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Green Bean Casserole

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The Classic Green Bean Casserole that everyone is expecting at the holidays, but I updated the classic casserole. I decided to make it with fresh green beans and homemade cream of mushroom soup rather than the canned soup. And, oh my gosh, let me tell you, it’s the best Green Bean Casserole I’ve ever tasted!

Plus I have a giveaway to help you get ready for all that holiday cooking! Be sure to scroll down to enter to win by completing the Rafflecopter widget below! I have been sent product from Zulay to facilitate this post, however, all opinions are my own. #ad

 

Green bean casserole in a white casserole dish with a wooden serving spoon and a serving on a white plate

 

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Green bean casserole served from a wooden spoon with the casserole in the background

 

Recipe Notes

Green Bean Casserole is such a winner at the holidays, but it’s also great any time of year. It’s at home on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table, and on the Sunday family night table. And, it’s a side dish that everyone can agree on, even the kids.

The classic family casserole side dish is smooth and creamy with an unmatched flavor. My version of the classic Green Bean Casserole recipe is made from scratch (well, except the canned friend onions, which are so tasty!). I do admit that when I open a can of those fried onions I have to stop myself from eating too many straight out of the can.

 

Green bean casserole in the casserole dish being served with a wooden spoon

 

Can I use canned green beans?

Yes, absolutely you can (no pun intended). Canned green beans are so easy and so quick.

Just grab two cans (14.5 ounces each) of green beans and drain them.

Canned green beans have a bit of a different texture than fresh cooked ones. I find fresh cooked ones to be a little firmer and crispier, with a bit of a fresher flavor.

 

Can I use frozen green beans?

This recipe will also work with frozen beans.

You’ll need about 16-20 ounces of frozen green beans, just thaw them before tossing them in the casserole.

 

A serving of Green Bean Casserole on a white plate with a fork

 

Can I add cheese?

Many family recipes for the green bean casserole add cheese. And, if your family loves cheese in it, by all means, cheese it up.

Want to add cheese? Use about ½ cup for this recipe. I suggest Cheddar, Parmesan, Monterey jack, or Gruyere would all be lovely.

My family did not add cheese to the casserole, so that’s how I’ve left my recipe. Sans-cheese.

 

Green bean casserole covered with fried onions in a casserole dish

 

Can I make this ahead?

Absolutely! This is a great make-ahead casserole.

If you’d like to prep it ahead of time, just follow the recipe until you get to the part where you’ll bake it. 

Instead of placing the casserole in the oven, cover the dish tightly with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Once you’re ready to bake the casserole, uncover, and bake according to the recipe.

 

A serving of green bean casserole in front of the casserole dish

 

I have leftovers, how do I keep them?

In case you have leftovers after the casserole has already been baked, just cover, and refrigerate for up to 5 days. 

Then, to reheat the cooked casserole, just pop it back in the oven at 350° F until heated through, about 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it reheats, and if the top starts to get too browned, just lay a piece of aluminum foil lightly over the top of the casserole.

You can also reheat it in the microwave for a minute, though it will lose some of the crispiness.

 

Square cropped image of green bean casserole on a white plate with a fork

 

Giveaway

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Other great classic holiday side dishes you’ll love

Classic Corn Casserole

A classic side dish for the holidays. This corn casserole is ligtly sweet and all delicious.

Mashed Potato Casserole

It’s a little fancy! It’s a lot tasty! And, it makes fabulous leftovers!

Vegetable Rice Casserole

This easy to make Vegetable Rice Casserole is perfect for busy nights. It’s a delicious family-pleasing casserole that even picky eaters will love.

White Bean Gratin Casserole

This White Bean Gratin Casserole makes a great main course for
vegetarians, or a wonderful side dish for non-veggies. A creamy sauce
over veggies and beans, topped with a crispy herbed bread crumb mixture, this casserole is a great addition to the dinner table!

Zucchini Stuffing Casserole

A delicious vegetarian casserole that’s a favorite dinner of stuffing
lovers! Filled with zucchini and carrots, along with lots of creamy
mushroom sauce and sour cream

Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole

Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole – Creamy sauce, nutty wild rice, earthy
broccoli, Hearty meatballs – Oh this casserole is so yummy! Your family
will love it!

Butternut Squash Gratin Casserole

It’s a great balance of flavors, filling earthy butternut squash, oniony leeks, and creamy tangy goat cheese, all wrapped up in a lovely hot gratin. And, all those veggies!

Cheesy Creamed Spinach Gratin Casserole

Savory cooked spinach in a creamy Parmesan white sauce, topped with more nutty salty Parmesan and baked to comforting side dish perfection. This Cheesy Creamed Spinach Gratin Casserole is perfect for holiday meals, or even for a nice Sunday family dinner.

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Green Bean Casserole Recipe

A serving of Green Bean Casserole on a white plate with a fork
5 from 12 votes
Print

Green Bean Casserole

The Classic Green Bean Casserole that everyone is expecting at the holidays, but I updated the classic casserole. I decided to make it with fresh green beans and homemade cream of mushroom soup rather than the canned soup.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword casserole, green bean
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 309 kcal
Author Debi

Ingredients

Cream of mushroom soup:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil divided use
  • ½ large onion finely chopped
  • 1 shallot finely chopped
  • ½ cup finely chopped mushrooms
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup vegetable broth

Casserole:

  • 4 cups fresh green beans about 1.5 pounds
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 dash black pepper
  • 6 ounces canned Fried Onions

Instructions

Make mushroom soup:

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and shallot and cook until onion has released its water and begins to brown, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add chopped mushrooms, and cook until mushrooms release their juices and the pan looks dry again, about 5-7 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, garlic powder, and flour to pan. Cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring as you add so that there are no lumps. Add broth.
  3. Reduce heat, and cook for 5 minutes to thicken the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make casserole:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Cut the green beans into 1 to 2-inch pieces. Bring a shallow pan of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the beans, and cook for 5 - 7 minutes to blanch. Drain the cooked beans in a colander, and run cold tap water over the beans.
  3. Stir the homemade cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, cooked green beans, and half of the can of fried onions in a casserole dish.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes or until the green bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Sprinkle the remaining onions over the top, and return the casserole to the oven for an additional 5 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown.
Nutrition Facts
Green Bean Casserole
Amount Per Serving
Calories 309 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Fat 21g32%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Cholesterol 6mg2%
Sodium 442mg19%
Potassium 288mg8%
Carbohydrates 26g9%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 667IU13%
Vitamin C 10mg12%
Calcium 98mg10%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

 


Comments

  2. Kristin T says

    I’ve never been a fan of green bean casserole because of the texture of the canned soups in it, but I’m definitely going to try this one!

  4. Sharyl W. says

    My favorite dish is the dressing with gravy. It’s the best! Memory is fighting over the leftovers!

  6. shannon zeidan says

    My favorite dish is jello salad. My grandmother started making it because my sister and I were such picky eaters as kids.

  7. Nancy says

    My favorite is the homemade dressing. Our family recipe doesn’t uses as much spice as the more common type of dressing.

  9. Christine Yvonne Groce says

    It has to be my homemade baklava for dessert. I learned how to make it while working at a Greek pastry shop during the early years of my marriage. I do remember one time when my kids were young and I was trying to make it with them awake & present. I had gone through the tedious construction of the baklava and happened ti see salt container on the table. To my horror; I realized that I had added salt; not sugar to the recipe. I had to throw the whole thing out. I never tried to make baklava again with the kids while they were little. My girl’s are grown-up now and actually come and help me make it every Christmas season; it has become a tradition.

  17. Kelly D says

    I like mashed potatoes with cranberries on the side. It always reminds me of being at my parents house.

  22. Debbie Erickson says

    I love cranberries! Your recipe for Green Bean Casserole looks fantastic – will definitely try

  29. R Patrick says

    Caramelized Sweet Potatoes, its a family tradition. My mom used to make them every Thanksgiving and my dad and all my sisters were so disgusted that my mom and I absolutely LOVED this that I remember giggling. Such great childhood memories! 🙂

  31. SUZANNE LOGIUDICE says

    love this and stuffing but have to try some of these other recipes you have they look good

  34. Pauline Milner says

    I always look forward to the potato dressing. I make it just like my mother used to, adding onions and summer savory. The smell of the dressing always brings me back to when I was a kid at Christmas. Last year, I mixed half of the potato dressing with some boxed Stuff ‘n Such and it was a hit. I will do it again this year. Thanks for the super giveaway opportunity!

  37. Cynthia Gray says

    I love the homemade dressing.
    I don’t make stuffing but a big pan of delicious turkey broth, cornbread dressing. This with giblet gravy is so tasty and delicious. I look to seeing my family dig into something warm and tasty along with turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, oven roasted fall veggies and anything else I can cook. Of course we have to have a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie to eat.

  38. Tammy Pereira says

    I absolutely love the dessert section of the holiday dinner table! LOL my favorite memory is learning to make pecan pie with my mom when I was 8 years old.

  41. Lauren bakka says

    My favorite dish on the holiday table is my grandmother’s cranberry jello salad. She taught me how to make it before she died and now I make it every year for my family in her honor.

  49. Tim says

    My favorite is cornbread stuffing. Bread stuffing is okay if that is all you have, but cornbread stuffing has a unique flavor that makes it superior!!

  50. Tina says

    My favorite use to be green bean casserole. But my daughter developed a mushroom allergy. I have tried to make versions substituting the mushrooms but it just doesn’t taste the same. Now my favorite is an orange cranberry bread.

  51. Annmarie Weeks says

    For as many years as I can remember, green bean casserole was always the holiday dish that I made for wherever we had dinner. And now that holidays are at our house, I still always make green bean casserole! (But my favorite is actually stuffing. I am ALL about the stuffing!)

  54. Helen says

    My grandma’s homemade dressing and macaroni and cheese are my all time favorites on Thanksgiving. They both taste so good it is too hard to choose between them.

  60. Allyson Tice says

    My favorite holiday dish is pierogies! WE all get together a week before Christmas and make them..its our family tradition1

  61. Trisha Barner says

    Mu favorite dish is candied yams. My Mom would make a whole baking dish smothered with butter, Brown sugar and melted marshmallows on top. She made it just for me. My two sisters and brothers didn’t like them so I got to eat most of them.

  62. Geena O'Banion says

    Love to see the golden brown turkey on display. This warms my heart and I know and understand the caring and sharing which is happening. The holidays are the time for reflection and giving.

  65. Brittany Raisor says

    My favorite dish has always been mashed potatoes. My favorite comfort food and I associate it with my family around the table together!

  67. Meredith Brooks says

    I LOVE twice baked potato casserole. It’s always a family favorite and a huge hit! Thanks for the chance to win!

  68. Natosha says

    There’s one dish my mom makes. Its a cheese nip topped cheesy and creamy broccoli cassarole. Its go so much flavor n crunchy gooey, yum!

  73. wen budro says

    My favorite dish is the honey baked ham. The turkey is a close second. I eat at my sister’s house and have to fly in to their state. Great memories of her dinners.

  74. Wehaf says

    My overall favorite has always been pumpkin pie, which I used to eat for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving. My favorite savory dish is my mom’s spinach.

  77. Jo Ricker says

    My favorite is my mom’s hash brown casserole. I have liked it since the first time she served it.

  78. Kayte CookWatts says

    I love my sister’s creamed spinach! I also love corn pudding and dressing. I’m all about the sides, I don’t really care about turkey.

  84. Tony Platz says

    My favorite dish was always mashed potatoes and grave . My favorite memories is helping my dad in the kitchen when he prepared holiday meals and watching the parades on television while it cooked.

  85. carol clark says

    mashed potatoes for sure but everyone makes them different sometimes we but blue cheese and it is good

  86. mj rudy says

    My favorite was my aunt’s homemade gravy. It still brings back warm memories of dinner with people who are all no longer with us.

  87. Nancy Bowers says

    Homemade pumpkin pie made from my mother’s recipe. Years of making, serving eating those pies!

  90. Stephen Taylor says

    Beef Wellington. My grandmother and I used to make it every year for Christmas, using Julia Child’s recipe.

  91. Brooke Rose says

    Favorite dish would be sweet potato casserole~ There are so many ways to make it! Fun memory associated with it would be coming up with new creative ways to make it with my husband~

  94. Kelly Gray says

    I love sweet potatoes with marshmallow, brown sugar and glazed pecan and cornbread casserole they remind me of family

  95. jennifer cervantes says

    My favorite dish is the tamales we make every year for thanksgiving since the kids help make it in the week of thanksgiving they have off every year.

  96. Heather Swarthout says

    I always make scalloped corn, a special family recipe, and one year my mom made it. My brother took it to the truck and put it on the back and closed it, and the dish shattered everywhere. The first and only year we went without our traditional Thanksgiving scalloped corn. So my brother is no longer allowed to help carry it out or touch it. 😛

  97. deanna says

    I like lumpy mashed potatoes for the holidays. I enjoy them because my mom used to make mashed potatoes from a box and if they were lumpy, I knew they were the real deal!

  100. Misty Trice says

    Oh your green beans look yummy! My favorite dish is sweet potato casserole with yummy pecans on top. No funny memories just sweet ones ❤️ Have a great Holiday.

  103. Desiree grubbs says

    my favorite dish on the holiday dinner table is stuffing! I always got to make it with my mother growing up!

  105. Janice B says

    My favorite dish is most definitely the turkey. My brother and I always get the turkey legs even though there are arguments from the younger kids.

  106. Sara Perrera says

    I love the biscuits my mother makes for Thanksgiving. We only have them once a year so they are extra special.. I also love chocolate pudding pie as one of our desserts.

  109. Vikki L Billings says

    My favorite is Green Bean Casserole….Its just always been a staple on our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables. We all love it and fight over the leftovers.

  114. Bryan Vice says

    Broccoli casserole is one of our family favorites we’ve been making and having for holiday dinners for years. Green bean casserole is another good dish we have sometimes

  116. Erika says

    I don’t have any specific memories associated with it, and I’m a little boring, but my favorites are fresh rolls and creamy mashed potatoes.

  117. Amber says

    Green bean Casserole, because it’s always at our family holidays growing up! My aunt usually is the one who makes it for everyone and I have good memories of filling up my late with my cousins on Christmas Day and going back for seconds! 🙂

  118. Alisha L says

    One of my favorite dishes to make is sweet potato casserole. My family loves it and my kids like to help me make it.

  119. Kieran G Ruder says

    My favorite dish on the dinner table would have to be sweet potato casserole, because it tastes exactly like what I envision fall to be.

  120. Suzanne B says

    I love stuffing as it is the only time of the year I have it. My mother made the best stuffing ever.

  121. Angelica says

    My favorite dish on the holiday table is bacon wrapped brussel sprouts. We have to make at least two dishes of them because they’re gone in like two seconds. No fun memories of sprouts but I do think fondly of the turkey noodle soup my grandma always made the day after Thanksgiving. Making and eating it is my favorite memory of her.

  123. Alyce Poalillo says

    My favorite holiday dish is the dressing or stuffing. It is the only time we have it and of course all the butter in it doesn’t hurt either!

  125. Ron Jones says

    Fave holiday dish is traditional dressing (stuffing.) My grandmother fretted every holiday dinner that she had either put too much sage into it, or conversely, not enough. It became an annual source of goodnatured humor and I miss that grandmother very much.

  126. Rebecca Weiss says

    I love to make homemade cranberry sauce instead of using canned. The taste is so much better, and it pairs beautifully with the turkey!

  130. Melissa Storms says

    I make 2 stuffings for Thanksgiving one is my mothers corn bread stuffing and the other is my late mother in laws sausage and caper stuffing. Both are wonderful and bring back a lot of family memories for both my husband and myself.

  131. Janna says

    My absolute favorite dish on thanksgiving has always been dressing. Green bean casserole is a close second, and if not done right is inedible. Gonna try this though, because I can no longer eat the soup you make it with!

  133. Michelle Tucker says

    My favorite dish is actually green bean casserole. It has been ever since I was young. It’s not thanksgiving without it.

  137. Jessica Staley says

    I love green bean casserole and this recipe looks amazing. Definitely going to make and will let you know how my family likes it

  140. Kim Cowgar says

    my mom’s sweet potato casserole was my favorite. Always loved helping her with that yummy marshmallow/brown sugar topping

  142. Rebecca Meyer says

    My favorite dish is my sister-in-laws baked broccoli and cheese recipe. One year she decided not to make it (guess she was bored with it), but we all whined so much she has continued to make it every year since.

  144. Jeani B says

    My favorite dish is yams with marshmallows. It is the one dish that was a constant throughout my life because it was my and my mom’s favorite!

  147. Les Johnson says

    My favorite holiday dish is baked macaroni and cheese. It is not something I usually make, so my daughter requests it for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

  148. Julie Waldron says

    Mine is stuffing, I remember watching my Dad make it when I was little. It was the best! He passed away 11 years ago, I wish I had the recipe.

  149. Katrina Brockavich says

    Sweet potatoes with marshmallows are definitely my favorite! I have good memories as a child of my grandma and mom trying not to set the fire alarm off lol.

  154. Julie Redden says

    I love the mashed potatoes!! I remember the first year I ever made them, my Mom told me to mash them up after they were cooked. I had no idea what I was doing and they turned out like GLUE!! They were horrible! I have since learned how to make delicious mashed potatoes.

  156. Nicole Byer says

    Pumpkin Mac and Cheese. Just started making it a few years ago when I started experimenting with my cooking more

  160. kathy pease says

    My favorite dish would be turkey with all the trimmings. It is great because I am together with my family 🙂

  161. Dolores Miranda says

    Green bean casserole is definitely my favorite!My mom used to make it growing up and I make it for my kids now,they like it a lot!

  169. Docia Vagnerini says

    My fave is sweet potato souffle, omg it is so good. I never had it growing up, we always had sweet potatoes baked with a bunch of marshmallows on top and I never liked that, so one Thanksgiving I found the souffle recipe and tried it and everyone loved it so it is now a tradition, and to bot its good for you 🙂

  170. Ally says

    I really love cranberry sauce–the whole family does, and playfully fights over it, which I always enjoy 🙂

  172. Tabatha Riley says

    My favorite Thanksgiving dish is homemade bread dressing. My mom and I used to make it together and now I make it with my daughter.

  173. Taryn T says

    One favorite family dish- and I know it has many names- is called 5 cup salad- it has sour cream, marshmallows, cherries, coconut, and mandarin oranges. It is our family tradition!

  180. Angela S. says

    Green bean casserole is my favorite. I never thought to make it with fresh green beans or homemade mushroom soup. I have made homemade fried onions before though. I’ve got to try it this way now. Thanks for the recipe.

  181. Samantha Thomas says

    Oyster stuffing. We just try to avoid traditional holiday foods. We both like traditional but don’t love it. I found that out after 10+ years of making my husband traditional meals that he didn’t care for it either

  183. Ed Jarosz says

    It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie throughout the holidays but I will always remember the leftover I had the day my daughter was born right after the new year.

  184. Betty Curran says

    In the early years of my marriage I couldn’t cook very well. I found a recipe for candied yams on the side of a can and thought it looked easy enough for me. It turned out great and the glaze was truly so thick it was even crunchy in spots. It became a family favorite.

  185. Amy Deeter says

    My favorite dish on the holiday dinner table is homemade stuffing.i remember making big batches with my grandparents and everyone would say it was the best stuffing they had

  188. Clayton says

    Christmas and thanksgiving are my favorite holidays. Thanks for all the giveaways and all the hard work you do on this blog!

  189. Amanda Whitley says

    i love green bean casserole and every single thanksgiving my mom makes hers and it is so good. its the one thing no matter where we go my mom makes.

  190. Beverly Metcalf says

    My favorite is the turkey and the stuffing. The first year my brother and his wife were married, she forgot to remove the giblets before she stuffed the turkey!

  192. Philip Lawrence says

    My favorite dish on the holiday table is ambrosia salad. My best memory of that salad was my first time eating it when I realized that a salad is not always something green and healthy for me.

  195. Dawn Joz says

    I didn’t really grow up celebrating Thanksgiving and the first time I did was with my husbands family. I had never experienced people who held hands to pray and they asked me to say grace, and I had shoved a mouthful of mashed potatoes in my mouth. Deer in the headlights!

    I love cheesy mashed potatoes!

  197. Trisha Musgrave says

    I love loe loe cheesy potatoes! My husband made them for me for the first time when we were dating. I have been hooked since!

  201. Cassandra D says

    My favorite dish on the holiday dinner table: Mashed potatoes and gravy with peach lemonade.
    Holiday memories.

  204. Megan Wilson says

    My favorite is pumpkin pie! My Mom also makes it for my November 9th birthday since I love it so much!

  205. Tosha H says

    Chocolate pie FTW, it’s been my favorite food, not just holiday dish since birth! I go hog-wild around it, no one else’s portions are safe around me lol!

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