Green Bean Casserole is a mid-century Thanksgiving classic. It originated during a time when recipes were rife with canned goods and other processed foods. Now, more than 50 years later, tastes have shifted back toward fresh and from-scratch cooking, which I am not sad about. So I’ve taken this traditional Thanksgiving dish, eliminated the canned soup, and created my own super creamy mushroom sauce. I still have those tasty fried onions on top, but hey, I’ll make an exception for those. ;)
Want more Thanksgiving classics? Check out our Holiday Recipes category.
How to Make Green Bean Casserole without Canned Soup
For this green bean casserole recipe, I whipped up a simple garlic mushroom sauce, then added the secret ingredient that makes it wonderfully thick and creamier than creamy—cream cheese! Yeah, sounds weird, but when I tell you I was licking the pan after transferring everything to the casserole dish to bake, I’m not kidding. This mushroom cream sauce was soooo good and seriously tasted just like store bought cream-of-mushroom soup (except better, of course).
Can This Green Bean Casserole Be Frozen?
I wouldn’t suggest freezing this Green Bean Casserole. Sauces thickened with flour do not tend to hold up well to freezing and thawing. This is one of the few disadvantages of not using condensed canned soups, which contain stabilizers.
Can It Be Made Ahead?
It is possible to assemble this Green Bean Casserole a day ahead of time (minus the onion topping), refrigerate it, then add the onions and baking the next day. The baking time may be slightly longer when preparing ahead, since the dish will be chilled instead of warm going into the oven. I do not suggest making this dish anymore than one day ahead of time before baking.
Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Green Beans?
I really like Green Bean Casserole with fresh green beans because I think it the dish at least a little prettier, but you can use frozen cut or French-cut green beans if you’d like. Both fresh and frozen green beans are preferable to canned green beans. Canned green beans tend to be much too soft in both texture and flavor, and over-salted. If using fresh green beans, just blanch them in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes, or just until they turn bright green and lose their raw edge (they should still be firm), before adding them to the casserole.
The Best Green Bean Casserole (no canned soup)
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 8 oz. button mushrooms ($1.80)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- Pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 3 Tbsp butter ($0.39)
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.03)
- 1 cup vegetable broth* ($0.13)
- 1 cup whole milk ($0.31)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($0.60)
- 20 oz frozen green beans* ($2.50)
- 3 oz. French fried onions** ($1.75)
Instructions
- Wash the mushrooms then roughly chop them into small pieces. Mince the garlic. Begin preheating the oven to 350ºF.
- Heat a large skillet over medium, then add the olive oil. Swirl to coat the surface of the skillet, then add the mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms until they release all their moisture, the skillet dries up again, and the edges of the mushrooms begin to brown slightly (7-10 minutes).
- Add the butter and flour the skillet with the mushrooms. Continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes, or just until the flour begins to coat the bottom of the skillet and turns golden brown.
- Whisk the vegetable broth into the skillet until all of the flour has dissolved off the bottom of the skillet. Allow the broth to come to a simmer as you whisk, at which point it will thicken.
- When the liquid in the skillet has thickened, whisk in the milk. Allow the mixture to return to a simmer after adding the milk, then add the cream cheese (cut into small chunks). Continue to whisk and cook until the cream cheese has fully melted into the sauce. Taste the sauce and add another pinch of salt and pepper if needed. You want the sauce to be slightly over seasoned so the flavor doesn’t get too diluted once the green beans are added.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the green beans (no need to thaw). The cold beans will thicken the sauce considerably. Transfer the beans and sauce to a 2-3 quart casserole dish. Top with the fried onions and transfer to the oven.
- Bake the Green Bean Casserole for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through and the fried onions on top have browned slightly. Serve warm.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love casseroles? Check out these other canned-soup-free casseroles: King Ranch Chicken Casserole, Cheesy Chicken Vegetable and Rice Casserole, Wild Rice and Vegetable Casserole, and Cheesy Cottage Pie.
How to Make Homemade Green Bean Casserole – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Wash 8oz. button mushrooms and roughly chopping them into small pieces. Mince two cloves of garlic. Heat a large skillet over medium, then add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Swirl to coat the skillet, then add the mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms until they release all their moisture, the skillet dries up, and the mushrooms begin to brown a bit on the edges.
Add 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour to the skillet. Continue to sauté the mushrooms with the butter and flour until the flour begins to coat the bottom of the skillet and turn golden brown. This toasts the flour and prevents that floury flavor.
Whisk 1 cup vegetable broth into the skillet, making sure all the flour dissolves off the bottom. Allow the broth to come up to a simmer, while whisking, at which point it will thicken.
Whisk in 1 cup whole milk and allow it to come up to a simmer again. Cut the cream cheese into chunks, add it to the sauce, and whisk until it has fully melted in. At this point, you want to taste the sauce and add another pinch of salt and pepper. You want the sauce to be slightly salty because once it’s combined with the green beans the flavor will dilute slightly.
Finally, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the frozen green beans. I had a 20 oz. bag of green beans but you could probably use up to 1.5 lbs. (24 oz.) with this amount of sauce if needed.
Transfer the green beans and sauce to a 2-3 quart casserole dish and top with 3oz. fried onions (that’s half of 6oz. can of fried onions).
Bake the casserole in the preheated 350ºF oven for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through and the fried onions have become golden brown.
Serve the CREAMIEST Green Bean Casserole warm! Yummmmmmm.
Is there a way to use fresh green beans?
From the post: Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Green Beans?
I really like Green Bean Casserole with fresh green beans because I think it the dish at least a little prettier, but you can use frozen cut or French-cut green beans if you’d like. Both fresh and frozen green beans are preferable to canned green beans. Canned green beans tend to be much too soft in both texture and flavor, and over-salted. If using fresh green beans, just blanch them in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes, or just until they turn bright green and lose their raw edge (they should still be firm), before adding them to the casserole.
Superb! I made it exactly except subbed 1/2 c plant based whipping cream and 1/2 c almond milk for whole milk and plant based butter (I did use dairy cream cheese but hopefully there’s an affordable alternative soon). Turned out amazing. Yet again, my husband enjoyed the Budget Bytes version of a good he normally dislikes!
Outstanding, Beth. Thank you so much for this recipe. It was easy to make and so delicious. This will be my go to recipe from now on.
A little tip if you don’t like mushy green bean casserole, use Aldi’s extra fine frozen green beans. They stay a little crisp after baking and so do the leftovers reheated the next day. I used a bag plus 4 ounces to equal 20 ounces.
Green Bean Casserole is delicious and it’s the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving. It’s simple to prepare and I’m looking forward to enjoying leftovers. Thank you, Beth!!!! 🙂
My family loved it for Thanksgiving. I prepped it the night before and it turned out lovely. Thanks!
OMG! Just made this for Thanksgiving. I’m never going back to canned soup again! Layers of flavor. Sooo good!
I have never made green bean casserole before and this year it was my dish. This is so good! I know this was probably written before the New Mushroom better (4 tsp to cup of water )than bouillon but I used it instead of vegetable and it is so mushroom flavor. I can not thank you enough for such a great recipe! No more can for me and goes for other dishes that ask for it. So easy why not make your own!
can you make this a day ahead?
Yes. Just read the paragraph titled “CAN THIS BE MADE AHEAD”.