Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
Classic green bean casserole made from scratch: fresh green beans, a creamy mushroom sauce instead of canned soup, and crispy homemade fried onions.
36% of it needs you at the counter
- Hands-on
- 25 min
- Cooking
- 45 min
- Serves
- 8
- Calories
- 185
- Protein
- 5 g
- Per serving
- $1.35
Why this recipe works
The canned-soup version is a Thanksgiving classic, but making each part from scratch takes about an hour and tastes noticeably fresher. Every part can be made a day ahead, so it's easy to fit around the turkey.
- Blanching the fresh beans for 5 minutes and then chilling them keeps them bright green and crisp-tender instead of olive drab and mushy.
- A quick sauce of browned mushrooms, butter, broth and half-and-half tastes far deeper than canned soup.
- Thin onion rings tossed in flour and shallow-fried turn shatteringly crisp, and they stay crisp when added near the end.
Ingredients
For the crispy onions
For the casserole
You will need
- Large pot
- Large bowl of ice water
- 12-inch skillet
- Medium saucepan or deep skillet for frying
- 2-quart baking dish
- Paper towels
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Fry the onions
Toss the onion with the flour and ½ teaspoon salt. Heat the oil in the saucepan over medium-high to about 350°F. Fry the onions in batches, stirring, until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels.
Blanch the beans
Heat the oven to 400°F. Boil the beans in well-salted water until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes, then plunge into ice water. Drain well.
Brown the mushrooms
Melt the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the mushrooms until browned and their liquid has evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic for 30 seconds.
Make the sauce
Sprinkle in the 3 tablespoons flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth, then the half-and-half, and simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce, salt and pepper.
Assemble and bake
Fold the beans into the sauce with half of the crispy onions and spread in the baking dish. Bake until bubbling, 15 minutes, then top with the remaining onions and bake 5 minutes more.
Techniques in this recipe
Crowded: steams and turns grey Spaced out: browns and crisps Don't crowd the pan
Give food space in the pan or on the sheet pan so moisture can escape. Crowded food steams and turns grey; spaced-out food browns and crisps.
Read the full guide
Cook's notes
- Slice the onion as thin as you can, ideally on a mandoline. Thick slices stay soft in the middle.
- Dry the blanched beans well on a towel; leftover water thins the sauce.
- Make ahead: refrigerate the assembled casserole (without the onions) for up to 2 days and keep the fried onions airtight at room temperature. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, adding the onions for the last 5.
Nutrition per serving
185 calories
$1.35 estimated cost per serving
Where the calories come from
| Protein | 10% of calories | 5 g |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 33% of calories | 16 g |
| Fat | 56% of calories | 12 g |
| Fiber | 3 g | |
| Sodium | 310 mg |
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients and amounts; not lab-tested. Cost estimated from average US retail prices.
Questions people ask
Can you make green bean casserole without canned soup?
Yes. This version makes a quick mushroom cream sauce with butter, flour, broth and half-and-half that replaces the can of cream of mushroom soup.
Can I use frozen green beans?
Yes. Thaw two 16-ounce bags of cut green beans and pat them dry. They're already blanched, so skip that step.
Is green bean casserole vegetarian?
Not as written, because of the chicken broth. Use vegetable broth and it is.
