiler for a minute or two to crisp up the onions.
- Make ahead: Prepare the casserole through pouring it into the casserole dish, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Keep the crispy onions for the topping outside of the fridge though! Let the green bean casserole warm up on the counter for an hour before baking and topping as directed.
- Don't freeze: As far as freezing uncooked, I actually don't recommend that, because the structure of the beans will change. They end up much mushier and release more water. You're better off making it a day or two in advance and letting it rest covered in the fridge until it's time to bake.
🦃 More Great Thanksgiving Recipes:
If you tried this fresh green bean casserole recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Fresh Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
For the Mushroom Cream Sauce:
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 ounces fresh mushrooms chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Casserole:
- 1 ½ pounds fresh or frozen green beans defrosted, trimmed and cut (about 5 cups)
- 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups crispy fried onions store bought, or use the option in the notes, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9" x 13" casserole dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
- Prepare the mushroom cream sauce: in a blender, combine all the ingredients for the mushroom cream sauce. Blend until smooth. Pour into a medium size sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- If using fresh green beans: Bring a saucepan full of water to a boil. Add in the green beans and cook until just crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Drain and set aside. If using frozen, defrost fully, drain water, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the mushroom cream sauce, green beans, cheddar cheese, and 1 cup of the crispy fried onions. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly. Top casserole with remaining crispy onions and then return to the oven for 10 minutes or until onions are brown and crispy.
Notes
- You can use store bought crispy fried onions for a classic version, or for a from-scratch variation, you can make your own parmesan fried onions. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced and sauté until tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer the onions to a small bowl. Mix in ¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese, ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs, and ¼ salt. Spread on a lined baking sheet and bake in a 425°F oven for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Use as listed in the recipe.
- This can be made two days ahead of time. Prepare as listed up until the baking step, just keep the reserved crispy onions aside in a separate container. Cover the casserole and pop it in the fridge. Make sure to bring it out on the counter to warm up for 60 minutes before baking.
- We love baby Bella mushrooms for a stronger mushroom flavor, but button mushrooms are also delicious.
Nutrition
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Fresh, crisp green beans take green bean casserole to the next level! Enjoy this for your next Thanksgiving.