Green Bean Casserole Recipe (Fresh, Creamy and Delicious)

• Food: Green Bean Casserole 
• Writer: Nicolas Wilson
• Content-Type: Food Blog

You’ll never need another green bean casserole recipe again! It’s a surefire favorite with fresh green beans, crispy roasted onions, and a creamy mushroom sauce.

For years, I’ve had a green bean casserole recipe on my to-do list. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition in my family, and it’s a veggie-centric dish in theory: it has a creamy mushroom sauce and lots of crunchy onions, and the green beans are the star!

It was a logical contender for a Love and Lemons meal prepared with whole foods components, just like sweet potato casserole.

For a long time, something else — Brussels sprouts kick, my beloved Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells, or even just really wonderful green beans on their own – would push it off my list.

But this year, I finally got around to developing my own green bean casserole recipe, and I have to admit, the results are absolutely delicious!

Ingredients for Green Bean Casserole

Because Jack and I both enjoy mushrooms, I substitute a tangy, creamy homemade mushroom sauce for the conventional cream of mushroom soup.

Mushrooms, thyme, and Dijon mustard are one of my favorite flavors, so I use them here, along with tamari to enhance the mushroom flavor and Parmesan cheese for umami.

I hope you’ll enjoy this sauce; it’s so delicious that I could eat it with a spoon!

Then I use fresh green beans instead of canned or frozen green beans. They come out bright green and with a great al dente bite when I blanch them before baking them in the dish. Yum!

Last but not least, I substitute a large pile of crispy baked onions for the canned French fried onions.

These guys are the perfect finishing touch for this nutritious green bean casserole, with a delightful oniony flavor and crisp texture. Tip: In each bite, try to get a little bit of everything!

Green Bean Casserole: How to Make It?

The crispy onions, green beans, and mushroom sauce are the three main ingredients in this green bean casserole recipe.

Begin by chopping the onions. Toss the onions with olive oil, flour, salt, and panko after slicing them into thin half-moons. Spread them out on two large baking pans in a uniform layer and roast until golden brown and crisping up, stirring every 10 minutes.

The green beans should next be blanched. Add the green beans to a big pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring periodically, for 4 minutes, or until the beans are slightly soft and bright green.

To stop the cooking process, drain them and place them in a large dish of ice water. Spread them out on a kitchen towel to dry after they’ve cooled.

Make the sauce next. Sauté the mushrooms until softened, then season with tamari, garlic, and thyme. Combine flour, almond milk, and Dijon mustard in a mixing bowl.

Cook for around 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. After that, add the Parmesan cheese and black pepper to taste.

Finally, combine all of the ingredients and bake! Using a thin layer of the sauce, cover the bottom of a greased baking dish. Place the green beans on top and pour the remaining sauce over them.

Top with the crispy onions and bake for 10 minutes, covered. Remove the cover from the baking dish and bake for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tips for the Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe

• Keep an eye out for haricots verts. This recipe can be made with any sort of fresh green beans, but we found that thin haricots verts yielded the finest results. Because they’re smaller than conventional green beans, they blend in better with the sauce and onion topping. They also have a delectable crisp texture!
• While the onions are cooking, keep an eye on them and rotate the pans. Rotate the baking sheets after tossing the onions every 10 minutes as they cook. This helps ensure even cooking – you don’t want one pan to burn before the other has a chance to crisp up! Near the conclusion of the cooking period, keep an eye on them because they can suddenly move from perfect to charred.
• Make sure your green beans are completely dry before cooking. Nobody wants a wet green bean casserole, so make sure to completely dry the green beans after blanching them!
• Make it ahead of time! This green bean casserole can be made up to a day ahead of time. Make the sauce, bake the crispy onions, and blanch the green beans. After that, assemble the casserole with the sauce and green beans, cover, and chill until ready to serve. Separately store the crispy onions at room temperature. When ready to serve, top with the crispy onions and continue with the procedure, baking the casserole until heated through. Enjoy!

Green Bean Casserole

You’ll never need another green bean dish again! It’s healthful and tasty, with crunchy roasted onions, a creamy mushroom sauce, and fresh green beans.

Ingredients

Crispy onions

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs, plus more for sprinkling
• ½ teaspoon salt

Filling

• 1½ pounds green beans, trimmed and halved
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 16 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. To make the crispy onions, follow these steps: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 2 big baking sheets should be lined with parchment paper, and a 9×13-inch baking dish should be lightly greased.
2. Toss the onions with the oil, flour, panko, and salt in a large mixing basin. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes and rotating the pans in the oven as needed until lightly browned and crispy. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and reduce the temperature to 400°F.
3. Prepare the filling as follows: Set a large bowl of ice water nearby and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place the green beans in a pot of boiling water for 4 minutes to blanch. To stop the cooking process, drain and immediately immerse in icy water. Drain and set aside to dry on a towel.
4. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Combine the tamari, garlic, and thyme in a mixing bowl. Mix in the flour with the mushrooms once more. Stir in the almond milk and mustard until everything is well combined. Cook for 20 minutes, whisking often until the sauce has thickened. Add the Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.
5. 1/3 of the sauce should be spread into the baking dish. Green beans are layered on top, and the remaining sauce is drizzled on top. Sprinkle the onions on top and bake for 10 minutes, covered. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes. Cover the dish for the remainder of the baking time if the onions begin to brown too much. If preferred, top with a sprinkling of panko and Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Notes

• To make this vegan, leave out the cheese and season the mushroom sauce with a few additional pinches of salt.