Minus the canned beans and canned condensed soup. This is a fresh, almost 100% from-scratch green bean casserole! Sound the trumpets!
I haven’t made it a secret around these parts that me and vegetables haven’t really always been BFF. Truthfully, we still aren’t. I don’t really eat a ton of vegetables, even though I know I should, and I have a pretty standard selection that I stick with – mushrooms, raw spinach (NEVER cooked), peppers, onions, carrots, celery, broccoli sometimes, and well, hmm, I can’t think of much more. I have never been a green bean fan. I’ve always wanted to be, though. They remind me of my grandfather and his huge, impeccably cared for garden. And seeing bushels of green beans freshly picked and sitting in their kitchen, ready for my grandma to trim and cook in some way. But unfortunately I never took to the green bean. So for me to say that I actually REALLY LIKED this is a massive, massive endorsement. I have tried the typical “semi-homemade” version at countless holiday tables – canned green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup, etc. Let’s just say that version was no help in my quest to find vegetables that I could tolerate. THIS version, however? It’s a beauty. I actually ate green beans. Like, forkful after forkful. Without any prompting from a parental figure (yes, I’m 30). Talk about a breakthrough. It’s amazing what a difference fresh, from scratch, and homemade can do to a dish.
Now, I can’t sell this as 100% from scratch and homemade because it does contain canned fried onions. What can I say? I hardly ever eat a casserole, but a casserole with those suckers on them? Just so good. However, I would like to try it with my own caramelized onions, and in the event that you would too, I included that option in the recipe below.
This is one of those classic Thanksgiving side dishes that many families simply can’t live without, and I hope you enjoy this fresh version!
One year ago: Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Crisp Squares
Fresh Green Bean Casserole
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes | Bake Time: 15 minutes
For the Topping:
4 slices white bread, each slices torn into quarters
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups canned fried onions (about 6 ounces)For the Beans and Sauce:
2 tablespoons salt
2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed, and halved
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound white button mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and broken into ½-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups chicken broth
1½ cups heavy cream1. For the Topping: Pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with onions; set aside.
2. For the Beans and Sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and beans. Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Drain beans in colander and plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking. Spread beans on paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
3. Add butter to now-empty pot and melt over medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add mushrooms, garlic, ¾ teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add cream, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3½ cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated. Arrange in an even layer in 3-quart (or 9×13-inch) baking dish. Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.
*Note 1: You can prep this ahead of time. Store the bread-crumb topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator and combine with the onions just before cooking. Combine the beans and cooled sauce in a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To serve, remove the plastic wrap and heat the casserole in a 425-degree oven for 10 minutes, then add the topping and bake as directed.
*Note 2: This recipe can be halved and baked in a 2-quart (or 8-inch square) baking dish. If making a half batch, reduce the cooking time of the sauce in Step 3 to about 6 minutes (1¾ cups) and the baking time in Step 4 to 10 minutes.
*Note 3: If you want to go 100% homemade and eliminate the canned fried onions, you can make your own caramelized onions. Thinly slice 2 sweet onions and saute in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the onions are golden, caramelized and soft. Set aside to cool before combining with remainder of crumb topping. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
(Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, November 2006)
Tags: Green Beans, Thanksgiving, Vegetables
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This is awesome! I really am not fond of green beans (or many vegetables) either so I know where you’re coming from. And I’ve never liked the traditional green bean casserole. I may try this for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Do you think it would be okay to use frozen green beans? Fresh ones are really not in my budget!
Also, we spoke awhile back (when you allowed me to post your Royal Icing tutorial on my Christmas blog during Christmas in July) about you possibly doing a guest post during the holiday season. I will officially start posting Christmas stuff over there on the day after Thanksgiving. Would you be willing to do a guest post some time between that date and Christmas? I really would love to have you! Just shoot me an email and let me know: truebookaddict@gmail.com Thanks!
Hi Michelle, Yeah I don’t see why you couldn’t use frozen beans. Go for it!
I will email you about the guest post!
Do you need to defrost the frozen green beans or just use them as is?
Hi Susan, I would thaw them and drain off any collected moisture so they are as close to fresh as possible when they go into the recipe.
yummy! I’m baking this to share on Christmas day dinner with my Puruvian relatives:) Substituting vegetable broth, though for the chicken…less sodium! Thanks for sharing! Merry Christmas!
thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! i love that it doesn’t call for canned beans or condensed soup. this casserole looks delicious!
I love green beans! This would be an awesome toss up to my regular steamed version. Not liking veggies is normal, I think, but I love them. Thanks for this!
I was fortunate to come across this recipe in Cook’s Illustrated long ago and have been making it ever since. It is awesome and you will never want to eat the old casserole again!
This is one of my favorite side dishes! Love your photos!
Despite loving green beans, this has always been one of those Thanksgiving side dishes I skipped – I’m not a fan of the condensed soup and mushy green beans. This looks awesome however, and I’m glad that you kept the canned onions in – they’re a processed food I can get on board with
Mmmmm! I am a huge fan of green beans (but hate cream of anything soup), so I will definitely be giving this recipe a try. Thanks!!
Absolutely beautiful casserole, Michelle! I can’t stand the “usual” green bean casserole either, but I am drooling over your homemade version and I can’t wait to try it!
I love green bean casserole (I always used cream of celery soup instead of c. of mushroom since mushrooms are not my thing).
However- I would MUCH rather enjoy a homemade version! I love homemade, fresh foods and I am SOOOOO glad you posted this one!
I will MOST definitely be making this recipe this year and I am sure it will now be the go-to recipe for years to come. (although, I will still minus the mushrooms, no offense).
Thanks!!! I love this site!!!
I have never seen green beans look any better. This is truely one knockout of a side dish for Thanksgiving.
I love that you added additional crunch on the top with the breadcrumbs – most versions I’ve seen seem to only call for onions ontop. More crunch is great in my book!
Blog Mind-meld!
I posted the same thing today. Your version looks awesome
http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/11/green-bean-casserole-from-scratch/
Great minds think alike, Nick!
I love finding homemade recipes for things like this! So much tastier and healthier!
I love your blog so much. I have so many recipes from you starred in my google reader and queued up in my “to make” list. This looks awesome and I’m definitely adding it to my Thanksgiving menu this year – the first Thanksgiving I’ll be cooking myself! (Thankfully it’s just me and my hubby so it’s not a lot of pressure!) (Although I’d definitely prefer to be able to go home and let my mom do the cooking, haha)
Aw, thank you Suzi
Have fun cooking dinner with your hubby!
Beautiful pictures! Makes me crave this casserole for the holiday. Great post!
I’ve actually never been a green bean casserole person… mostly because we never had them in my fam and I don’t like cream of anything soups in a can. But this sounds awesome with the homemade sauce. Definitely something I would devour!
Ok, ok I’ll try it. I have never understood the big deal about green bean casserole. I had it once at a potluck and I wasn’t really thrilled, but then again I was distracted by the huge pile of chocolate brownies that someone had made. I was asked to bring this to a holiday dinner and I totally planned on rebelling and showing up with something totally different. But you make it look so attractive in the photos…and since you have provided a recipe I will take that as a sign. I’ll give it a chance.
I love green beans! My friends always say I’m weird,I cann’t help it I love most veggies! Now donn’t get me wrong I like meat and love sweets ,but I love veggies too! Great job on this casserole ! I’m adding it to my To Make list for Thanksgiving.Thanks for sharing!
Yep. Been making this one for years and posted the recipe (sans pictures because, well, I just want to eat it and not take pictures of it) last night.
http://waymorehomemaderecipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/green-bean-casserole.html
Omg…I just bookmarked this. Last year, my newly vegetarian daughter, begged me to make green bean casserole. I was busy, so I made the “other” version. Believe it or not, I totally f****d it up. Or maybe it’s just gross. We only ate the canned onions. I’ll just swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth and we will be all good. Thank you!
So glad to see a fresh version of green bean casserole! My hubby loves green bean casserole, but I can never get over what’s in it. Whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, I will definitely be making your version this year!
Fresh green beans are the best!
Love the 99.99999% homemade version!
I think all green bean casseroles needs some crunchy onions on top..and really, who wants to make those from scratch????
I AM getting awfully tired of the canned version. This one looks/sounds fantastic!!!
This looks amazing. I love green bean casserole (but I live with someone who doesn’t – he’s not sitting next to me sighing as i post this or anything) and with Thanksgiving right around the corner I am dying for some. I would really love to update my step-moms classic Campbells version for something tastier.
This sounds wonderful…so much better than condensed mushroom soup! Great photos as always…Theresa
Okay this looks so yummy it has to be on my Thanksgiving table this year. I’m printing the recipe now.
Thank You for sharing it with us.
This is such a great Thanksgiving staple yet I’ve never actually made it so thanks for the recipe!
I’m so excited to see this recipe! I asked and you posted! And you don’t even like green beans. That’s impressive. Even more impressive this dish has perhaps converted you to the dark side? How dark is is it with creamy mushroom sauce and crispy fried onions. Yum. I know everyone says, I’m so making this….but I AM so making this.
I have to admit, I actually like the canned version of green bean casserole. But a fresh version does definitely sound more appealing!
Oh, how I heart thee! I LOVE Green Bean Casserole! I’ve never done the bread topping. I used to do the fried onions but have since switched over to crushing up some good ol’ corn flakes
Works like a charm! But yes, 99-100% from scratch green bean casserole is superior to all others. The pictures you took are fabulous, too!
Congratulations on the top 9!! This is such a great post!
I am adding this to my thanksgiving table, thanks for the fresh version. Yum!
I must also admit that I love the canned soup version of green bean casserole….I did a test run of this recipe last night…and I really enjoyed it. I will probably sub milk for cream in the future, and leave off the extra breadcrumb topping, but I will definitely make it on Thursday.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I green bean casserole without canned soup. I LOVE IT. This will be on my menu. yum
Excellent! I love everything fresh, especially green beans so I was excited to see this recipe. I made it this morning for our Thanksgiving dinner a few hours ago and it was such a hit!!! It was obvious to everyone who ate it that it tasted so much better than the popular version. Although this recipe required a little more effort, it was sure worth it. Now I wish I would’ve made more for leftovers. Thanks for a great recipe! Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you too Theresa! I’m so glad your guests enjoyed the fresh casserole!
All I can say is YUM!! The sauce was so delicious I could have eaten it by the spoon fulls. I didn’t put the mushrooms in due to my mom is allergic to them. I used fresh green beans. I will definitely make this again. Everyone at dinner raved about this casserole. Thanksgiving keeper. Thank you!!
You’re welcome Patty! I totally agree about the sauce – it’s AWESOME!
Your recipe was posted.
This was my favorite dish at Thanksgiving. Thanks for the awesome recipe, I think I will be making this dish every year from now on. I wrote about in my cooking blog if you want to look at.
Yay! So glad it was a holiday hit! Thank you for sharing!
I made a casserole very similar to this for Thanksgiving this year- I LOVE green beans but am over the canned garbage- tastes too processed for me. I also used the french fried onions- those are just too tasty to ignore! But added bacon and 3/4 c grated white cheddar cheese. OMG! Couldn’t really taste the cheese but gives it an incredible creaminess.
Bacon and cheese make everything infinitely better, in my humble opinion
I don’t go mad for green beans but this looks so tasty, I think I could eat a meal of it all on my own! Shame we don’t have Thanksgiving over here in Australia…but I’m going to make it soon anyway.
Ohhh, those fried onions are so good aren’t they…great looking casserole, so much better than canned green beans!
This recipe was delicious! I made the green bean casserole yesterday and it turned out amazing and loved by all! I love your blog and all the great recipes you share!
I’m so glad I googled “green bean casserole”! I really dislike the canned version and my sister asked me to bring the casserole for Easter dinner. Now I can eat it, too! I don’t have heavy cream on hand so I’ll use whole milk with greek yogurt and maybe some ricotta cheese. Thank you so much and am definitely bookmarking your site! ~ Michaele
This recipe looks great! Can it be frozen?
Hi Cathie, I have never tried to freeze this; doing so might alter the texture of the fresh green beans, but I can’t say for sure.
I’m starting to plan my Thanksgiving menu and stumbled across your site. Your casserole looks and sounds FANTASTIC!!! I want to rush home and make this tonight! My son in-law loves green bean casserole, but I can’t stand anything with cream of fill in the blank soup. I think this is going to make everyone happy! Thanks for the recipe.
I made this last year, and ended up just using canned green beans. Fresh green beans and I don’t get along- but it was SO delicious even with the canned product! Definitely making it again this year, and probably every year from now on! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Michelle!
If I’m omitting the mushrooms, should I add more green beans to make up for this?
Hi Hayley, I don’t think you need to, you can just omit the mushrooms without making any changes.
Thanks for the recipe. I abhor canned veg second only to canned, cream soup and those *****bloody onion rings. I have a healthy supply of haricot vert (wee little green beans—try them sometime, they are delightful) and plan to make this topped with toasted panko crumbs mixed with browned butter and several crumbled slices of bacon. I’ll let you know how it turns out: I also may have the haricot vert with caramelized shallots and toasted sliced almonds.
Thanks for the lovely recipes you always share with us.
Michelle -
Do you think I could make the casserole a day before hand and then add the topping prior to cooking?
Thanks!
Hi Erin, Yes you can make this ahead of time. Check out “Note #1″ towards the end of the recipe – it outlines how to make and store it ahead of time.
I made this tonight. I love love love it!!!! I added chopped onions & bacon bits to the mushrooms & garlic & sauteed until onions were cooked. I also reduced the butter by half when processing the bread slices. And I used 3 cans french style green beans (it’s winter, fresh aren’t in season
. Cut the cream to only 1 cup & added 1/2 cup skim milk. Had to add more flour to thicken it up. DELICIOUS!!!!
Great recipe though I added 1 bayleaf to mix while simmering – however, unless i am missing something, how does 3 cups of liquid equate to 3.5 cups when it comes to the reduction?
It’s not just the broth and cream – there is liquid released from the mushrooms, melted butter, and the addition of flour to the mixture.
thank you so much for posting this and sharing about how it changed how you feel about vegetables. this is one of my husband’s favorite meals, and when i told him i was making it differently than the standard, he was skeptical. well, he’s raving now! it was amazing and we’ll never go back to the old version.
This was a huge hit at Thanksgiving dinner. Wonderful!
The Green Bean Cassarole was delicious. I made for Thanksgiving dinner and it was a big success. Everyone loved it. Thanks for sharing such a yummy recipe. It was worth the extra work to make because I got lots of compliments on it.
I made this casserole yesterday, and it was fantastic! I did a half recipe, but made slightly more of the topping (3 pieces of bread instead of 2) and it was perfect!! I plan to make this every year now.
Hi Michelle! I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a smashing success!! I usually bring homemade rolls, but my Mom decided to mix it up and give us all something different to make. I have never eaten green bean casserole in my life, but I was hooked and went back for seconds! My oldest brother had 3 helpings! I was receiving feedback all day from everyone on how amazing it was! I felt really special…thank YOU for that!
The only problem I had was when it said to reduce the sauce down for 12 minutes until about 3 1/2 cups. I ended up with less than 2 1/2, but I think that any more than that would have been too much so…no problem, It was perfect!! Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes and helping us to look so amazing! Love your site name, I have brown eyes too and so I warmed right up to the name!
this recipe is awesome! I used frozen green beans…and added a little bit of cheese…. Delicious! A little time consuming, but sooooooo worth it. Can’t wait to make it again.
This was DELICIOUS! Everyone loved it. This is my only green been casserole recipe from now on. Word of caution – my topping almost burned so keep a close eye on it. Thank you for posting such a wonderful recipe!
I made this for Thanksgiving with my folks in Florida and everyone said it was the absolute best green bean casserole they have EVER had! I have already been told I have to make it for Christmas too, and probably for all future get togethers. Appreciate the inspiration and am now following you on FoodBuzz and Facebook!
Michelle, this looks delicious–thanks for the healthy alterations! If I am not a fan of dairy, do you think it would be possible to add more broth and just thicken it with flour in place of the heavy cream? I appreciate your help!
Hi Sarah, You could do this, although you’ll end up with more of a “chicken and dumplings” sort of sauce vs. the traditional green bean casserole creamy sauce. The broth and extra flour will definitely thicken, it just depends on the flavor you want.
While I was making this, I had a sudden concern that one of my dinner guests might have a lactose intolerance, so all the cream wouldn’t be appropriate. So I decided to use white wine in the sauce instead. But then I got a phone call from that guest, who said that she had no problem with cream, so I put it in, too!
The result had a rich, sophisticated flavor. I’d suggest putting in a lot less wine than cream – about a half cup.
This was the hit of the meal – everyone went back for seconds.
Never made the canned soup recipe, but have had it elsewhere, blah. Made this version for Christmas dinner. It was great and was a hit with everyone. Love your blog! It’s always my go to place for a new recipe. So far this casserole, Lofthouse Cookies, Buffalo Chicken dip, Jalapeno poppers, Gruyere tartlets, Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies, just to name a few. One party I only used your appetizer recipes.
. I have an item to add to your list to must try recipes….Liege waffles. Two day process, but OMG awesome. Eat fresh, plain, or topped with strawberries, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. NO comparison to plain Belgium waffles. You do need to get Belgian Pearl Sugar (not Swedish pearl sugar). Best place to get is http://www.belgianpearlsugar.com/. Searched many recipes but settled on one from another blogger. http://sarahsjoys.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/liege-waffles/
Really worth a try. Keep up the good food work!
As I didn’t have heavy cream but had plenty of butter, here’s what I did: used 1/2 cup butter to saute the mushrooms and garlic, then used 6 tablespoons flour to thicken the milk/chicken stock mixture. So I got a rich sauce by different means
For the topping, I caramelized two quartered and sliced yellow onions in 2 tablespoons butter and stirred that together with 1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds.
Really good and so much better than canned! Thanks for the recipe.