Looking for a new twist on a holiday classic? This Green Bean Casserole that is made entirely from scratch. Fresh green beans in delicious mushroom cream sauce, baked under a layer of seasoned with herbs and garlic Parmesan breadcrumbs. Your taste buds will thank you!
Looking for recipes for your Thanksgiving table? Why not check out our Thanksgiving Recipe Collection. Everything you need from the main dishes to desserts in one place!
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission.
It’s hard to escape green beans this time of year, and even harder to escape the fame of the legendary Green Bean Casserole. Whether you are a green bean casserole lover or hater, you know exactly what it is or eat least you think you do!
It’s firmly embedded in North American pop culture, and you can hardly find an individual who’s never tasted a version of this infamous casserole.
Now those experiences could be good or bad depending on the quality of said casserole. In my younger days, I was much more tolerant of the canned greens beans being smothered in Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup but I find them difficult to swallow nowadays.
That is why I came up with my own version. Made entirely from scratch, this fresh green bean casserole will win you over and will earn a permanent place on your holiday table. That’s a promise.
Ingredients
When I set out to recreate this famous casserole without the canned cream of mushroom soup all I had to do was to dissect what this dish was. Truth is that it’s no more than a simple vegetable gratin, easy to make using fresh, wholesome ingredients.
The Original Casserole Main Components
- Canned Green Beans
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Fried Onion Topping
This is how I tackled each of them. Canned green beans obviously had to go, and I replaced them with fresh green beans that I previously blanched. Then I turned to the cream of mushroom soup aka mushrooms cream sauce.
Fresh green beans are the star of the show but the creamy sauce they are baked in is no less important. Fortunately it’s not difficult to make a creamy mushroom sauce. I already have plenty of recipes on the blog that are similar like this Creamy Cognac Mushrooms Sauce.
Butter, mushrooms, maybe some garlic and flour for thickening plus heavy cream is the basis for a mushroom sauce. It’s easy, quick and luxurious!
However delicious that mushroom sauce is, it doesn’t taste quite the same as Campbell’s cream of mushroom sauce. It lacks the saltiness since it’s not processed!
Whether it’s good or bad is a topic of another discussion, but for our intent and purposes it wasn’t good enough. The taste wasn’t close enough to the original.
I tried to add a touch of Worcestershire sauce and that moved it closer but still not quite all the way there. A tablespoon of soy sauce and all of a sudden…BINGO. I’ve got my homemade cream of mushroom soup that tastes so similar to the original but BETTER.
The last part was the most difficult. The crunchy topping.
What to use instead of French’s Fried Onions?
I detest deep frying. I never do it. If anything was to deter me from making anything from scratch it would be deep frying. So I decided to replace the fried onion topping with Parmesan breadcrumbs seasoned with a herb and garlic mix.
Same crunchy topping, and the garlic in the breadcrumbs brought in similar notes to the fried onions savoury. Job done!
If you really want to stay a bit closer to the original, just purchase French’s Fried Onions and top your casserole with them. No judging here!
Recipe tips and notes
- Not everyone likes green beans the same way. I like mine slightly crisp, but others prefers something a bit softer. The beans can be boiled for 5 minutes for a crisper texture, or 8 for something more tender.
- For an especially crispy topping, use panko breadcrumbs. They are lighter and flakier than regular breadcrumbs, make for an especially crunchy topping, and will turn a lovely golden brown.
- Don’t worry too much about the mushrooms you choose as it’s hard to go wrong with this casserole. Button or cremini mushrooms will do just fine, but feel free to add in a few more exotic varieties.
- Deglazing the frying pan or skillet with the vegetable or chicken broth is an important way to add more flavour to the green bean mixture. Scrape any burned bits off the pan into the sauce as they carry a lot of flavour with them.
Serving suggestions
When we think of classic Thanksgiving side dish options, green bean casserole is one of the first we will reach for. It’s perfect for the big day, sitting alongside all the other dishes we commonly put out like turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.
Since this version is made with fresh green beans, it’ll bring a bit of lightness to a heavy meal. But not too much of course. It’s still creamy and decadent in all the right ways, just like it should be!
Storage and leftovers
Thanksgiving is all about the leftovers, and I’m sure you’ll have some green bean casserole remaining as well. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap or put leftovers in an airtight container and place in the fridge. It’ll keep for 3-4 days.
If you’ve left it in the baking dish, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before reheating. You can warm it back up by returning the dish to an oven preheated to 180C/350F for 15-20 minutes, or until it is hot all the way through.
If there are only small amounts of leftovers, a microwave will be the better option.
More Green Bean Recipes
- Lemon Butter Green Beans
- Lemon Garlic Green Beans with Parmesan Topping
- Coconut Chicken and Rice with Green Beans
I originally created this recipe for Natasha’s Kitchen in 2018.
Fresh Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lbs fresh green beans, ends trimmed
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 250g/8oz button mushrooms brown or white
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic pressed
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 125ml/1/2cup This is an affiliate link.chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 250ml/1cup double/heavy cream
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
For Parmesan Herb and Garlic Breadcrumb Topping
- 70g/1/2cup dried breadcrumbs
- 40g/1/3cup This is an affiliate link.Parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Cook trimmed green beans in a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes for firmer beans and 8 minutes for softer beans. Drain and set aside until needed.
- While the beans are cooking, mix the breadcrumbs with grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley and garlic powder. Set aside for later.
- In a large pan heat olive oil with butter and saute sliced and seasoned with salt and pepper mushrooms over medium heat until golden and the liquid has evaporated. Move the mushrooms to the side to free some space on a pan and add chopped onions. Saute for 7-10 minutes longer over low heat, then add pressed garlic and cook for a half a minute longer.
- Add flour and stir the mixture together until the flour has mixed in with the fat, continue cooking for a minute or so. Add chicken or vegetable stock and scrape down the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release the burned bits into the pan, add the double/heavy cream, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, bring to a boil and let it simmer until the sauce is thickened. (The sauce will get thicker in the oven.) Add more salt if necessary.
- Add the green beans to the mushroom cream sauce and pour the mixture into a oven proof dish. Top with the Parmesan breadcrumb topping and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then broil/grill for 2-3 minutes longer until the topping is golden. Make sure to watch carefully this step as oven temperatures vary and the breadcrumbs it may burn quickly.
