Green Bean Casserole is a classic holiday side dish. This casserole is made with fresh green beans, creamy mushrooms sauce, and French’s fried onions. This side dish is incredibly delicious and really easy to make from scratch.
Green Bean Casserole
Green bean casserole is one of Thanksgiving favorite side dishes. It is definitely our favorite.
Original green bean casserole recipe is a simple combination of canned green beans, canned cream of mushrooms soup, and fried onions. It’s a tasty combination of flavors but I prefer to make it from scratch.
It’s not much more difficult to prepare this casserole and it tastes amazing.
Creamy mushroom sauce takes only a few minutes and a few simple ingredients to prepare. Green beans also take about 10 minutes but they can easily be done ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen.
For the fried onions, you can use French’s fried onions, which are so tasty, or you can take it a step further and make your own. I like to use French’s because they really are delicious and because making homemade fried onions would be the longest step in the process.
But, if you wish to make every part homemade, I included steps to make your own fried onions in this post.
Can I make green beans casserole ahead of time?
Yes, there are several ways to save some time and prepare this dish ahead of time.
To save 10 minutes, green beans can be blanched ahead of time and refrigerated. After cooling green beans in an ice bath, pat them dry and put the in a container with a lid. Refrigerate for a day or two.
Green bean casserole can also be prepared almost completely and cooked the next day.
Prepare the casserole up to the step of baking, cover, and refrigerate instead.
When ready, simple cover with foil and bake according to the recipe. Just add about 10 more minutes to bake time under foil since you are starting with a cold casserole.
Blanching green beans:
Why blanch green beans?
The reason for blanching green beans is to preserve the gorgeous, bright green color and the crisp. If you cook green beans without blanching them, they will turn dark green and mushy.
This step takes about 10 minutes but guess what? You can blanch green beans ahead of time and refrigerate (or freeze) them. This way, green beans will be all set to go into the casserole.
Start by snipping the ends off green beans where the bean attached to the vine.
Prepare ice water bowl by combining cold water and a couple of cups of ice in a large mixing bowl.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop green beans in it. Boil them for about 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness).
Take green beans out of the hot water and immediately into the ice water. This will stop green beans and stop the cooking process, preserving color and crunch.
After green beans have cooled, take them out onto a paper towel to pat dry.
Green beans can be cooked in casserole, refrigerated or frozen at this point.
To freeze, pat green beans dry and potion them into freezer bags. Take most of air out, close, label, and freeze.
How to make homemade fried onions:
You will need 1 large yellow onion, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 cup of flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Slice the onion into very thin rings. Submerge sliced onion rings in buttermilk and set aside for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oil in the large pot to 350 (or use a fryer).
Mix four, salt, garlic powder, and pepper in a large shallow bowl. Take onions out of the buttermilk and shake them off, lightly.
Toss onions in the flour mixture until completely coated.
Fry onion straws until golden brown. Take them out onto a paper towel to catch the excess oil.
Use onions right after they are cooked or they will become soggy. (Do not cover them or place in a contained with a lid. The moisture will accumulate and fried onions will be soggy.)
Can I make this green bean casserole gluten free?
Yes, you can make this green bean casserole gluten free.
In the mushroom sauce, use corn starch instead of flour, but not in the same way as the flour. Cook mushrooms and onions and then pour in cream and milk.
Once everything is heated through, mix corn starch with a little bit of cold milk until combined. Pour corn starch mixture into the pan while whisking. Cook until thickened.
For the fried onions, you can get gluten free fried onions at many grocery stores, especially during the holiday season.
If making your own fried onions, use gluten free flour mix instead of regular flour.
Some more side dishes for the holidays:
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Green Bean Casserole
This casserole is made with fresh green beans, creamy mushrooms sauce, and French’s fried onions. This side dish is incredibly delicious and really easy to make from scratch.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs green beans
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves
- 5 tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 6 oz French's fried onion divided
Instructions
Blanch Green beans:
Snip the ends off green beans where the bean attached to the vine. You can cut green beans in half or leave them whole.
Prepare ice water bowl by combining cold water and a couple of cups of ice in a large mixing bowl.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop green beans in it. Boil them for about 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness).
Take green beans out of the hot water and immediately into the ice water.
After green beans have cooled, take them out onto a paper towel to pat dry.
Cream sauce:
Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat.
Slice onions and mushrooms thinly.
Add oil to the pan and onions. Saute until transparent.
Add mushrooms and cook until mostly done.
Mince or press garlic and add it to the pan. Cook until fragrant.
Sprinkle flour over the veggies and stir until veggies are coated in flour.
Start slowly pouring in milk while whisking continuously. Pour in heavy whipping while while still stirring. Continue to stir slowly as the mixture thickens.
Season with salt, and pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Take off heat.
Casserole:
Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
Add green beans into the casserole dish, pour in mushroom cream sauce, and add 1/2 cup of fried onions. Mix everything together until evenly incorporated.
Cover with foil and bake for 35-45 minutes, depending if you want green beans crunchier or softer.
Take the pan out and carefully take off the foil. Spread remaining fried onions over the top and bake for another 7-10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.
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