Green Bean Casserole

This easy green bean casserole is made from scratch with fresh green beans in a creamy mushroom sauce and topped with crispy onions and buttery crumbs. 

I’ve always loved eating green bean casserole on Thanksgiving! Even though I think the canned soup version is tasty, I prefer to make green bean casserole from scratch. I recently saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen, where they prepared an easy green bean casserole recipe using big chunks of mushrooms in the sauce and using homemade buttery crumbs and fried onions for the topping. This easy green bean recipe was a huge hit with all of us, and we all thought the sauce was decadent & creamy with a nice mushroom flavor, and the topping was extra delicious. This green bean casserole paired nicely with a turkey roulade, creamy mashed potatoes, homemade turkey gravy, buttery stuffing, cranberry sauce, and some rustic roasted garlic bread.

Green Bean Casserole

Topping:

• 1½ slices of white sandwich bread, torn into large pieces
• 1 tbsp butter
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 1½ cups French’s fried onions

Casserole:

• 1½ tbsp butter
• ½ lb button mushrooms, stems trimmed and chopped into 1-inch chunks
• ¼ yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1½ tbsp flour
• ¾ cup chicken broth  (or vegetable broth for vegetarian version)
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 lb green beans, trimmed and halved

How to Make a Green Bean Casserole

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat an 8-inch baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.

Make the topping by placing the torn bread, butter, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, in a food processor. Pulse 10 times to get nice buttery crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a dish, then add the French’s fried onions and mix until well combined; set aside until needed.

Prepare the creamy mushroom sauce by heating the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Whisk in the chicken broth and heavy cream, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5-6 minutes, until it has reduced and thickened. Taste the sauce, then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Remove from the stovetop and set aside until needed.

Blanch the green beans in a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water for 5-6 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Immediately plunge the green beans into a large bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process.  Side Note: If you are using haricot verts (French green beans), they will only need to blanch for a few minutes. 

Dry the green beans by placing them on paper towels to soak up the water.  Side Note: You don’t want wet green beans diluting your delicious creamy mushroom sauce!

Prepare the casserole by adding the dried green beans to the creamy mushroom sauce and mixing until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the topping evenly on top, making sure not to press it down too firmly.

Place into the oven to bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the mushroom sauce is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy.