Green Bean Casserole

This green bean casserole recipe is an updated take on the classic dish. It's made from scratch with fresh green beans and a creamy mushroom sauce.

Green bean casserole

Green bean casserole is always on my family’s Thanksgiving menu, right alongside the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. We, like many folks, made the version with Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, French fried onions, and canned green beans for years…until I set myself the task of making a homemade green bean casserole from scratch.

Let me introduce you to the results: this green bean casserole recipe. It stars fresh green beans, crispy baked onions, and a rich and creamy mushroom sauce that blows the canned soup out of the water. Once I tried it, I couldn’t go back to the Campbell’s version, and I don’t think you’ll be able to either. This green bean casserole recipe is fresh, colorful, and packed with savory flavor. Add it to your holiday table this year, and it’s guaranteed to be a hit.

Green bean casserole recipe ingredients

Green Bean Casserole Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this green bean casserole recipe:

  • Fresh green beans, of course! I like haricots verts best here, but any fresh green beans will do. In a pinch, frozen green beans are a fine substitute.
  • Cremini mushrooms – For the creamy homemade mushroom sauce. Swap in white button mushrooms if you prefer!
  • Tamari or soy sauce – It brings out the mushrooms’ umami flavor.
  • Garlic and thyme – They add fresh, savory flavor to the sauce.
  • Dijon mustard – It makes the sauce taste nice and tangy.
  • Milk (any kind!) and Parmesan cheese – They give the mushroom sauce its creamy texture. The Parmesan adds rich, nutty flavor too!
  • All-purpose flour – It thickens the mushroom sauce and helps the onions crisp up in the oven.
  • Yellow onions – You’ll thinly slice them for the crispy onion topping.
  • Panko breadcrumbs – They work with the flour to make the onions crispy.
  • Extra-virgin olive oil – It adds richness to the sauce and helps the onions crisp up as they bake.
  • And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Hands tossing onions in a bowl

How to Make Green Bean Casserole

This green bean casserole recipe has three components: the crispy onions, the green beans, and the mushroom sauce. You can find the complete recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s an overview of how it goes:

Start with the onions. Thinly slice the onions and toss them with olive oil, flour, salt, and panko. Spread them in an even layer on two large baking sheets and roast until they’re golden brown and beginning to crisp up, tossing them every 10 minutes.

  • Variation: Short on time? Streamline this recipe by using store-bought French fried onions instead of these crispy baked ones.

Onions on a baking sheet

Then, blanch the green beans. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the green beans. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are crisp-tender and vibrant green. Drain them, and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. After they’ve cooled, spread them on a kitchen towel to dry.

Green beans in a colander

Next, make the sauce. Sauté the mushrooms until they’re soft, and stir in tamari, garlic, and thyme for flavor. Sprinkle in some flour, and add milk and Dijon mustard. Simmer until thickened, around 20 minutes. Then, stir in Parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Creamy mushroom sauce in a skillet

Finally, assemble and bake! Cover the bottom of a greased baking dish with a thin layer of the sauce. Pile in the tender green beans, and spread the rest of the sauce on top. Sprinkle with the crispy onions, and bake, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover the baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes more.

Enjoy!

How to make green bean casserole

Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe Tips

  • Look for haricots verts. Any type of fresh green beans will work in this recipe, but we had the best results with thin haricots verts. They’re slimmer than regular green beans, which helps them integrate with the sauce and onion topping. Plus, they have a delicious snappy texture!
  • Watch the onions as they cook, and rotate the pans. When you toss the onions every 10 minutes as they cook, rotate their baking sheets. This will help ensure even cooking—you don’t want one pan to burn before the other gets crispy! Watch them closely near the end of the cooking time, as they can quickly go from just right to burned.
  • Or use store-bought French fried onions. Want to streamline this recipe? Replace the crispy baked onions with 1 1/2 cups French fried onions.
  • Make sure your green beans are dry. No one likes a watery green bean casserole, so make sure to dry the green beans thoroughly after you blanch them!

Crispy onions on a baking sheet

Can you make green bean casserole ahead of time?

Yes! You can make this green bean casserole recipe up to a day in advance. Here’s how:

  1. Bake the crispy onions, and store them at room temperature.
  2. Blanch the green beans.
  3. Make the mushroom cream sauce.
  4. Assemble the casserole with the sauce and green beans. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator until just before serving.
  5.  When you’re ready to bake, uncover the casserole and add the crispy onions. Bake the casserole according to the recipe until it’s heated through.

Storage

This green bean casserole recipe is best on the day it’s made, but leftovers keep well for up to 2 days. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, and reheat in the microwave or a 350°F oven.

Best green bean casserole recipe

More Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

If you love this green bean casserole recipe, try one of these Thanksgiving side dishes next:

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Green Bean Casserole

rate this recipe:
5 from 37 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves 8
This green bean casserole recipe is an updated twist on the classic holiday side dish. Made with fresh green beans and a creamy homemade mushroom sauce, it's healthy and delicious. I like to top it with crispy baked onions (see the notes below!), but store-bought French fried onions work here too.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set a large bowl of ice water nearby. Drop the green beans into the boiling water and blanch for 4 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain, and transfer to a towel to dry.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the mushrooms, and cook until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tamari, garlic, and thyme. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir again. Add the milk and mustard and stir to combine. Simmer until thickened, whisking often, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and pepper.
  • Spread ⅓ of the sauce into the baking dish. Layer with green beans and top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the onions on top and bake, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes. If the onions start to brown too much, cover the dish for the remainder of the baking time. Garnish with sprinkles of Parmesan, if desired. Serve hot.

Notes

For the Crispy Baked Onions: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Thinly slice 2 medium yellow onions. In a large bowl, toss the onions with 4 teaspoons olive oil, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Spread evenly onto the baking sheets and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes (rotating the pans in the oven as necessary), until lightly browned and crispy. Store at room temperature until you're ready to assemble the casserole.
For vegan green bean casserole: Omit the cheese and add a few extra pinches of salt to the mushroom sauce.

 

43 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. MartiM
    11.22.2023

    5 stars
    Made according to recipe. Was really really good. Only added a bit of apple cider vinegar and red pepper at the end. Really a nice change from traditional. Thank you.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.23.2023

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  2. Elizabeth
    11.22.2023

    Hi! Thanks for this great recipe! I’m planning on using my crockpot instead since my small oven will be busy with other dishes….how could I adapt for crockpot? Thanks!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.23.2023

      Hi Elizabeth, I’m not sure, I think the mushroom sauce would work fine, but I would recommend baking it in a dish so that the onions get/stay crispy.

  3. Susan
    11.19.2023

    I’m planning to make this for Thanksgiving because it sounds like it will taste WAY better than the recipes using canned stuff and I just had a question about the instructions. It says to layer sauce, beans, sauce and I was wondering why you don’t mix the beans into the sauce and then put it all in the dish together and then top with the onions. I’m guessing that it melds together as it cooks, but is there a reason you don’t mix them together beforehand? I feel like you’d get more consistent bean/sauce melding if you did, but I didn’t want to mix them and mess it up if you’ve tried it and gotten better results layering them. I’m sure that presentation-wise, it looks better as written, but I’m not overly concerned about that since no matter what I do, it’s going to look better than the canned version!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.19.2023

      Hi Susan, yes, between the sauce on the bottom and top of the green beans, it melds together. If you’d prefer to mix it together first, that would work too.

  4. Caroline
    11.17.2023

    Can you assemble the night before and cook the next day? Thanks!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.17.2023

      Hi Caroline, you can assemble the green beans and mushroom sauce in the baking dish the night before. I’d keep the crispy onions separate at room temperature until you’re ready to bake.

  5. Christy
    11.25.2021

    I can’t wait to try this casserole. Which size baking dish is best for these proportions?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.26.2021

      Hi Christy, you can use a 9×13 baking dish.

  6. Christy
    11.22.2021

    My sister and niece are vegan. The rest of us love Parmesan. Is there a way substitute that will not have an overpowering taste of yeast?
    Thank you!

    • Christy
      11.22.2021

      Oops—Is there a way to substitute some other ingredient…

  7. Becca
    11.17.2021

    Do I have to use almond milk?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.18.2021

      Hi Becca, you can use any milk.

  8. Jaymee
    11.15.2021

    Is there another vegan substitute you could use for the parmesan cheese, as that would help thicken the sauce as well. I might add some mushroom powder, and black salt for umami, but that won’t increase the thickness of the sauce.

  9. Eleni
    10.07.2021

    Hi!

    I’d love to make this for Canadian Thanksgiving and was wondering if this could be made 2 days in advance? We’re travelling and prefer to have it done ahead of time before leaving.

    Cheers!

  10. Linda
    08.21.2021

    How many cans of cream of mushroom soup should I use – I have many in the pantry that I would like to use up.

  11. Heather
    03.27.2021

    Hi there, I know I’m a little late to the game with this recipe, but wondering if you have any suggestions for making it a vegetarian main dish casserole? (By adding protein and starch of some sort…)

  12. Annette
    12.29.2020

    5 stars
    Have always loved Green Bean Casserole, but haven’t made it in years because it’s just not Healthy. This recipe was a great find, and has found a permanent home in my recipe box. Thank you!

  13. Sarah
    12.03.2020

    Hello! Could I sub gluten free flour and bread crumbs to make this a GF dish?

    • Alison
      12.06.2020

      I did and it turned out great

  14. Jacky P
    11.29.2019

    5 stars
    OMG this was delicious!!! Everyone liked it at our Thanksgiving Celebration.
    I changed Tamari for Coconut Aminos as we try not to use soy. I also used Almond Flour and Gluten Free Panko to make it Gluten Free. I decided to Omit the Parmesan Cheese as we are dairy free.
    It was delicious!!!! Thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.08.2019

      Hi Jacky, I’m so glad this was such a hit! Thanks for coming back with your notes about making it gluten free – I’m happy to hear that it was so great with almond flour.

      • Jeanine Donofrio
        11.26.2020

        It’s supposed to be thick, not runny – it should be clumpy from the mushrooms, if it’s clumpy otherwise, try sprinkling in the flour slower, while whisking.

  15. Lauren
    11.27.2019

    I’m having trouble with my onions. I’m following your recipe step by step, but no matter what I do they keep coming out burnt only after 20 minutes. Any suggestions on what I can do to get that golden brown?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.27.2019

      Hi Lauren, I wonder if you’re slicing them thinner than I was. I’d try slicing them a tad thicker… if they’re still browning too soon, I’d just take them out early. Ovens can really vary and they’ll finish crisping on the final bake. Hope that helps!

    • Lisa
      11.20.2020

      I would try lowering the temp of the oven. Maybe your oven runs hot. One of my ovens does this and I have a hard time with cookies.

  16. Josh
    11.26.2019

    Can the whole dish, minus the crispy onions, be made a day in advance, stored in the fridge, and then baked off day of?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.26.2019

      Yep, it can!

  17. Lauren
    11.25.2019

    Hi – I am planning on making this ahead of time since I am traveling and don’t want it to get cold. My understanding is that I can premake everything, assemble it (minus the onions) and then when I get to my destination, I bake for 10 mins covered and 10 mins uncovered as if I was making it all at once? I don’t want to mess anything up! Thanks!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.26.2019

      Hi Lauren, yes exactly – once you get to your destination, put the onions on top and bake it!

      • Lauren
        11.30.2019

        5 stars
        It was delicious and a huge hit at Thanksgiving dinner, thank you! The onions were burning after 25 minutes, but I was able to salvage most.

  18. Emily
    11.21.2019

    Do you use almond milk as a healthier alternative? Could I still use something like whole milk?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.21.2019

      Hi Emily, I used it because it’s what I keep on hand. You could use whole milk!

  19. Sabrina from newkitchenlife.com
    11.11.2019

    great side dish, a lot of great ingredients that all meld together, thank you

  20. Janet
    11.10.2019

    We are a mushroom-free household. In recipes that have called for cream of mushroom soup, I’ve always substituted a different cream soup (celery, potato, even tomato when it wouldn’t be bizarre). Any suggestions for alternatives in this recipe?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.10.2019

      Hi Janet, any of those subs would work in this recipe as the sauce component, if you prefer.

      • Janet
        11.23.2019

        Any suggestion for substituting for the mushrooms and keeping the rest of the filling recipe? I would rather make something fresh rather than use a canned soup…

        • Jeanine Donofrio
          11.24.2019

          Hi Janet, mushrooms are the main ingredient of the sauce so I don’t have a substitution for them in this recipe.

        • Lisa
          11.20.2020

          I would try riced cauliflower browned in butter. Wouldn’t give the mushroom flavor, but I think it would fill in nicely.

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We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.